Making cappuccinos and lattes help

[Onendev]

Hello all,

I recently bought an aeropress a couple months ago, and have been pretty impressed with it so far. I've been under the assumption that since it makes an espresso shot (or something close to that of an espresso shot), that I should be able to make lattes / cappuccinos with it as well. To my understanding, there's a slight difference between cappuccinos and lattes (the amount of frothed / steamed milk). Anyways, long story short, I was wondering if:
A) its possible to make decent lattes / cappuccinos with my aeropress, and
B) what I would need to make this happen.

I'm also have trouble understanding the difference between frothed and steamed milk. Would I need two different devices to make these?

If anyone could help answer or clear up any of these questions it would really help me out. Id appreciate it very much!

Thanks!

 

[shadow745]

Be glad to help...... the main difference between a cappuccino and a latte is air and milk volume used. When you incorporate more air you get more froth, which leads to a lighter and usually fluffier drink. Now you can make it a wet cappuccino or a dry one but that is for really picky people and I won't even get into that. Typically a cappuccino will have maybe 4-6 oz. of milk on average and the classic rule of thumb is you should have 1/3 coffee (2 oz. double shot), 1/3 steamed milk (2 oz.) and 1/3 froth (2 oz.), but I personally like to make 4 oz of microfoam so when I pour it into the double shot the milk and froth aren't separated, but one continuous flow of what looks like melted ice cream. A latte on the other hand is said to be an American concoction because most don't think cappuccinos have enough milk. Typically for a latte you would want to incorporate a much smaller amount of air so the milk is mostly steamed with a tiny bit of froth on top when the pour is complete.

I can't explain exactly how to do either because there is no best way to do it and it's based on many variables. Like your machine ability, your skill level, type of milk used, pitcher used, temperature of milk, etc.... BTW, lighter fat milk is easier to froth but usually don't hold its texture as long. Whole milk or half n half can be more difficult to get moving in the pitcher because of the heaviness, but once done it holds its shape much better IMO.

There are stand alone milk steamers out there that supposedly do a decent job. I have read that some people buy those little milk whip things and beat the heated milk to a texture they desire.

I know nothing about the Aeropress, but read lots of good things about them.

I also recommend visiting YouTube to check out a few milk texturing videos. Later!