Why Piccolo and Cortado Rarely Appear on Café Menus in China | Coffee Culture Explained

 This question came up because not long ago, a café-owner friend of mine asked me for advice. He was considering adding a specific coffee bean to his menu specifically for making Piccolo, and wanted to know whether consumers today are interested in Piccolo coffee, and whether many cafés are actually serving it.

My response at the time more or less touched on the core issue behind why certain coffee drinks struggle to make it onto café menus.

That conversation got me thinking—it perfectly captures the fundamental pain point behind why drinks like Piccolo and Cortado are so rarely seen on menus in China. Before we dive into the deeper market dynamics, it’s worth clarifying what these drinks actually are. Piccolo and Cortado are simply two classic examples I’m using here, but what truly defines them is a shared characteristic: a much smaller cup size than most mainstream milk-based coffees, with a stronger emphasis on flavor clarity and technical execution.

A Piccolo typically uses a ristretto as its espresso base—a shorter extraction using less water, resulting in a sweeter, more concentrated shot with lower perceived acidity and bitterness. It’s then paired with finely textured milk and served in a small glass, usually around 100 ml. The coffee flavor remains prominent, while the milk enhances smoothness and sweetness.

A Cortado, on the other hand, is made with a standard double espresso and served in a slightly larger glass or ceramic cup, usually around 150 ml. The goal is a near-perfect balance between coffee and milk, producing a rich yet silky texture.

Both drinks are classic examples of small-volume, bold-flavored milk coffees. Their rarity in Chinese cafés can largely be traced back to one core reason: the powerful combination of consumer perception inertia and commercial efficiency. When a product deviates from the established mainstream framework, it immediately incurs a higher “explanation cost” in marketing and service.

From a cognitive standpoint, “latte” has effectively become synonymous with milk coffee for most consumers. Many customers have little desire to explore or differentiate between milk-based coffee styles. Ordering a latte requires zero mental effort. In contrast, unfamiliar terms like Piccolo and Cortado are harder to remember and don’t immediately convey what the drink is. Baristas must spend extra time explaining that it’s a smaller cup, stronger in coffee flavor, and more intense than a latte—raising both communication costs and decision-making friction at the counter.

In response, many cafés intentionally simplify their menus, often dividing offerings into just “black coffee” and “white coffee.” While this reduces cognitive load for customers, it also blurs the distinctions between different milk-based drinks. Terms like Piccolo and Cortado then feel obscure and academic, requiring additional learning and memory—something that runs counter to fast-paced consumer behavior.

From a business perspective, every additional SKU increases costs related to inventory, preparation, and quality control. Maintaining a simplified black-and-white coffee framework lowers customer barriers and maximizes operational efficiency. Another critical factor is perceived value. For many customers, whether a coffee feels “worth it” is less about how good it tastes and more about cup size versus price. A larger cup at a lower price creates a stronger sense of value—a deeply ingrained mindset in offline retail—which puts small, concentrated drinks like Piccolo and Cortado at a disadvantage.

There’s also the matter of taste preference. Beyond caffeine consumption for alertness, many Chinese coffee drinkers are not accustomed to intensely coffee-forward flavors. This is precisely why lattes enjoy such broad appeal—they’re smooth, approachable, and easy to drink. Piccolos and Cortados, by design, emphasize coffee flavor while retaining milk texture. For latte drinkers, these drinks can feel “too strong” or heavy.

Lastly, the technical difficulty should not be underestimated. Achieving proper milk-to-espresso balance in such a small volume is challenging. Creating a harmonious texture—and even latte art—in a tiny cup requires a high level of skill. On top of that, cafés need to invest in specialized small cups for a category that may not sell frequently, adding cost and storage pressure.

Ultimately, today’s café menus in China are shaped by strong mainstream demand and highly efficient commercial logic.

It’s not that Piccolos and Cortados aren’t good drinks—they’re simply at a disadvantage in the current market because they require explanation, take slightly longer to execute, and appear small in volume. For most cafés right now, promoting and selling lattes is far more efficient than educating customers about Piccolos or Cortados.

That said, both industry professionals and consumers can grow together. As coffee culture continues to mature and palates become more refined, these once-niche espresso-based milk drinks may one day follow a similar path to pour-over coffee—gradually moving from the margins to a much broader stage.