Beginner's Guide to Coffee Latte Art: Simple Heart Latte Art Tutorial for Espresso Lattes

Espresso coffee art is the ultimate expression of blending hot milk and coffee liquid. When making milk coffee at FrontStreet Coffee, customers often request latte art. In latte art, steaming milk foam is crucial—only by creating smooth, textured foam can the full flavor of milk coffee be expressed. Today, FrontStreet Coffee will teach everyone how to steam milk foam and create some simple latte art patterns.

How FrontStreet Coffee Chooses

FrontStreet Coffee has selected a blend as the standard offering for espresso coffee in their shops. Currently, they use a blend combining FrontStreet Coffee's sherry barrel-processed coffee beans with FrontStreet Coffee's natural-processed Yirgacheffe Red Cherry Project beans.

Coffee Bean Information

Coffee Bean Name: Frontsteet Sunflower Warm Sunshine Espresso Blend

Blend Bean Source: Frontsteet Honduras Sherry Barrel, Frontsteet Yirga Red Cherry Project Natural Process

Cupping Notes: Vanilla, cream, fermented wine aroma, citrus, chocolate

Extraction Parameters

Coffee Dose: 14.5 grams

Espresso Yield: 20 grams

Extraction Time: 28 seconds

How FrontStreet Coffee Steams Milk Foam

1. Milk Pitcher and Milk Quantity

If your milk pitcher is 450ml, you should use approximately 200-250ml of milk. If the pitcher is 500-650ml, use about 300-350ml of milk.

2. Open Steam Wand and Purge

Before steaming milk foam, purge the steam wand to clear condensed water from the steam tube.

3. Milk Pitcher Positioning Angle

Position the steam wand holes toward the 2-3 o'clock or 9-10 o'clock position. The steam wand tip should be submerged 2/3 into the milk—not too deep, and avoid touching the pitcher's walls and bottom. Also, don't position it too shallow, or large bubbles will continuously form on the surface.

4. Milk Frothing

Draw surface air into the milk to create foam. You'll hear a "hissing" sound of air being drawn in. (If you hear a piercing noise or no sound after turning it on, it means you're not in the frothing process).

5. Texturing

Eliminate large bubbles and layering through a vortex. Adjust the angle between the steam wand and milk (not the contact point) to create a vortex in the pitcher. Through this vortex, tear apart the foam created during frothing, breaking large bubbles into fine ones, and allowing the upper foam to merge with the lower milk.

Stop the frothing process at the right time—when the milk temperature reaches 55-65°C, turn off the steam and then remove the steam wand.

6. Tap the Pitcher After Steaming

The purpose is to burst any remaining large bubbles on the foam surface, making it look smoother and more delicate.

How FrontStreet Coffee Creates Latte Art

1. Heart

① Lower the milk pitcher close to the cup and begin pouring from the center of the liquid surface.

② While holding the cup steady with your left hand, increase the flow rate with your right hand and gradually straighten the pitcher. You'll see the foam floating on top gradually forming a circle and slowly expanding.

③ When the cup reaches nearly 180°, the foam circle has taken shape. Raise the pitcher in place while reducing the flow (be careful not to push forward while raising). Use the downward impact of the milk flow to press the upper coffee liquid down, and you'll see the original circle develop a heart-shaped groove with side flows converging toward the center.

④ Once the heart-shaped groove appears, you can push forward to create the pointed tail of the heart.

⑤ A solid heart is born.

2. Leaf

1. First, fully blend the milk with coffee liquid. Shake the latte art pitcher from the center of the cup backward to create an onion heart pattern until the cup is 8/10 full, then stop pouring milk.

2. Rotate the cup 180 degrees. At this point, tilt your cup slightly and place the milk pitcher behind the original pattern to begin pouring milk.

3. Begin pushing forward to create a circular arc, then a second and third, raising the angle to form a heart. Pull all the lines to finish, and the reverse pattern will appear.

3. Tulip

1. Blend the milk and coffee well, find the center point of the cup, get close to the cup and increase the flow to maximum until a white ball appears on the coffee surface, then stop pouring.

2. The second pouring point should be slightly further back. Pour with high flow until a white ball appears, then stop pouring.

4. Repeat step 3 several times to create a tulip.

5. After the last heart appears, raise the angle and reduce the flow to a thin line, finishing with a straight line.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on private WeChat, ID: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473