Homemade Latte Coffee Recipe | How to Make Delicious Latte Coffee?

Latte comes from the Italian word latte and refers to coffee made by mixing milk with espresso in a set proportion. It belongs to the wider specialty coffee family.

The original latte came from Vienna, the city of music. Viennese drinkers took up coffee as early as the 17th century. At the time the Turkish army failed in its attack on Vienna and left behind 500 bags of coffee beans in its hurried retreat. Those beans became the raw material for Vienna's first coffee house. To suit European palates, the shop owners filtered the coffee grounds and added a generous amount of milk, making bitter black coffee smooth and sweet. The flavour captivated Vienna, and milk coffee spread around the world.

The ingredients for a latte are simple: espresso and milk, with no fixed ratio, mostly somewhere between 1:5 and 1:8. FrontStreet Coffee uses a 1:6 ratio, adding 40g of espresso to 240g of milk.

Espresso is a pure black coffee liquid, small in volume yet rich and fragrant, with golden foam on top, made by forcing hot water through coffee powder under steam pressure. Though it rarely appears on café menus, it is the base of everyday americanos, lattes and cappuccinos, the soul of the coffee shop. For a hot latte, FrontStreet Coffee pours the espresso into a pre-warmed cup, then uses the machine's steam to froth the milk. The milk is best kept between 55-65°C to build a fine, moderately thick layer of foam, which is then blended evenly with the coffee. The latte art is the finishing touch.

FrontStreet Coffee's hot latte shows the sweet aroma of liqueur-filled chocolate with a cream-like smoothness. For an iced latte, FrontStreet Coffee first fills the cup with 75g of ice cubes plus 25ml of fresh milk, then extracts 40g of coffee liquid and pours it over the surface. Before drinking, FrontStreet Coffee reminds guests to stir thoroughly.

Speaking of iced lattes, FrontStreet Coffee wants to mention Dirty coffee, which has been popular since 2019. Hot espresso is poured over frozen milk to create distinct layers. The espresso sinks along the edge of the cup, giving the impression of turning dirty. Dirty is usually a smaller serve than an iced latte, and it is best drunk immediately to catch the hot-and-cold contrast.

Below are the step-by-step guides FrontStreet Coffee has put together for making iced lattes and Dirty coffee at home, ready to follow directly.

How to Make Iced Latte:

Step 1: Take out a cup with a capacity of about 300ml.

Step 2: Add 80g of ice and pour in 170ml of milk.

Step 3: Grind 20g of coffee powder and extract a 38ml espresso. Adjust the numbers to suit your equipment and how the beans are behaving on the day.

Step 4: Pour the espresso into the cup holding the ice and milk.

Step 5: Stir well and it is ready to drink.

How to Make Dirty Coffee:

Preparation: The cup needs to be chilled thoroughly in the freezer so the glass itself is ice cold. Because Dirty depends on the contrast between hot and cold, the steps below should be done back to back for the best effect.

Step 1: Prepare a cup that has been placed in the freezer in advance.

Step 2: Pour in 180ml of iced milk.

Step 3: Grind a portion of coffee powder, fill it into the portafilter and tamp it firmly.

Step 4: While the espresso is extracting, place the cup under the brew head so the espresso floats completely on top of the iced milk.

Step 5: When the espresso extraction finishes, it is ready to drink. Taking slightly larger sips will help you taste the layers of a Dirty.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

For milk drinks like these, the bean matters as much as the technique, because crema is what carries the texture. FrontStreet Coffee's Classic Blend is the first choice for espresso and moka pot use: even a beginner with an ordinary home machine can pull a dense, fine crema. It is built on the traditional Mamba formula of Mandheling and Brazil with a small addition of Robusta for aroma and oil, and it releases clear butter, toasted bread and caramel biscuit aromas with a strong, solid body that makes latte art much easier.

If you like a nuttier, creamier profile, FrontStreet Coffee's Specialty Blend pairs washed Colombian coffee with semi-washed Brazilian coffee in a medium-dark roast. It shows nuts, dark chocolate and caramel, and whether you make an americano, a latte or a flat white, the cream, almond and cocoa notes come through, with crema that stands up to a café's. FrontStreet Coffee's Commercial Blend starts from the same idea and adds a small amount of Robusta for more fine, deep-brown crema and extra weight, so americano, latte and mocha all carry nut, cocoa and caramel and the pouring becomes easier still.

For the recipes above, that crema and body are exactly what a 1:6 latte and a layered Dirty need, so one of these three blends is the practical place to start before you worry about anything else.