View from a table.
Above: a café noisette (strong espresso w/its small pitcher of hot milk); an espresso
***
In France, strong black espresso is the preferred coffee after lunch or dinner and a café crème is the coffee choice of the morning. Order a café in France and you will get an espresso. Order an espresso and, while the waiter will understand, in French it’s a café express. The noisette is an express with a nice drop of milk. Sometimes I order an express with hot milk (it won’t be cream) on the side to add as I like, and it’s still considered a café noisette. In Spain the café noisette is a cortado, and while it's starting to appear under the Italian name macchiato - an excuse to make it more expensive - a café noisette should only cost slightly more than an espresso. - BPJ
