Brew 120ml espresso total, equal to 4 standard 30ml shots. Let it sit for 30–60 seconds only if it is extremely hot, but do not let it go flat. The espresso should taste fresh, clean, and aromatic. Hazelnut is a soft flavour, so harsh or stale espresso stands out immediately. A gentle, soft nut flavour like hazelnut has little capacity to mask or compete with a flawed shot — clean, fresh espresso is what allows the hazelnut note to register clearly as a supporting flavour rather than getting overwhelmed by any bitterness in the coffee itself.

Divide the hazelnut syrup evenly between 2 glasses, 15ml per glass. Add a small splash of the cold milk to each glass and stir briefly to loosen the syrup. The syrup should begin dissolving into the milk base instead of sitting as a heavy layer at the bottom. This helps the sweetness distribute evenly through the drink. Loosening the syrup with a small amount of milk while the glass is still simple and mostly empty is considerably more effective than trying to mix it later, once ice and the rest of the milk have already been added on top.

Fill each glass generously with ice. Pour 150ml cold whole milk into each glass over the ice. The glasses should look pale and milk-forward, with enough room left for the espresso and finishing foam. The milk should be fully cold so the drink stays crisp and refreshing. Building on top of the already-loosened hazelnut base keeps that base's flavour distributed through the glass from the start, rather than sitting as a separate, concentrated layer beneath everything else.

Pour 60ml espresso into each glass over the milk and ice. Let it swirl through the drink naturally, then stir briefly. The drink should settle into a pale caramel-cream colour with a warm golden tint from the hazelnut syrup. It should look slightly richer than a plain iced latte, but still clearly milk-based. Pouring the espresso last, over the fully built hazelnut-milk base, is what produces the same visible swirling effect used throughout this collection's classic iced espresso drinks — the hot espresso falling through the cold, already-flavoured milk in visible ribbons before the final stir combines everything.

If you want the more polished café-style finish, froth the extra cold milk very lightly until it forms only a thin soft foam. Spoon a small amount over the top of each drink. The top should have only a very light foam layer, not a thick cappuccino-style cap. The correct finish is a thin creamy surface. Stopping well short of a substantial foam is a deliberate restraint that keeps this drink reading clearly as a latte — pushing the foam any thicker would move the presentation toward a cappuccino instead.

Drizzle a very small amount of caramel sauce over the foam surface. Place 1 whole hazelnut gently on the top of each drink and serve immediately. The caramel should be subtle, not dominant. The finished latte should still read clearly as a hazelnut latte, not a caramel drink. Keeping both the caramel drizzle and the hazelnut garnish minimal is what preserves a clean, uncluttered finish — more of either would start competing with the drink's own core identity rather than simply accenting it.