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Galão

A galão is Portugal's tall milk coffee: one espresso to about three parts foamed milk in a glass. How it compares to a latte, and Portugal's coffee vocabulary.

A galão is espresso with about three times its volume of foamed milk, served in a tall glass. The name means “large” and it is Portugal’s everyday milk coffee.

The proportions

One part coffee to three parts milk, so roughly 50 ml (1.7 oz) of espresso in 150 ml (5 oz) of milk. Lighter than a Spanish café con leche and closer to a latte.

Ordered escuro (dark) it has more coffee; claro (light) has more milk.

The Portuguese coffee vocabulary

Portugal has one of the more precise sets of coffee orders in Europe:

  • Bica or café — an espresso. In Lisbon, bica.
  • Cimbalino — the same, in Porto.
  • Pingado — an espresso with a drop of milk, like a macchiato.
  • Meia de leite — half coffee, half milk, in a cup rather than a glass.
  • Galão — this, in a glass.
  • Abatanado — a long black, like an americano.

The coffee underneath

Portuguese blends traditionally include a meaningful proportion of robusta, giving a dark, bitter, crema-heavy shot that stands up to a lot of milk. It is not delicate and it is not trying to be.

Making one

A single espresso and 150 ml (5 oz) of milk, textured lightly, in a tall glass.

What you need to make it

The equipment this actually requires — not a shopping list, the shortest route to doing it properly.

  • Loveramics Egg cappuccino cup in porcelain
    Best cup for latte art

    Loveramics Egg Cappuccino Cup 200 ml

    The cup shape professionals pour into: a wide, round bowl and a tight base that concentrates the crema and gives a pattern room to form. Thick porcelain holds heat properly.

    Capacity
    200 ml (6.8 oz) — cappuccino
    Material
    Porcelain
    Shape
    Wide bowl, tight base
    • Bowl shape genuinely helps latte art form and hold
    • Thick porcelain retains heat; a cold cup ruins a good drink
    • Sold singly, so a set costs real money

    Best for: Cappuccino and flat white, poured by hand from a pitcher.

    8.7/10
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