For those who aren’t familiar with it, Magic is style of coffee that was born in Melbourne Australia somewhere in the last 10 years. It’s a double ristretto with equal part latte frothed milk, served in a 5oz cup.
It’s quite niche, and not found on most menus even in Australia, though some of the more “snobby” cafes that want to be seen to take coffee seriously will list it. Even more will know what it is when you order it, even if it’s not on the menu.
Yet somehow, it seems like every second cafe in Buenos Aires, Argentina has magic on the menu. It’s arguably more popular there than in Australia.
And I am so curious how this came about! Does anyone have the coffee history behind this that they can share?
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It sounds like a cortado, though that is usually an equal volume of steamed milk, not frothed. Those have been popular in Spain for a long time, though that doesn’t really answer your question about Buenos Aires.
They’re similar in that they both aim for equal ratios of milk to coffee, but the Magic is explicitly a double ristretto rather than a single espresso.
Though the similarity (cortado is popular in Buenos Aires too) could explain why the magic is popular. Though it still leaves me curious about how it came to be so prevalent.
That is going to be a very strong cup of coffee. A ristretto is a triple shot! I used to get macchiato ristretto in an even smaller cup and it was yum yum buzz buzz.
A ristretto is the same amount of ground coffee as an espresso, but with only half the water drawn over it. It’s not a triple shot, but a double ristretto is definitely stronger than a single espresso shot
