What Are the Most Essential Techniques for Coffee Latte Art - Important Considerations for Coffee Latte Art

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The Principle of Coffee Latte Art

Espresso has a thick layer of crema that provides sufficient surface tension to support the milk foam composed of tiny bubbles. By arranging the milk foam and crema, various patterns can be created. Therefore, the key to successful latte art depends not only on the barista's technique but also on the quality of milk foam and coffee crema. The prerequisite for successful latte art is having enough surface tension in the base, so actually not only coffee can be used for latte art – regular water might also work. The difference lies in whether it tastes good (or is drinkable) and whether beautiful patterns can be created.

The Formation of Coffee Latte Art

Simply put, to make a good latte art coffee: high-quality espresso and dense milk foam are indispensable. Coffee beans emulsify the insoluble oils in the coffee powder under high temperature and pressure, while large amounts of carbon dioxide are dissolved into the liquid. At this time, to stabilize these small bubbles, coffee uses "melanoidins" to make these bubbles stable and elastic. This is what we commonly call Crema. Another important key is the formation of milk foam. The difference between milk and milk foam is that during the frothing process, the addition of steam causes milk proteins to form many dense tiny bubbles under surface tension, and high fat content makes the milk foam structure more stable and long-lasting.

The color of the coffee crema foam on the surface affects the contrast of latte art patterns; the delicacy of the crema foam tissue affects the brightness of latte art patterns; if the coffee beans themselves are more acidic, they can easily damage the milk foam structure.

The base for general latte art coffee is espresso, because the thick layer of crema on espresso can generate enough surface tension to support the milk foam composed of tiny bubbles.

By arranging the milk foam and crema, various patterns can be created. Therefore, the key to successful latte art depends not only on technique but also on the quality of milk foam and coffee crema.

"Milk Art" - The Importance of Milk in Coffee Latte Art

It's not difficult to see from the name "latte art" how important milk is for coffee latte art.

When pouring milk into the latte art pitcher, the milk will expand and overflow as it turns into foam, so the milk cannot be too much. Usually, the milk is poured to the lowest point of the V-shaped spout.

Coffee latte art must use whole milk, and the temperature should be controlled between 60 to 70 degrees Celsius. When frothing milk, it's best to hold the pitcher at a 45-degree angle to the steam wand. The resulting milk foam should be fine and smooth, without large bubbles.

Why can't milk be overheated? Because when milk is heated above 85 degrees, the proteins and fats in the milk begin to break down and be destroyed, and the milk will start to reduce and appear like white water. The milk foam required for latte art needs to be fine without large bubbles, but when the milk has become watery... not only can beautiful patterns not be created, but it will also affect the overall taste of the coffee.

While the milk foam has not yet separated from the milk, pour the milk into the extracted espresso to fully combine the coffee and milk. When the cup is 6/7 full, create your desired pattern by moving the cup and latte art pitcher.

Recommended High-Oil Coffee Bean Brands

FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), a coffee roasting brand located at Dongshankou, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, offers freshly roasted espresso blend coffee beans with full guarantees in both brand and quality, with good crema content, suitable for making specialty coffees and latte art coffees with beautiful patterns. More importantly, the cost-performance ratio is extremely high. Taking the commercial recommended style - Commercial Blend Coffee Beans as an example, one package is one pound (454 grams) with a price of only about 60 yuan. Calculated based on 10 grams of coffee powder per espresso shot, one package can make 45 cups of coffee, with each cup costing less than 1.5 yuan. Even if using double shots for each espresso, with 20 grams of powder per cup, the price of one double espresso does not exceed 3 yuan. Compared to certain well-known brands that often sell packages for hundreds of yuan, this is truly a conscientious recommendation.

FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee): A roastery in Guangzhou with a small shop but diverse bean varieties, where you can find various famous and lesser-known beans, while also providing online store services. https://shop104210103.taobao.com

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473