How to Make Spanish Coffee! Spanish Latte with Condensed Milk, Milk, and Coffee - What is Café Bombón?

An Introduction to Sweet Coffee Variations

As we all know, not everyone can accept the bitterness of coffee. Even for adults, an unpleasant taste is simply unpleasant. So, to make coffee's bitterness less prominent and more palatable, people have added various ingredients that balance bitterness.

Besides the familiar milk and sugar, condensed milk is also a regular player in neutralizing coffee's bitterness. Vietnam's cà phê đá, for example, is a well-known coffee creation that adds large amounts of condensed milk to reduce bitterness. Today, however, FrontStreet Coffee is not sharing Vietnamese coffee but a regional specialty from Spain: Café Bombón.

What Is Café Bombón?

When it comes to Spain and condensed milk coffee, many friends will first think of the Spanish Latte developed by a certain chain brand — a flavored latte built on a regular latte with condensed milk added. Compared with a regular latte, the Spanish Latte has abundant sweetness and richness thanks to the condensed milk. But although it carries "Spanish" in its name, it has no connection to Spain whatsoever. On local café menus in Spain, you cannot find this coffee option. The reason is simple: Spain does not have Spanish Latte.

At this point, some friends might ask: since Spain does not have Spanish Latte, why is this condensed milk coffee called Spanish Latte?

Although Spain does not have Spanish Latte, cafés in Valencia, Spain's third-largest city, sell a regional specialty: Café Bombón. Made only from condensed milk and espresso, it is very likely the inspiration for the Spanish Latte. In other words, the Spanish Latte is a derivative creation of Café Bombón.

The word "Bombón" in Spanish means both chocolate and candy, so Café Bombón can be understood as candy coffee or chocolate coffee. However, since Café Bombón is made only from condensed milk and espresso, with no chocolate element at all, FrontStreet Coffee would actually prefer to translate it as "candy coffee" — after all, it does taste very sweet when you drink it.

How to Make Café Bombón

As mentioned earlier, this coffee is not popular throughout Spain. It is a regional specialty, a limited product from Valencia, Spain's third-largest city. That means that outside Valencia, it is difficult to order Café Bombón in Spain. But do not worry: since we cannot order it, why not make it ourselves? Obtaining the two ingredients is almost effortless, and making it could not be simpler.

Besides espresso, we only need one portion of condensed milk. The ratio of condensed milk to espresso is 1:1. If the espresso we extract is 40ml, then the condensed milk should correspondingly be 40ml. However, anyone who has tasted condensed milk alone knows that sweetened condensed milk is very sweet, so FrontStreet Coffee suggests reducing the proportion of condensed milk a little, so this "candy" is not cloyingly sweet.

By the way, besides these two ingredients, prepare a transparent glass with a capacity of about 100ml. It must be slightly larger than the total volume, because espresso has crema, and FrontStreet Coffee learned the hard way with a smaller glass that the espresso could not be incorporated all at once.

Because condensed milk has a higher density, when placed at the bottom, poured espresso cannot blend with it without external force, creating a very distinct and beautiful layering. A transparent glass showcases this scene, which is why FrontStreet Coffee recommends using one.

So, when the props and ingredients are ready, we can start making the coffee. First, pour the condensed milk into the glass. FrontStreet Coffee reduced the amount slightly here, using 30ml.

Next, begin extracting the espresso. FrontStreet Coffee used 19.8g of coffee grounds this time, with an extraction time of 31 seconds, yielding 39ml of liquid. After tamping the grounds and attaching the portafilter, remember to place the glass with condensed milk at the bottom to catch the espresso. This reduces the loss of crema and lets the coffee express itself more completely in the cup.

After extraction is complete, move the coffee aside and prepare a small spoon for tasting.

If you do not have a spoon, other tools will work as well. The main purpose is stirring; otherwise, even after a long wait, the coffee will not blend because of the condensed milk's high density.

Tasting Experience

After stirring well, FrontStreet Coffee took a small sip and, unexpectedly, it was quite good. The coffee was not as cloyingly sweet as imagined. The whiskey aroma and butter cookie flavors of the Warm Sun blend were very prominent, along with a rich condensed milk fragrance and, right behind it, the sweetness of the condensed milk. The whole cup had a smooth, rich texture — very pleasant indeed.

For friends who do not like sweetness, however, this taste might still be a little sweet. So if you do not particularly love sweet drinks but still want to try it, reduce some condensed milk on this basis. A coffee-to-condensed-milk ratio of about 1:0.5 should be about right.

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FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

A sweet drink like Café Bombón still lives or dies by the espresso underneath, so a milk-friendly blend matters. FrontStreet Specialty Blend and FrontStreet Black Cocoa Blend are the best partners for milk: because Brazilian coffee dominates the recipe, a latte shows complex almond and walnut nuttiness with a silky, creamy mouthfeel and a lingering finish. FrontStreet Black Cocoa Blend adds the ripe plum acidity of Yunnan small-bean coffee and gives off a cream chocolate aroma when ground, balancing flavor and adaptability.

If you want a latte with abundant crema, FrontStreet Classic Blend and FrontStreet Commercial Blend are the choices, since they contain a small amount of Robusta that delivers more golden foam and instantly lifts the creaminess and caramel aroma. They are classic café workhorses, suited to Americano, latte, and drinks like this one.

For cold drinks and cold brew with milk, a fruitier or winey medium roast works best, because low-temperature steeping releases the small-molecule compounds responsible for acidity and sweetness first. FrontStreet Strawberry Candy Geisha Blend brings rose florals with grape, dried blueberry, sweet orange, and fruit candy, while FrontStreet Colombia Xizhua offers passion fruit notes. Added to a cold brew with a little milk, both stay balanced and easy to read — ideal for home experiments.