A café au lait is traditionally the French way of preparing 'coffee with milk' both at home and in Cafés in Europe. "Café au lait" stems from the same continental tradition as "caffè Latte" in Italy, "café con leche" in Spain, "kawa biała" ("white coffee") in Poland, "Milchkaffee" in Germany, "Mèlange" in Austria, "koffie verkeerd" in Netherlands, and "café com leite" in Portugal, meaning simply "coffee with milk".

In northern Europe, café au lait is the name most often used in coffee shops for what other places is a 'caffè latte'.

The term 'café au lait' has been used for espresso + milk since the 1950s in among other places the UK, Netherland, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

In the US, 'café au lait' is defined as a coffee beverage consisting strong or bold coffee (sometimes espresso) mixed with scalded milk in approximately a 1:1 ratio.