How to Make Latte Art

Lately, we just brought in a latest collection to our house hold.

It was actually has been in my want-list long ago, just that we recently find the right excuse opportunity to buy it. (Will blog about the opportunity later)

It is this DeLonghi Espresson Maker.

 

And so, after buying all the necessary ingredients (grounded coffee  powder, milk, etc) and some utensils (espresso cups, milk pitcher, etc, with full anticipation, we finally get our hands dirty and made our first espresso.

All these while, the discussion on what kind of flowery patterns that we are gonna create on top of the espresso ended into dust.

Turned out that, we couldn't even manage to get the first step successful.

We couldn't even get the foam of the milk up.

It really was not that easy as it looks like, from all the barista video that you've seen. Trust me. It's really not easy to get the foam.

 

 

Anyway, I've searched thru the internet, and found a very detailed site that taught all these Latte Art thingie step by step here…… 

Here's the summary :-

  1. Pour enough milk for one cup into the steam pitcher. Put the steam wand at the bottom of the pitcher. Turn on the steam, and slowly raise the wand until it is near the top of the milk. Lower the pitcher as the milk rises so the steam wand stays 1 cm away from the top of the milk. The milk should not stretch too much nor should there be any big bubbles. Create a smooth, velvety milk as opposed the foam that sits atop most espresso drinks.
  2. Allow the milk to reach 80 ºF (27 ºC), then place the steam wand on the side of the pitcher, deep into the milk, positioning the pitcher to spin counterclockwise. Keep doing this motion until the milk heats to 150 ºF to 160 ºF (65 ºC – 70 ºC). Shut the steam and remove the steam wand and thermometer from the milk. Clean the steam wand with a wet cloth.

  3. Vigorously swirl the milk. If you see any bubbles, pound the pitcher on the counter several times and go back to swirling the milk for 20 to 30 seconds. Do this even while the espresso is pouring.

  4. Start pouring the milk into the espresso. To create a flower pattern, pour the milk into the bottom part of the cup, about an inch (2 cm – 3 cm) away from the bottom. Once the cup is about half filled, shake the pitcher back and forth while slowly moving it backwards. The flower design will move forward, filling the cup. Do this with a shaking motion originating at the wrist instead of moving your hand back and forth.
  5. Once the foam reaches the top, pour the milk up the center of the pattern you created. Use a minimal amount of milk to avoid sinking the flower pattern.

  6. Embellish the design using stencils, powder, and milk foam. This step is optional, as many prefer to limit their latte art to "free form" methods, but you may want to experiment with the possibilities added by "etching."

 

 

Practice makes perfect.

I don't wish to get into that level immediately, but I believe with more practice in the coming weekends, sometime, someday, I'll be able to make that kind of Latte Art.

hmmmm ….. a Semi-pro Barista …………

:p

 

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