Coffee Corner: The ultimate Canary Islands Coffee guide

When travelling, I love spending time in Cafés at the most beautiful places and just enjoy the moment. However, it is not always easy to order your favourite coffee because every country has its own coffee specialties and many local places don’t always have a menu. This is what you need to know to order your coffee like a pro on the Canary islands.

Cafe solo

Café solo is a small cup of black coffee without milk. Nowadays, and probably due to increasing tourism on the islands, many places make the difference between Espresso and Café americano.

Cortado

A Cortado is a single shot Espresso to which the same amount of hot milk is added. Sometimes, a small amount of milk foam is added on the top.

Cortado leche leche

This is one of the specialties of the Canary islands which you won’t find in other parts of Spain. The Cortado Leche Leche is a Cortado with some sweet condensed milk on the bottom of the cup.

Café bombon

The café bombon is an Espresso with sweet condensed milk. No normal milk is added and no sugar is served as the drink is already sweet enough.

Barraquito

This is another typical Canary Island’s coffee. The Barraquito is a Cortado leche leche with Liquor 43 as a second layer as well as some lemon and cinnamon on the top. You can also ask for a Barraquito sin alcohol if you want a Cortado leche leche with lemon and cinnamon but without the Licor 43. The Barraquito is served in a bigger cup than the Cortado.

Café con leche

Last but not least, you can of course also order the typical Café con Leche which is another Coffee with milk. Similar to the Cortado, the Café con Leche is Coffee to which the same amount of hot milk is added. However, the cup is much bigger. Usually, the Café con Leche is twice the size of an Cortado.

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You might also be interested in our blog post Tenerife – How to best discover the authentic part of the island.