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Coffee latte art is one of the signature skills of baristas, and its expressions are diverse and complex. Why is it so easy for a barista to make such a beautiful and delicious cup of latte art? It all requires practice step by step.
Therefore, in the process of learning coffee latte art, novices should practice persistently, constantly summarize and communicate patiently, so that they can master latte art skills faster and better.
In this article, FrontStreet Coffee will talk to you about the tips for making coffee latte art, as well as graphic explanations, and teach you "step by step" how to make a simple heart-shaped latte art pattern~
Before making latte art, you need moderately thick, delicate and smooth milk foam. The thickness of the milk foam determines the smoothness and uniformity of the fusion of milk and coffee, as well as the resistance when forming patterns. The delicate and smooth milk foam determines the taste of latte coffee.
Want to create delicate, smooth and delicious milk froth?
Pay attention to these 5 tips! ! !
1. Before frothing the milk, turn on the steam wand to drain the condensation water to avoid the impact of condensation water causing big bubbles in the milk after putting the milk page in.
2. The steam wand is placed in the milk vat at an angle of 45 degrees, which allows the steam of the milk to form a small vortex during the impact and sweep away the bubbles on the surface of the milk.
3. Put the steam wand into the milk liquid level to a depth of 0.8cm-1cm. If it is placed too deep, the hole of the steam wand cannot contact the air to form a vortex; if it is too shallow, the steam will hit the milk surface, forming rough milk foam and causing the milk to splash.
4. The inflation process only takes 4-5 "squeaks". Adjust the depth of the steam head to 0.3cm and then turn on the steam switch. You will hear a "squeak" sound. This is the inflation stage. The thickness of the milk foam for making latte art is 1cm, so we don’t need to over-inflate it. After hearing the squeaking sound for 4-5 times, adjust the depth of the milk stick back to 0.8-1cm, maintain the 45-degree angle to create a vortex to eliminate rough bubbles, and heat it to the appropriate temperature.
5. According to the experience of FrontStreet Coffee, the milk temperature for making latte/other milk coffee only needs to be heated to 55-65 degrees Celsius, and the maximum does not exceed 70 degrees Celsius.
Because in these temperature ranges, when lactose and other sugars are most "active", when mixed with espresso, you can feel the natural sweetness of milk to neutralize the bitterness of espresso.
After whipping up fine and silky milk froth,
Next, let’s learn about the 5 principles of coffee latte art.
1. It is important that the milk and coffee are blended evenly! It not only determines the cleanliness of the pattern background, but also determines the taste of the entire cup of latte coffee.
The general fusion technique is to stir in one direction. Hold the coffee cup in your left hand and the raffia vat in your right hand. The two hands are staggered half a circle and perform relative circular movements. The stirring intensity of one high and one low can easily fully mix the coffee and milk. As for the size of the circle, Front Street recommends making the largest circle without hitting the wall.
2. High fusion, low output. The production of the pattern is actually after the milk and coffee are fused. Due to the difference in density, white milk foam will appear floating on the surface. In fact, if we shake the milk vat, we can make the pattern flow out to form different lines.
For the same milk foam, when the cylinder spout is raised, the milk foam will be rushed into the coffee without white lines appearing. When the cylinder spout is lowered, the milk foam will float on the surface and white streaks will appear.
3. The placement point and trajectory of the drawing. Different patterns have different placement points, for example, the heart shape is 1/4 point. Still taking the heart shape as an example, if the placement point is in the center, the entire heart shape will be positioned downward.
Moreover, this situation must be analyzed based on the amount of fusion and the thickness of the milk foam. A large amount of fusion or thick milk foam will reduce the convection effect, so the drawn pattern will be smaller. If the amount of fusion is less or the milk foam is thin, then the overall convection effect will be better and the pattern will be larger.
4. Make pictures as you like. Don't be too nervous when holding the milk bottle! Relax your hands, and after blending, gently and evenly shake the milk jug left and right, so that the milk foam can flow to the surface more smoothly, and at the same time, position the coffee cup to form convection.
When drawing the pattern, the coffee cup held in the left hand should slowly return the cup to the right position. The normal convection phenomenon is that when pouring milk in the middle, you will see the milk foam "rushed" out from the middle, and there will be a backflow phenomenon on both sides, that is, the pattern will become full. The thinner the milk foam, the more obvious this phenomenon is. For example, if we want to draw a heart shape, embossed tulips require convection.
5. Latte art finishing. When you pull out the picture you want, first restrain your joyful mood, because if the finishing step is not done well, the whole pattern will collapse. Taking the heart-shaped pattern as an example, the normal ending should be to gradually pull up and move forward when the coffee cup is 90% full, and gradually reduce the amount of milk. Remember not to continue pouring milk into the heart-shaped tail after it is formed, as this will weigh down the entire heart~
You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.
The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.
FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.
FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473
