A cup of coffee?

"¿Un cafelito?" (commonly said using a diminutive suffix) is the best of all possible questions a friend could ask me. This is because I am into coffee, big time. I'm grateful it exists. I love having coffee. Especially the one brewed and served in Seville. Especially the one had with a dear friend. Chatting unstoppably or being quiet and simply enjoying being together. Fair enough, right? It's just that, why here... Well, since it is of excellent quality in Andalusia. It's made properly. I love its smell and taste, its foam and strenght. See, I don't love it in every possible way. I love it strong. But it has been a lot of work to finally have it asked as Sevillians have such a vocabulary when it comes to ordering a café. For now I have managed to learn some of the more common terms. Luckily, it's an espresso-based coffee culture and you can't go all wrong. It may well sound like a rocket science or near impossible for many, but only at the first sight, because it's not that complicated at all. It's actually really logical. Let us see, shall we?

• Café solo – a simple strong coffee without milk, a shot of espresso par excellence

• Café doble – two strong coffees at the same time (i.e. in the same cup or glass), a double shot of espresso 
• Café corta(d)o – a strong coffee of the same amount that of a shot of espresso (i.e. ¾ of a cup) with a little (a drop or more) hot milk added to fill the cup or glass

• Café con leche – a strong coffee with whatever amount and kind of milk you ask for (hot, cold, whole, skimmed, etc.) served in a larger cup or glass than a cortado and often directly in front of the customer as the amount of milk varies depending on his or her preferences

• Café mancha(d)o – a short coffee with milk containing proportionally much less coffee than milk and being with this weaker than a con leche and the polar opposite of a cortado

• Café templa(d)o – a lukewarm coffee that, if it comes as a cortado, con leche or manchado, is cooled down with cold milk 
• Café solo largo – a coffee lengthened (diluted) with hot water containing half the amount of caffeine that of a solo
• Café solo con hielo – a solo largo in the cup or glass of a con leche (i.e. big) accompanied by a glass of "on the rocks" with as much ice in it as wanted and with coffee poured over the ice, not the other way around

• Café carajillo – a strong sweet coffee with cognac, brandy or liquorice-flavoured liqueur served in a small heatproof glass usually with coffee beans and citrus peel
• Café bombón – a strong coffee with sweetened condensed milk (a little less than half of the glass) served in a small heatproof glass (carajillo glass) displaying a nice contrast of colours that disappears with stirring

• Café solo descafeinado – a machine-brewed decaf coffee (de máquina) or an instant one from a sachet (de sobre)

In fact, there are a few more sorts or variations available here (like, café suizo – a solo topped with whipped cream, café sombra – the intermediate between a cortado and a manchado with more milk than coffee, etc.), but I have never heard anyone talking about or ordering them.

Generally, each meal in or out is accompanied or ended with coffee. Everyone has the time and money to go to cafetería (or pastelería), in spite of the crisis, while coffee is usually priced around 1 euro. Hardly anyone gets their coffee "to go", having a cuppa here is a rite in itself. It isn't just refueling. The emphasis is on creating close social bonds lingering over coffee.