Café au lait
A soft brown shade like coffee mixed with milk
Café au lait is a light brown colour that matches the look of coffee blended with milk. The name comes from the French for 'coffee with milk' and was first recorded as a colour in English in 1839. Its colour coordinates are the same as Tuscan tan and French beige.
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- Café au lait is the colour of coffee mixed with milk.
- The name was first recorded in English in 1839.
- Its colour matches Tuscan tan and French beige.
- Also called coffee and milk or latte.
What colour is Café au lait?
Café au lait is a pale brown shade, similar to the colour you see when coffee is mixed with milk. It sits between darker browns and lighter beige tones, giving it a soft, creamy look. The colour is gentle and muted, not as dark as plain coffee and not as light as cream. Its appearance is identical to what you might see in a cup of latte prepared by a barista.
Where does Café au lait come from?
The name café au lait comes from French, meaning 'coffee with milk'. It was first used as a colour name in English in 1839. The shade is inspired by the typical look of this popular drink. The colour coordinates for café au lait are the same as those for Tuscan tan and French beige, which were named later in the 1920s.
Brown around the world
What the brown family means from country to country.
Brown is the colour of Nazism in German political speech, after the brown shirts of the party's stormtroopers. To call a view "brown" is to call it far right.
Politics and protestDanger and warningShameSource: SturmabteilungMasi is bark cloth beaten from paper mulberry and printed in brown and black. It is worn at weddings and funerals and given in ceremonial exchanges.
Sacred and holyWeddings and marriageSource: Tapa clothKuntunkuni is a dark brown mourning cloth of the Asante, dyed with tree bark. Adinkra cloth, stamped with symbols, was first made on such dark grounds for funerals.
Mourning and deathSadnessSource: Adinkra symbolsThe batik of the Javanese courts at Yogyakarta and Surakarta is dyed in soga brown with indigo and cream. Some court patterns were once reserved for the royal family.
Royalty and powerPrideSource: BatikBogolanfini, or mud cloth, is cotton painted with fermented river mud in browns, black and white. Hunters wear it for protection, and women after childbirth.
Protection and healingSacred and holySource: BògòlanfiniShades and relatives of Café au lait
Café au lait shares its exact colour coordinates with Tuscan tan and French beige. These names refer to the same light brown shade, though they were recorded as colour names at different times. Sometimes, café au lait is also called coffee and milk or latte.
Colours that go with Café au lait
Harmonies are worked out from the value #A67B5B. Contrast ratios follow the WCAG 2 formula.
Questions people ask about Café au lait
What colour is café au lait?
Café au lait is a light brown shade, like coffee mixed with milk. It is soft and creamy in appearance.
Where does the name café au lait come from?
The name comes from French, meaning 'coffee with milk'. It was first used as a colour name in English in 1839.
Is café au lait the same as Tuscan tan or French beige?
Yes, café au lait has the same colour coordinates as Tuscan tan and French beige. They are different names for the same shade.
Are there other names for café au lait?
Yes, it is also known as coffee and milk or latte, referring to the same light brown colour.
Good reading and sources
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Coffee (color)" (the section "Café au Lait"), written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Rang rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
It may contain mistakes. The swatch is an approximation: named colours are not fixed standards, and every screen shows them a little differently. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-03.
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