How to Choose a Latte Art Pitcher: What's the Difference Between Pointed and Rounded Spouts? How to Create a Rosetta Tulip?

Have you ever experienced this while practicing latte art: no matter how much you practice, whenever you start creating patterns, you always feel an inexplicable obstruction preventing you from drawing the latte art patterns you imagine? If it's not a technical issue, then it's very likely that the latte art pitcher you're using isn't suitable for the current milk coffee preparation!

We can see that there are many different types of latte art pitchers on the market, each with different designs in capacity, spout, and flow channel. These design differences aren't just reflected in appearance; they also have different impacts on latte art creation. Therefore, for beginners, choosing the right latte art pitcher is crucial. Today, FrontStreet Coffee will share how different pitcher designs affect latte art, helping everyone better select a pitcher that suits them, making practice more effective and learning to create target patterns sooner~

Spout and Flow Channel

Let's start with the latte art pitcher's spout, as its design is very important for creating latte art. Latte art involves using milk foam to create white striped lines on the coffee surface, and the milk foam is delivered to the surface through the spout. Therefore, subtle changes in the spout will certainly affect the poured milk foam.

The wider the spout, the more milk foam is delivered; the narrower the spout, the less milk foam is delivered. The thickness of the final white lines will also change with the spout variation (though human control is also very important).

Just like pour-over kettle spouts, latte art pitcher spouts also have diverse and rich options. Currently, the main types of spouts on the market include: pointed spout, round spout, crocodile spout, crane spout, etc., but the most common and widely used are only pointed and round spouts. Pitchers with animal-shaped spouts like crocodile and crane can all be modified from pointed or round spouts, meaning they evolved from them, so FrontStreet Coffee won't introduce them in detail here~

Pointed Spout

The so-called pointed spout means that when viewed from above, the latte art pitcher's spout forms an inverted triangle shape. The spout entrance itself is relatively wide, with a sharp tip and no excessive curved lines. This design allows the latte art pitcher to pour more milk foam at the same tilt angle, making it very suitable for latte art patterns that require high flow rates, such as etching and leaf patterns.

Round Spout

The round spout, on the other hand, is completely opposite to the pointed spout. Round spout pitchers are relatively shallower and narrower, with the tip presenting a "U"-shaped curve. Because of this, the milk foam poured from a round spout pitcher will be more concentrated and focused, making it easier to draw thick lines and large-area patterns. Basic patterns like big white hearts and tulips are very simple to create with it. For this reason, it's more suitable for beginners to practice with.

The flow channel refers to the groove connecting the spout and the pitcher body. The flow channel mainly serves a guiding function, reducing the tilt angle and allowing the spout to better approach the coffee surface. Typically, the flow channel is designed in coordination with the spout, so we don't need to pay too much attention to its length—the spout selection is more important.

Capacity

The choice of pitcher capacity is second only to the spout in importance. There are many different capacity options for milk pitchers on the market. Many people, when unsure how to choose, often select based on the equivalent volume of their latte cups. For example, they might choose a 300ml pitcher for a 300ml latte. However, FrontStreet Coffee strongly advises against choosing pitchers this way!

This is because the vortex formed during the milk frothing process and the increase in milk volume after frothing both require sufficient space in the pitcher. Although a 300ml latte might only need 260ml of milk for preparation, which leaves some space in a 300ml pitcher, it's important to know that the proportion of milk in the pitcher determines how much the pitcher can be tilted. When the total milk amount approaches the pitcher's total capacity, it means the milk will be closer to the rim, which reduces the pitcher's tilt range, consequently keeping the spout further from the coffee surface and making latte art creation more difficult. (In the image on the left, the milk reaches nine-tenths full, while in the image on the right, the milk only reaches six-tenths of the pitcher's position)

Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee suggests choosing a pitcher with at least double the capacity of your usage amount. For example, a 240ml latte might use 200ml of milk, so our selection range could be pitchers of 450ml or larger. This way, when 200ml of milk is poured into the pitcher, it reaches less than half the height, which not only allows for better milk frothing but also gives the pitcher a greater tilt range during latte art creation, allowing the spout to get closer to the liquid surface, making pattern creation easier!

However, FrontStreet Coffee doesn't recommend choosing a pitcher with several times the capacity of your milk usage. Although this would give the pitcher a greater tilt range, it would also bring more negative effects. Suppose we're using a 750ml pitcher to make a 240ml latte. If we only pour 200ml of milk, the milk level won't be high enough for the steam wand to be fully submerged to create a vortex, increasing the difficulty of frothing. If someone chooses to add more milk to raise the level, this would create waste. Since the latte cup can't accommodate more milk, there would still be a large amount of milk remaining in the pitcher after making the latte. For this excess hot milk, would you choose to drink it? Or pour it away?

So for beginners, a pitcher with appropriate capacity is the best choice! Of course, you could also purchase two pitchers like professional competitors do—one large, one small. Use the small one to froth milk, then pour the frothed milk foam into the large pitcher for latte art creation. This not only solves the milk frothing problem but also achieves better artistic results. However, the premise is spending more money and washing an additional pitcher. How you choose depends entirely on yourself~

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