Tutorial: The Simplest Latte Art Steps for Beginners | What's the Best Milk for Coffee Latte Art?

The Steps of Coffee Latte Art

Coffee latte art requires stable milk foam, which means the milk needs rich protein and milk fat. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends using fresh milk that requires refrigeration for coffee latte art.

I. Extract a Shot of Espresso

II. Making Milk Foam

1. Understanding the Process

First, understand the correct operation procedure of the coffee machine's steam system. Understand the purpose of purging the steam wand before and after frothing milk, and understand the importance of towels and immediate cleaning in coffee preparation.

Second, learn how to make the steam wand contact the milk surface - the position of the contact point and the depth of insertion.

Third, recognize two temperatures: one is the start and end temperature for frothing, and the other is the completion temperature for milk foam. These two temperatures are very important for beginners, as they directly relate to whether the principles of milk foam frothing are mastered.

2. Pour Milk into Pitcher

Pour milk into the milk pitcher, but don't exceed 1/2 of the pitcher's capacity. Otherwise, the milk will overflow due to expansion during frothing.

3. Froth the Milk

Use the coffee machine's steam to froth the milk until it becomes smooth and creamy, reaching around 60°C. Do not exceed 70°C, as the protein structure in the milk will be destroyed.

Milk Foam Requirements

1. Milk frothing: This is the most important technique. While not very profound, it requires long hours of practice. The foam should be fine and smooth, with absolutely no large bubbles.

2. Frothing angle: The best angle for frothing is 45 degrees to the steam wand, with adjustments up and down depending on the desired foam fineness.

3. Only semi-automatic coffee machines can produce the best latte art coffee.

4. The crema of the coffee also plays a crucial role and directly affects the taste of a cup of coffee.

5. Small cups require too much technical experience.

III. Creating the Latte Art

Fully incorporate the frothed milk with the espresso.

Step-by-Step Process

① Start pouring at the 1/3 point of the cup, tilting the coffee cup at about 30 degrees. Raise the pitcher 10cm to penetrate the coffee crema.

② Lower the pitcher so it touches the rim of the coffee cup, maintaining a steady flow with左右摆动 of about 1cm width to create white spots on the surface.

③ As you continue shaking the pitcher, the shape will gradually expand. At this point, note: don't move the pitcher backward during latte art creation. Continue to pour from a fixed position while maintaining the shaking motion.

④ As the cup fills up, gradually level the coffee cup to prevent overflow. Continuing to shake the pitcher will create more defined lines in the heart shape.

⑤ When the cup is 9/10 full, slowly raise the pitcher, thin the flow, and pour slowly toward the front of the heart shape.

⑥ The position where you finish the pour determines the symmetry of the heart's left and right sides.

⑦ The moment you finish pouring is when the cup is full but not overflowing. At this point, the milk foam thickness in the cup should be 1-1.5cm. Congratulations, you've successfully created a beautiful heart-shaped cappuccino.

Latte Art Tips for Coffee Beginners

1. The milk foam must be fine and dense. Additionally, the foam and milk must be thoroughly mixed - they cannot be separated. Otherwise, when poured into the coffee cup, you'll get milk mixing with coffee while a pile of foam sits on top.

2. Steam wand output methods mainly fall into two categories: external expansion and concentrated. Different types of steam wands produce different steam intensity and volume. Combined with variations in steam hole position and number, this creates differences in angles and methods when frothing milk. For external expansion steam wands, don't get too close to the steel cup edge during frothing to avoid turbulence. For concentrated steam wands, angle control requires more attention, otherwise it's easy to fail to create good milk foam structure.

3. Steam Volume

The larger the steam volume, the faster the milk frothing speed, but it's relatively easier to produce coarser foam. High steam volume methods are more suitable for larger steel cups, while smaller cups easily create turbulence. Steam wands with smaller volume have poorer milk foaming effects, but the advantage is that they don't easily produce large bubbles. The time required to achieve smooth foam is longer, but overall control is easier.

4. When starting to pour milk, we should raise the pitcher so that the milk flow is thin, long, and slow. The purpose of this is to suppress the white foam and prevent it from rising, allowing the milk and coffee to fully integrate.

5. When we've poured milk to reach half the height of the coffee cup, we should lower the pitcher height while changing the pouring method. At this point, the milk flow should be fast and thick. The purpose is to make the white milk foam rise, facilitating our latte art creation.

6. When you see white foam emerging, shake left and right, and white zigzag foam traces will begin to appear in the cup.

7. Gradually move the latte art pitcher backward while reducing the shaking amplitude. When finishing, bring the pitcher forward to create a thin straight line, drawing the stem of the leaf in the cup as the conclusion.

Finally, it must be said: practice more. Analyze problems while doing things, apply targeted solutions, and only through quantitative changes can qualitative change occur.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473