Café au Lait

Brewed coffee and hot milk in roughly equal parts, the French breakfast drink. Unlike a latte it uses filter or press coffee and unfoamed milk.

FilterServed hotFrom France

Volume
240ml8.1 US fl oz
Espresso
0shots
Caffeine
48mgderived, USDA FDC
Coffee to milk
1:1.0

The build

Watch it made, step by step
Serving glass, 300 ml. Layers in pouring order from the bottom, drawn by volume.
  1. Strong brewed coffee120 ml50%
  2. Milk120 ml50%
Volume
240ml
Caffeine
48mg
Espresso
0shots

Scales every component together, so the ratio holds; caffeine scales with the coffee.

Equal parts strong brewed coffee and hot milk, traditionally in a wide bowl or large cup.

Caffeine

Derived
48mg

in a 240 ml café au lait

USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy caffeine per 100 g scaled to the coffee volume in components, assuming 1 g per ml. FDC 171890 (Beverages, coffee, brewed, prepared with tap water) 40.0 mg/100 g x 120 ml.

USDA FoodData Central record 171890 · read 2026-10-26

A derived figure: the reference food's caffeine per 100 g scaled to the coffee in this build. Real cups vary with the coffee, the dose and the shot.

Variants by country

3
NameCountryHow it differs
New Orleans café au laitUnited StatesChicory coffee with scalded milk.
café con lecheSpainEspresso-based equivalent.
MilchkaffeeGermanyGerman equivalent, often in a bowl.

History

Popular account

Wikidata records France as country of origin and classes it as milk coffee. The bowl-and-croissant breakfast is a French domestic habit; in cafés an espresso-based version is often served instead (popular account).

French breakfast coffee with hot milk.

Popular account

Parts of this story are repeated widely but were not confirmed against a source this atlas accepts. They are kept as the story people tell, not as fact.

Related drinks

Filter New Orleans Café au Lait 240 ml · 34 mg

The New Orleans café au lait: chicory coffee and hot milk poured together, served with beignets. Softer than the black chicory brew.

 Filter Black Coffee 240 ml · 96 mg

Coffee brewed by gravity or immersion and served plain. It is the reference point for caffeine comparisons and the base for café au lait, red eye and iced coffee.

 Filter Decaffeinated Coffee 240 ml · 2 mg

Filter coffee brewed from decaffeinated beans. It retains a small residual caffeine content, about one fortieth of regular brewed coffee by USDA figures.

 Filter Instant Coffee 240 ml · 62 mg

Dried coffee extract dissolved in hot water. Weaker in caffeine per cup than brewed coffee by USDA figures, and the base of the frappé and dalgona.

 Filter Kokekaffe 240 ml · 96 mg

Nordic boiled coffee: coarse grounds and water brought to the boil in a pot and left to settle. The campfire method of Norway and Sweden.

 Filter New Orleans Chicory Coffee 240 ml · 67 mg

New Orleans' dark coffee blended with roasted chicory root, brewed strong. The chicory lends body and a roasted bitterness while diluting the caffeine.