Drink · Whiskey Creek
Western honey cortado
Equal parts espresso and milk, with honey underneath it all.
A cortado is espresso cut with just enough warm milk. Honey in the bottom of the glass turns it into a morning worth getting up for.
What you need
- 1 tbsp honey
- 2 shots Western Tamp Whiskey Creek, brewed as espresso
- 120ml milk, steamed to microfoam
- A pinch of cinnamon
The roast for this Whiskey Creek From £11.95 How to make it
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Honey in the glass first
A tablespoon in the bottom of a small glass. It needs the heat of the coffee to loosen, so it goes in before anything else.
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Pull the shots straight onto it
The espresso dissolves the honey on the way down. Give it a quick stir if it is a thick honey.
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Steam the milk to microfoam
Silky and pourable, not stiff. A cortado wants texture, not a hat.
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Pour, dust, stir
Pour the milk in, dust with cinnamon and stir once to bring it together.
Why it works
Honey behaves differently to sugar syrup: it has its own acidity and floral aromatics, so instead of just making the coffee sweeter it adds a second flavour that sits alongside the roast. A dark roast gives it something solid to push against.
Worth knowing
- Use a robust dark roast — a delicate coffee gets buried under honey.
- Microfoam, not stiff foam. If it holds a peak you have gone too far.
- Drink it straight away, while the layers are still distinct.
The recipe card
Save it, print it, take it to the kitchen.
Everything on this card is written out above as well, so you don’t have to squint at a picture to cook from it.
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