¿CALIENTE o TEMPLADO? Coffee culture Spanish style

Coffee in the United States has more variations than a politician has enemies. I worked in a coffee shop many moons ago and remember the customers asking for single latte skim, double shot of hazelnut, a touch of mocha and extra foam, all of that they could spit out in one breath. I also remember the full pot of coffee that I used to make each morning before heading out the door (carry mug in hand filled to the rim). I remember seeing the other people just like me drinking their coffee out of their thermal mugs in their cars, and at work. Morning coffee was a ritual I clung to like a child with their first blanket. A morning without coffee was worse than a curse, something unthinkable, surreal.
Here in Spain, when I first arrived a few years ago, I admit that I looked long and hard to replace my thermal coffee cup (I left mine at home, thinking that they would have them everywhere). Finally when I found one, and began using it, I was surprised by the banter from my Spanish colleagues, who had never seen such a contraption. They were dumbfounded that I would prefer to carry my own coffee from home around with me. The coffee at the bar next door was just fine, they said. They didn't understand that for me it was a question of quantity not quality. After losing my coffee cup, having to buy another, and then losing that one, I gave up. Now I go to the bar like a "regular" Spaniard to ask for a "café con leche". It still gets me everytime, the way they ask me, "caliente o templado?" (hot or luke warm?). With all of the variations for coffee that existed to me before, no one had ever proposed luke warm coffee. The truth is though, it is just right!