can anyone help with latte art?

[muddywater]

ok, ive been a barista for a few months now. ive been trying to do this latte art thing for a while now and its really getting to me. im sure that i can steam the milk properly, ive read a few books on making coffee drinks, but none of them have explained how to perform latte art. Is there a certain milk i should use? ive tried ever milk in the book. is there a certain pitcher i should use? i use a 20oz. pitcher. is there a certain way i should pour it? can the espresso affect the latte art? im overwhelmed.

 

[GrindYourBeans]

ok, ive been a barista for a few months now. ive been trying to do this latte art thing for a while now and its really getting to me. im sure that i can steam the milk properly, ive read a few books on making coffee drinks, but none of them have explained how to perform latte art. Is there a certain milk i should use? ive tried ever milk in the book. is there a certain pitcher i should use? i use a 20oz. pitcher. is there a certain way i should pour it? can the espresso affect the latte art? im overwhelmed.

I posted a video that I found on Yahoo showing someone creating Latte Art. I'm not sure if it'll help. Maybe seeing someone else doing it might help your technique.

 

[Davec]

Proper milk texturing is critical....without it you can't do latte art. The most common mistake is to actually over texture, then it's far to thick for latte art. Also trying to texture huge amounts of milk in one go isn't often very successful.

Foam the milk first, then pour the shot first (it has to have crema), whilst the shot is pouring swirl the milk jug to get everything nicely incoporated and the milk glossy. The time taken to pull the shot, is about exactly right for the milk to have settled to the right condition for art.

The pour should start off steady and high enough to push the stream of microfoamed milk through the crema, when you see the white "button" rising, then start the shake for the rosetta. If you don't see it rise after about half way, increase the speed of the pour very slightly and lower the jug, whilst beginning the shake to get the rosetta.

Hopefully I've covered some of the stuff you can see in videos.

 

[GrindYourBeans]

Proper milk texturing is critical....without it you can't do latte art. The most common mistake is to actually over texture, then it's far to thick for latte art. Also trying to texture huge amounts of milk in one go isn't often very successful.

Foam the milk first, then pour the shot first (it has to have crema), whilst the shot is pouring swirl the milk jug to get everything nicely incoporated and the milk glossy. The time taken to pull the shot, is about exactly right for the milk to have settled to the right condition for art.

The pour should start off steady and high enough to push the stream of microfoamed milk through the crema, when you see the white "button" rising, then start the shake for the rosetta. If you don't see it rise after about half way, increase the speed of the pour very slightly and lower the jug, whilst beginning the shake to get the rosetta.

Hopefully I've covered some of the stuff you can see in videos.

Nice answer!

 

[morrisn]

You can get a DVD on latte art from espresso101.com