Coffee in Spain - "Un café con leche templada, por favor"

One of my favorite things about Spain so far, (other than the vellum-bound gorgeous old books) has been the coffee. I felt it deserved its own post. I had my first cup at Ferro's Cafe with Dr. Paul Vita, SLU's academic dean. He ordered "un café con leche templada, por favor" and I said "lo mismo" because I had no idea how to order coffee in Spain at all. He explained that ordering it "templada" means you want it with mixed hot and cool milk, and that it is thus "templada" or "temperate" - ready to drink.

It. Was. Perfection.

I'd never had such a good coffee drink in my life. I never thought I'd say it, but it put Dunkin to SHAME. I love coffee in America, but it might be hard to go back. Spaniards laugh at the idea of American coffee. One man I talked with called it "dirty water," and my host mom said it "lacks strength." When compared to the Spanish understanding of what coffee should be, it's a fair assessment. Spaniards say the only other country that makes good coffee like in Spain is Italy. Italy and Spain have a lot more in common culturally than I realized.

So what is a 'Cafe con Leche,' in American coffee terms? My coffee expert friend Kyle tells me that it's what an American Latte should be, but never is. It's simply expresso with steamed milk, but done really well. In the mug, there's about a centimeter of thick, dark, expresso, and then the rest of the cup is milk. (I think maybe it's whole milk?) The difference is that the expresso here is really good, the milk is really good, thick, and perfectly steamed, and the sugar comes in giant, perfect, 8 gram packets. That's right, none of these crappy little 2-4 gram packets like in America that you need a zillion of, in Spain you get one hefty 8 gram bag, always. When you order it "templada," they bring over two pitchers of milk, a hot steamed one, and a cool one, and they pour in a bit of each. If you don't specify, they'll usually just use hot milk. But if they ask you anything about your order, it'll be how you take your milk - templada, caliente, etc.

Me at the coffee counter, taking a research break at the BNE

My favorite part of the day today was after lunch, when I ordered my cafe con leche over at the coffee bar downstairs in the Biblioteca Nacional's Cafeteria. The top of the bar is covered with stacks of little plates with a teaspoon and an 8 gram sugar packet on each. They just await the mug. Beneath the glass bar is a display of snacks you could order with coffee - cookies, donuts, croissants, sandwiches, and, most popularly, Spanish tortilla.

Cafe con leche with a piece of Spanish Tortilla, at a cafe near my home stay.

Many people just order, wait for their specific mug to be set down on one of these stacked plates, then take the plate back to their table, but it's perfectly common just to stand and drink it at the bar too. I prefer to stay at the bar because it is my favorite form of people watching.

People watching at the library, like a total creep

I love to watch the busy baristas making magic on the expresso machine, dashing back and forth filling orders. And I also really love watching the other customers order their specific drinks. Lots of people order "cafe solo" which is just a tiny cup of expresso. All Spanish coffee drinks seem to have this single expresso as their common base, but it's amazing how many different ways they take it. The girl next to me ordered "cafe cortado," which was a single expresso in a tiny mug with just a teensy pour of milk. The old ladies next to me ordered "cafe con hielo" which was super amusing to watch. They were each given a steaming cup of expresso, sugar, and super tall glasses filled with ice cubes. They mixed the expresso and the sugar, stirred it very well, and then poured it into the cup of ice. They drank them quickly! I mean, they poured boiling expresso over ice, and when they were done their empty glasses were still at least half full of ice. The Spanish really don't like watery coffee it seems. I've only ever ordered "cafe con leche" because it's hard to imagine there's anything more delicious to be had, but there's clearly a myriad of ways they prepare expresso, and I'll be sure to try something else before I leave.

I love you, Spanish beverages <3

For more info, I just found this little explanation of the Spanish coffee drinks. Which would you choose?
http://gospain.about.com/od/fooddrink/qt/coffee_in_spain.htm