Essential Tools for Coffee Latte Art You Must Know! What Details Should You Pay Attention to When Using an Etching Needle? Why Do We Create Latte Art?

The Art of Coffee Latte: How to Use an Etching Needle Like a Pro

Coffee latte art has added more visual appeal to Italian hot milk coffees like lattes and cappuccinos. When a cup of coffee features an exquisite latte pattern, it always creates the impression that this coffee must taste excellent. In short, it makes coffee look more appetizing and increases people's desire to drink it. Therefore, many baristas continuously polish and practice to create more refined latte patterns.

However, there are always many fine details that cannot be accomplished by the latte pitcher alone! This is where auxiliary tools for coffee latte art come into play - the etching needle! Due to its powerful functionality, it was once called a "cheat tool" by people. But while this seemingly easy-to-use etching needle looks simple, it's actually not easy to operate in practice! Common problems when using etching needles include being unable to draw, or drawing lines that are too thick, too thin, or become blurred. So today, FrontStreet Coffee will share how to properly use this latte art artifact!

Types of Etching Needles

Etching needles come in many types, with different prices depending on the type! Inexpensive ones cost only a few yuan, while expensive etching needles cost around a hundred yuan, which is still within an acceptable range! The main difference between these etching needles lies in their overall design and the materials used! The one FrontStreet Coffee uses is a relatively common and traditional etching needle on the market.

Regardless of the price range, etching needles all have two distinctly different "heads"! One end is pen-shaped, and the other end is spoon-shaped. The pen tip is mainly used for drawing more delicate lines (smaller area patterns), while the spoon-shaped end can be used to draw large-area patterns.

Applications of Etching Needles

The use of etching needles is very diverse - they can be used in conjunction with a latte pitcher to create patterns, or they can be used to draw patterns from scratch.

(This is a demonstration!) Additionally, it can also be used to fix mistakes caused by performance errors! For example, in yesterday's swan article, FrontStreet Coffee mentioned a phenomenon: when we are making latte art, we might not be able to complete the finishing touches due to insufficient milk! In such cases, we can use the etching needle to fill in the missing parts with the pen tip!

Next, FrontStreet Coffee will share some details that need attention when using etching needles!

Details to Note When Using Etching Needles

1. Prepare Extra "Paint"

If we compare the etching needle to a paintbrush, then crema and milk foam are its paint. Many friends like to take color directly from the already mixed coffee surface, which of course is no problem! However, if we apply too much force when taking the color, it will leave a difficult-to-repair trace on this "canvas" (coffee surface), which will affect the overall aesthetics when the final image is revealed. (Like this↓)

So, we can improve this problem from two aspects! The first is to prepare some extra milk as backup! This is an operation many baristas take when etching! But this only works for white paint, that is, milk. Crema still needs to be taken from the surface, otherwise we can't just extract a little more! Therefore, when we need to dip crema, we can take it from the edge of the surface, which can minimize the impact!

2. The Degree of Dipping "Paint"

Many friends, when using etching needles for creation, may inevitably encounter such problems: although they have dipped milk/crema, they cannot draw it! Even if they forcefully draw them, they quickly become blurred and spread. This is because when we dip the "paint," we only get the layer of bubbles on the surface! This layer of bubbles is too light in mass to allow us to draw the desired effect. So we need to dip not just milk foam and crema, but also the liquid under these bubbles! This way we can better draw the ideal lines (patterns).

3. Controlling Line Thickness

When we first start using the tip to draw lines, we always can't control the thickness of the lines! Sometimes too thick, sometimes too thin. There are mainly two reasons for this kind of problem! The first is caused by dipping too much/too little "paint"; the second is due to the etching needle sinking too deep/too shallow when drawing. We can carefully observe the tip of the etching needle - most etching needles have four grooves at their tip! The function of these grooves is not only to retain milk foam but also to provide us with a reference for line thickness! The tip is the finest, and the end is the thickest. When you want to draw thread-like lines, use the pen tip to draw; when you want to draw larger area patterns such as eyes or contours, you can use the part from the second groove backward for drawing. (Bury the tip deeper)

4. Speed Up the Drawing Process

Compared to the latte pitcher, drawing patterns with an etching needle takes several times more time. This can easily cause the coffee to cool down and the milk foam to dissipate, affecting the taste while losing flavor. Therefore, we should minimize the drawing time. Before making coffee, you can practice the steps with paper and pen first, and when you are proficient, then proceed with making the coffee! This way, you can not only have a beautiful picture but also drink a delicious cup of coffee! (I hope no one noticed that FrontStreet Coffee's cover is P'd)

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FrontStreet Coffee

No. 10, Bao'an Qianjie, Yandun Road, Dongshankou, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

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Tel:020 38364473