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The Story of Blue Bottle Coffee's Gibraltar Glass: How to Make Gibraltar Coffee at Home

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, If you've visited the renowned Blue Bottle Coffee chain, you've likely encountered a drink called "Gibraltar." Unlike other familiar coffee names, this term stands out as particularly unfamiliar and often mispronounced. So what exactly is this coffee beverage? FrontStreet Coffee invites you to explore the answer together today.

If you've visited a store of the renowned chain Blue Bottle Coffee, you've likely noticed a drink called "Gibraltar." Compared to other familiar names, this word seems particularly unfamiliar and is often mispronounced. So what kind of coffee is it exactly? FrontStreet Coffee is here to help you find the answer today.

What is Gibraltar?

When FrontStreet Coffee directly asked "Baidu" (China's popular search engine) about this term, we got this explanation: Gibraltar is actually the name of a city and port located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula in Europe, and it also refers to the "Strait of Gibraltar" that appears on maps.

Beyond this, it actually has another identity - it specifically refers to a glassware series produced by the American company Libbey. Founded in 1818, Libbey claims to be North America's premier glassware manufacturer, with unique technologies and innovations in the industry. The Gibraltar glass is one of their products released in 1977. In the market, many coffee shops use Libbey's Gibraltar series for their water glasses.

But in the eyes of us "coffee enthusiasts," these obviously aren't the answers we're looking for. How did a glass become a coffee drink? Don't worry, let's get to the main point now.

A Coffee Born from Buying the Wrong Glasses

Blue Bottle Coffee, hailed as the "Apple" of the coffee world, was founded in Oakland in the San Francisco Bay Area. Founder James Freeman, out of his passion for coffee, established this brand. According to him, he chose this name to pay tribute to the first coffee house in Europe, established in 1683 (The Blue Bottle).

In 2005, James was preparing for the first physical Blue Bottle Coffee store. One day, an employee accidentally bought a pile of Gibraltar glasses, mistakenly thinking they could be used for cupping. However, these glasses were too small, with only a 4.5-ounce capacity, not even enough for a standard espresso milk drink, so they were packed away in cardboard boxes and left unused.

It wasn't until later when the store acquired a new espresso machine that needed adjustment for espresso and steamed milk pairing that employees discovered these glasses' transparency and size were perfect for observing the crema condition. So they took out these small glasses again, hoping to put them to good use.

Image source: bluebottle

To create a drink that was close to a regular espresso milk drink but not as intense as drinking straight espresso, Blue Bottle's baristas began adding a small amount of warm milk with a thin layer of foam to the small glasses containing espresso. The overall ratio was between a latte and a macchiato. At that moment, a passing customer pointed at it and asked, "What is this drink?" The barista cleverly replied, "Oh! This is our Gibraltar."

Sometimes the best things happen by accident. They didn't expect to unintentionally create a drink that had never appeared on their menu, which became an instant hit after its introduction. As Blue Bottle Coffee expanded to many countries, this rich small milk coffee, specifically served in beautiful glasses, gained popularity among more people. Therefore, whenever people mention Gibraltar coffee, the first thing that comes to mind is its creator, Blue Bottle.

How to Make Gibraltar Coffee

According to the "recipe" shared by Blue Bottle Coffee, making a Gibraltar is not complicated. They use a rock glass with an octagonal beveled bottom (a cylindrical flat-bottomed glass), combining double espresso with approximately twice the amount of warm milk, and finally adding a small latte art pattern.

Using FrontStreet Coffee's daily parameters as an example: 19.8 grams of Warm Sun Blend coffee grounds are extracted to produce 36ml of espresso, while steaming a pitcher of thin-foam milk at 50-55°C, then pouring it into the prepared small glass until full. The Gibraltar glass has a capacity of about 130ml, so the ratio of coffee to milk is approximately 1:2.

FrontStreet Coffee tasted a very noticeable body sensation from this Gibraltar coffee. Compared to a Flat White, its coffee flavor is richer and more substantial, somewhat like an espresso lightly diluted with milk, but not as intense or strong as drinking straight espresso or a macchiato. It instead reminds us of another coffee with an equally difficult pronunciation - Cortado.

Both "Three-Sip" Milk Coffees: What's the Difference Between Gibraltar and Cortado?

I wonder if you remember the Cortado that FrontStreet Coffee introduced before - a Spanish coffee famous in the niche coffee circle. Mini cup size, double espresso, less milk, thin foam - Gibraltar and Cortado look almost identical. Could they be the same thing?

If we look solely at the recipe, they are indeed the same coffee. More precisely, Gibraltar should be an "improved version" of Cortado. However, some "persistent" baristas were eager to distinguish them and deliberately found the "glass" as a difference to help people remember these two coffees more quickly.

In fact, Blue Bottle founder James Freeman already gave us the answer in his book "The Blue Bottle Craft of Coffee," where he narrates the story of Blue Bottle:

"It was indeed a Cortado, but we didn't know that at the time."