“Why can’t my latte come out with a nice pattern?Why can others just shake the milk vat and get textured hearts and leaves? I feel like it's all lumpy... Is there something wrong with my hands? "No!" Maybe your holding position of the cylinder is wrong~
What is the principle of latte art? Why can shaking produce patterns?
The crema of espresso and the milk foam produced during the milk whipping process are free on the surface of the liquid due to their lower density. When the two blend, the milk and coffee liquid sink, while the oil and milk foam float to the top. With the sharp contrast between the two colors, a beautiful pattern is formed.
Latte art is divided into two main links: fusion + drawing. For milk foaming in the same tank, during the fusion stage, it is required to raise the mouth of the tank appropriately to inject the milk. The milk foam will be rushed into the coffee with the force, so no white color will appear on the surface. When it's time to make the pattern, you need to lower the mouth of the vat, and the milk foam will gently fall on the upper layer. Combined with different pouring techniques, you can form changeable white lines.
Beginners should choose a fixed posture to practice.
and form muscle memory~
I believe that many friends watch online videos when learning latte art. In the videos, the teachers hold the cylinder in different postures, so that everyone keeps changing the posture of holding the cylinder while learning. In the end, I found that no matter how much I practiced, the pattern on each cup was still very floating, and my wrists were still very sore.
In fact, no matter which posture you hold the vat in, there is only one purpose: to hold the vat firmly while allowing your wrists to move flexibly.One thing to note is that you should hold the latte art pot firmly, not tightly. If you grasp the milk pot too tightly, your wrists will not be able to move flexibly! The net weight of a latte art vat is about 180-280g. When milk is added, the weight will double several times. At this time, if you do not choose a comfortable position and practice for a long time, no matter how hard you work, the pattern will not be stable~
When you practice a posture for more than 20 days, it will become your habit.After forming a habit, you will find that your wrist can flexibly control the movement of the milk tank and the flow rate of the milk foam, and your hands will not shake due to muscle soreness, and the stability of the pattern will be greatly improved.
How to hold a flower pot firmly?What are the postures for holding a cylinder?
Everyone's wrist strength is different, so in many cases we need to use the grip position of our fingers for assistance. It is important to choose a comfortable cylinder holding posture! Don't forcefully practice postures that even feel awkward~
The first holding method: fist holding cylinder style (suitable for friends with small wrist strength)
Suitable for making basic patterns such as hearts, tulips, leaves, etc.
The fist-holding position is to hold the handle of the milk cylinder with all fingers. In this case, the hand strength is very strong ~But be careful not to hold on tightly to the handle! It’s not just holding it casually with your fingers, letting the handle swing freely in the space between your fingers! The former is that you hold it too hard, which will affect the flexibility of your wrist;
(grip too tightly)
The latter means that if you don’t hold it hard, the milk tank will not follow the rhythm of your wrist swing to flow out the milk foam. It may even happen that the milk tank has its own ideas and shakes out the milk foam at will. In this way, the pattern will easily appear lumpy...
(grip too loose)
The second gripping method: hold the handle with thumb and index finger (suitable for those with strong wrists)
Suitable for making patterns and combination patterns with obvious textures
This grip is similar to the first one, but the difference is that you pinch both sides of the top of the handle with your thumb and index finger, concentrate your hand strength on the two fingers, and then use your middle finger, ring finger, and little finger as auxiliary to grasp other parts of the handle. This grip can better control the flow rate of milk foam, and many baristas use it when practicing making embossing/combination patterns~
Why can I froth the milk well and hold the vat in the right position?
Just can't get out oftenGot a pattern?
First of all, it doesn’t matter if you spend a cup of latte or not! The important thing is fusion ~ because poor fusion not only affects the production of patterns, but also affects the expression of coffee flavor.
To blend evenly, keep a distance of 5-8cm between the milk vat and the coffee liquid surface, then hold the cup at an angle and use a small flow rate to blend. When blending, only rotate one of the milk jug/coffee cup, and do not rotate it at the same time. This will easily cause the milk froth and coffee to fight and cause foaming. When the blend is seven to eight minutes full, you can start making patterns~
After the fusion is completed, we can pause for a while (it cannot exceed 3 seconds, after which the milk foam will begin to layer, causing the mixed milk foam to lose its fluidity), the purpose of the pause is to stabilize the still rotating water flow and avoid subsequent pattern drift. When it comes time to draw the picture, we need to position the cup at the same time so that the milk foam can flow into the cup as the angle changes~
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