Lágrima
Also café lágrima, lágrima
An Argentine cup of hot milk with just a teardrop of coffee, for those who want warmth and colour rather than caffeine.
Espresso and milkServed hotFrom Argentina
- Volume
- 160ml5.4 US fl oz
- Espresso
- 1shot
- Caffeine
- 64mgderived, USDA FDC
- Coffee to milk
- 1:15.0
The build
Watch it made, step by step- Milk150 ml94%
- Espresso10 ml6%
- Volume
- 160ml
- Caffeine
- 64mg
- Espresso
- 1shot
Scales every component together, so the ratio holds; caffeine scales with the coffee.
A cup of hot milk with a teardrop of coffee; the opposite of a cortado.
Caffeine
Derivedin a 160 ml lágrima
Derived per shot: USDA FoodData Central FDC 171891 (espresso, restaurant-prepared) lists 212 mg per 100 g; a standard 30 g shot is about 63.6 mg, times 1 shot(s). Real values vary with dose, roast and species (robusta roughly doubles it).
USDA FoodData Central record 171891 · 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
2| Name | Country | How it differs |
|---|---|---|
| manchado | Spain | Spanish equivalent. |
| cortado | Argentina | Argentine cafés serve a coffee-forward cortado as the standard small milk drink. |
History
Popular accountBuenos Aires café vocabulary of the twentieth century; no primary source documents its origin.
Argentina and Uruguay; 'teardrop'.
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
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Espresso and milk Kaffee Verkehrt 160 ml · 64 mgVienna's 'inverted' coffee: mostly hot milk with a smaller share of coffee, the Austrian answer to the caffè latte.
Espresso and milk Meia de Leite 160 ml · 64 mgPortugal's half-coffee, half-milk cup, the stronger alternative to a galão.
Espresso and milk Café Manchado 165 ml · 64 mgHot milk stained with a little coffee, the Spanish drink for those who want colour more than caffeine.
Espresso and milk Flat White 165 ml · 127 mgA double espresso with steamed milk textured to a thin microfoam, served in a small cup. It is stronger and less foamy than a latte and smoother than a cappuccino.
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