Recipe for latte question.

mawil1013

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Jan 25, 2014
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Charlotte, NC
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"Cafe latte / Au Lait: Steam one part milk per one part espresso. Make a thin layer of froth while you're at it. Pour espresso in a heated glass, and pour the milk down the side (not in the middle) while holding the froth in place with a spoon. Now spoon the frothed milk on top, and you're done. Flavor with syrup if you want to. Lattes are traditionally served in a tall glass, but can also be served in a mug." Cafe favorites | Espresso Guy

This doesn't make sense to me, if one shot is 1 to 1.5 ounces, and you combine it with 1 to 1.5 ounces steam milk, Serving in a tall glass, seems like you'd have such a tiny serving in this big glass?

I've been doing about 14 grams (double shot?) of grind, and running machine to fill a 1/3 (2.8 ounces+/-) measuring cup and then steaming 2/3 cup of whole milk, then adding a heaping tablespoon of chocolate syrup.

Question: what is an authentic recipe for a latte?
 

shadow745

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Aug 15, 2005
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Honestly if you're texturing the milk in a decent fashion and tweak the way you pour you shouldn't need to spoon anything. The only difference between a latte and cappuccino is air/volume of milk used. In a commercial setting I textured the milk so 10-15% of the top layer would be microfoam for a latte. For a 16 oz. drink I would steam 12 oz. combined with a 1.5-2 oz. double shot would end up just below the rim of the cup. Some people specifically asked for no foam (flat white in the industry) in which case I would steam the milk with no air incorporated. This stems from what I call monkey baristi that gives a customer tons of dry foam that lacks texture and taste. Said customer feels ripped off and asks for no foam from then on.

For a cappuccino I would texture 4-5 oz. of milk to expand double the volume and combine with the double shot to end up with a 12 oz. drink, usually leaving the lid off (if customer chose to do so, so no liability on us). FWIW we never bothered sticking with idiotic Italian tradition proportion-wise as the customer always got what they asked for.
 

mawil1013

New member
Jan 25, 2014
141
0
Charlotte, NC
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Honestly if you're texturing the milk in a decent fashion and tweak the way you pour you shouldn't need to spoon anything. The only difference between a latte and cappuccino is air/volume of milk used. In a commercial setting I textured the milk so 10-15% of the top layer would be microfoam for a latte. For a 16 oz. drink I would steam 12 oz. combined with a 1.5-2 oz. double shot would end up just below the rim of the cup. Some people specifically asked for no foam (flat white in the industry) in which case I would steam the milk with no air incorporated. This stems from what I call monkey baristi that gives a customer tons of dry foam that lacks texture and taste. Said customer feels ripped off and asks for no foam from then on.

For a cappuccino I would texture 4-5 oz. of milk to expand double the volume and combine with the double shot to end up with a 12 oz. drink, usually leaving the lid off (if customer chose to do so, so no liability on us). FWIW we never bothered sticking with idiotic Italian tradition proportion-wise as the customer always got what they asked for.

What I've been doing is, I measure out 2/3 cup whole milk into a 1 cup measure, then apply steam until the milk rises almost to the top of measure cup and I hear a change in the sound, kind of a Thrum, Thrum sound. Don't know if that makes it a Capp or a Latte.
 
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