Why can't latte art milk temperature exceed 70°C? What milk is most suitable for making latte coffee?

What is Coffee Latte Art?

Coffee latte art refers to the practice and patterns created with milk foam on coffee. While latte art doesn't add any flavor enhancement to the coffee, it significantly enhances the visual experience, bringing greater satisfaction to both baristas and customers.

But did you know that the mere difference between having latte art or not can significantly change the requirements for milk? If you simply want to make a milk coffee, any type of milk can satisfy this simple task. However, if you want to create an exquisite latte art pattern on your milk coffee, the requirements become much more demanding! For instance, the milk should preferably be whole milk, it should be stored refrigerated, and the temperature should not exceed 70°C...

Although these aren't mandatory requirements, if we want to more easily create beautiful, long-lasting latte art patterns, these requirements are worth noting! So today FrontStreet Coffee will share why milk used for latte art should ideally meet these three conditions!

Why is Whole Milk Best for Latte Art?

Milk contains abundant various substances such as proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and minerals. When we froth milk, proteins and fats play a crucial role in forming and stabilizing the foam. When the steam wand injects air into the milk, proteins and fats wrap around the gas to form bubbles, which are then cut and refined through the vortex created by adjusting the pitcher's position, resulting in a delicate, smooth foam.

The higher the protein and fat content in milk, the more stable the foam becomes and the slower it dissipates, which works similarly to the crema in espresso. Therefore, whole milk is more suitable for latte art production than skim milk because it contains relatively more and more complete fats and proteins, allowing the created latte art patterns to be more delicate and longer-lasting. Additionally, the texture of the coffee will be more outstanding due to the preservation of more complete substances, such as having higher sweetness and richer body.

Why Should Frothed Milk Temperature Not Exceed 70°C?

As commonly known, milk frothing has a golden temperature range, which is between 55°C~65°C. More strictly, this range can be narrowed to 60°C~65°C.

When milk temperature rises to this range, lactose gets broken down, giving the milk higher sweetness—meaning the resulting milk coffee will taste sweeter. At the same time, proteins can stretch better, providing more stable bubble support. Therefore, milk frothing temperature is typically in the 55°C~65°C range, not exceeding 70°C. Once it exceeds 70°C, both the texture of the milk and the quality of the foam will decline. Excessive temperature causes lactose to caramelize faster, reducing sweetness. Meanwhile, substances like proteins and fats will denature and decompose, leading to three negative consequences: ① Decreased foam stability with faster dissipation; ② Reduced foam fluidity, increasing latte art difficulty; ③ Thinner milk texture. These are all irreversible negative effects—even if the milk temperature drops, the texture will not recover.

So, FrontStreet Coffee suggests that when frothing milk, try not to let the temperature exceed 70°C. Of course, this isn't a mandatory requirement. For example, when coffee shops prepare takeaway coffee, they might froth the milk hotter to ensure customers still receive a warm cup. This is a compromise that sacrifices texture and flavor, so how to balance these factors depends on your ultimate purpose for the coffee.

Why Should Milk Be Stored Refrigerated?

Although many milk products can be stored at room temperature, when it comes to coffee latte art, they are almost always stored in the refrigerator. Why? Because this increases the time available for refining the foam.

As FrontStreet Coffee mentioned earlier, milk frothing mainly involves two key processes: foaming and refining. Foaming is the step of injecting air into milk to form bubbles; refining involves cutting the formed bubbles into countless tiny bubbles, making them finer. Since the target temperature for milk frothing is already fixed at 55°C~65°C, the refining time is affected by the initial milk temperature. When steam intensity and refining techniques are the same, the lower the milk temperature, the longer the refining time. Longer refining time creates finer and more stable foam. Therefore, people typically obtain lower temperatures by storing milk refrigerated, thus achieving longer refining time.

However, it's worth noting that when refining time is too long, the milk will contain excessive moisture, which can cause the foam to atomize during latte art, making the pattern blurry. Therefore, how to store milk specifically needs to be determined in combination with your coffee machine's steam intensity. These are the reasons why there are specific requirements for milk used in latte art. Everyone can pay appropriate attention to these factors before making latte art to better create ideal patterns!

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