Café au lait

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Café au lait, literally "coffee with milk", is a French coffee drink prepared by mixing coffee and scalded (not steamed) milk. It is similar to Italian latte, but made with drip- or more popularly French press pot coffee instead of espresso and with scalded instead of steamed milk in 1:1 ratio.

It is a staple of the Café du Monde, the legendary coffee shop in the French Quarter section of New Orleans, Louisiana, where the coffee used for the beverage is combined with roasted chicory root.

In some American coffeehouses, a café au lait is simply a cappuccino or latte with regular brewed coffee substituted for espresso. In addition, the term "misto" is often used to refer to a café au lait.

The term is also used to refer to the complexion of mulattos or other racially-mixed people with a light brown skin tone.

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