The birth of my favorite hashtag, #dailycortado

By Patrick Janelle

Good coffee, like fine wine, craft beer, organic foods and cage-free-farmed poultry, has become an ubiquitous staple of modern urban culture. Images of “third-wave” coffee shops—expertly roasted beans, tightly pulled espresso shots, delicate latte art poured from steamed milk or milk-like-substitutes, and photo-ready interiors—have proliferated across Instagram and are just as common coming from New York, Paris, and Melbourne as they are from villages and towns in between. My history with coffee started, like the best of us, with frequent visits to (and a short employment history with) Starbucks when I was coming of age in a suburban Colorado town

The hashtag #dailycortado has been tagged on nearly two hundred thousand Instagram posts.

These days, rather than grabbing a coffee from the nearest chain, I go out of my way for the tastiest cup, the most charming ambience, and, usually, the perfect cortado. The word cortado (“to cut” in Spanish) originated as a Spanish beverage in which the espresso is “cut” with a small amount of milk, similar to the Italian macchiato. The modern version is defined by its perfect one-to-one balance of espresso and steamed milk. This more international version, which was once the off-menu drink of choice by baristas in the know, is now one of the most popular beverages at coffee shops around the world. As the number of cafes where the quality of espresso is vigilantly monitored has grown, the tastes of coffee drinkers have also shifted, embracing this espresso-forward beverage. The rise in the drink’s popularity is also due in large part to the consistent documentation of coffee on social media. Not to mention the hashtag #dailycortado, which has been tagged on nearly two hundred thousand Instagram posts since I created it in August of 2012.