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Can you make me a Cortado please?

A couple of months ago I stumbled upon an info graphic that depicts popular coffee drinks around the world, and thought I'd give some of these drinks a try. I started with the cortado: a drink that is popular in Spain, Portugal, and Columbia, and consists of one part espresso, and one part steamed milk.

Almost every coffee shop that I went to had no idea how to make the drink, and it became a great conversation starter with the coffee barista, describing where I stumbled upon the recipe, and what other coffees are popular in different regions of the world.  I was pleasantly surprised when one barista at Peet's coffee knew how to make the drink from his travels to Spain. He also suggested modifications to the drink that would make it more delicious including using whole milk instead of 2%, adding another shot of espresso, and sweetening the drink with one pack of brown sugar. The final combination is my current favorite.
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