# Blue Bottle at Fifteen: The Dainty Au Lait

## A story of off-menu deliciousness

We select and brew our [coffees](/content/store/coffee/index.html) so that they’re delicious, even—or especially—when served black. Though our founder, James, recommends tasting any new coffee before adding condiments in his book, [_The Blue Bottle Craft of Coffee_](/content/store/blue-bottle-craft-of-coffee/index.html), we’ve never aspired to dogmatism, especially when it comes to your morning ritual.

Nothing demonstrates this better than the Dainty Au Lait, a delicious off-menu item dreamed up by [Caitlin Freeman](http://www.modernartdesserts.com/), Blue Bottle’s founding pastry chef and mastermind of our infamous [Liège wafels](/content/frequency/new-blue-bottle-breakfast-lunch-menu/index.html). By adding steamed milk to her [single origin or blend](/content/store/coffee/index.html) of the morning—two parts for every part of coffee—Caitlin came up with a creamier version of her morning drink, and with no judgment at all from James, who describes the Dainty Au Lait’s lightness as follows: “You would just whisper the word 'coffee' into a cup and the rest was steamed milk.”

We pride ourselves on our existing menu, but we want our guests to know that you don’t have to be a Blue Bottler yourself to tweak your drink to your liking. Hotter or colder, milkier or blacker—your barista is happy to help.