How much caffeine is in Café au Lait?

Each 8 oz (240 ml), half coffee half milk serving contains approximately 95 mg of caffeine. For comparison, a standard 8 oz cup of brewed drip coffee contains around 95 mg. Actual content varies with dose, water temperature, and contact time.

What temperature should I use for Café au Lait?

Target 93°C (199°F). Below this range the cup tends toward sourness and thinness from under-extraction; above it, bitterness rises faster than sweetness.

How long should Café au Lait be extracted?

Extract for 4:00 brew using French Press or Drip, at a ratio of 60g/L brewed, then cut 1:1 with hot milk, prepared at Medium-coarse. Time and ratio move together: a heavier dose generally wants a shorter contact time.

Why does my Café au Lait taste bitter?

Bitterness almost always indicates over-extraction. Shorten the contact time, lower the water temperature slightly, or grind coarser. Change one variable at a time so you can tell which one was responsible.

Who should avoid Café au Lait?

Contains dairy unless made with a plant alternative. The New Orleans version contains chicory, which is not recommended in pregnancy in large amounts. This is general educational information, not medical advice — consult a qualified healthcare professional about your own circumstances.

Reviewed Aug 2026

Specialty Coffee · France

Café au Lait

Name: How to Brew Café au Lait
Prep time: 2 min
Cook time: 4 min
Total time: 4 min
Yield: 8 oz (240 ml), half coffee half milk
Cuisine: France
Ingredients: 60g/L brewed, then cut 1:1 with hot milk of Café au Lait; Filtered water heated to 93°C (199°F)

Café au lait

Brewed coffee and scalded milk in equal measure, in a bowl.

Strong brewed coffee — traditionally French press or drip, not espresso — combined with an equal volume of scalded milk.

Sensory profile

Comparative scale

sweetnessModerate

acidityModerate

bitternessModerate

bodyHigh

aromaHigh

You should taste

How it unfolds

Aroma → Palate → Finish

AromaBefore and as you sip

No distinct note recorded here — the aroma reads as clear rather than carrying a nameable character of its own.

clear aroma

PalateWhile it is in the mouth

Warm Milk

moderate sweetness

FinishAfter you swallow

clear body

Where it sits

Stronger than 308 of the 345 other drinks in the catalogue, and weaker than 26.

That is 95 mg in a 8 oz (240 ml), half coffee half milk serving — a concentration of 39.6 mg per 100 ml. The scale above ranks whole servings, and servings differ in size, so a larger drink can sit further right while being weaker cup for cup.

CupCura editorial estimate. No public food database has measured this preparation, so this figure is our own and is not independently sourced.

What people say

Reviews and photographs from people who have actually drunk this. Everything here has been read by a moderator before publication.

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Gear for this drink

Fellow Ode Brew Grinder Gen 2

Direct-drive motor with 64mm stainless steel flat burrs engineered specifically for pour-over, drip, and cold brew clarity.

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Sensory profile

You should taste

How it unfolds

Where it sits

What people say

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