What's Behind Edible Printed Latte Art and How to Make Coffee at Home

Edible printed rice paper has become a new way to decorate lattes, allowing cafés to place detailed images like landmarks or logos on the surface of a drink. The paper is made from glutinous rice and printed with edible color inks, so it can be consumed along with the coffee. This technique has sparked debate among coffee lovers about whether it enhances the drinking experience or is merely a photogenic gimmick.

For those who prefer traditional methods, making coffee in a coffee pot remains a straightforward daily ritual. Learning how to use a coffee pot involves simple steps: add water, measure ground coffee, assemble the pot, and heat it until the coffee brews. While printed latte art draws attention online, the basic process of brewing a consistent cup at home continues to appeal to many coffee drinkers.

A latte featuring an image of Beijing's Zhengyangmen Gate Tower has recently sparked heated discussion on social media. The exquisite edible color-ink print has amazed many netizens with the café's ingenuity and creativity, but some have also frowned at the colorful design on the surface of the drink. What exactly are these color-printed coffees, jokingly called "grad-school-exam-level," made of? Do they add brilliance to the beverage, or are they just photogenic props that look good but serve no real purpose? Judging from shares by coffee lovers across different regions, printing scenic spots, portraits, or brand logos on the surface of lattes is nothing new. Yet controversy over their taste and food safety has never ceased. This article will walk you through the production principles behind this strikingly beautiful coffee, as well as consumers' true mixed feelings of love and hate toward it.

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Recently, a post titled "Does coffee in Beijing require grad school entrance exam preparation?" attracted a large crowd of onlookers on social media.

The poster shared a cup of coffee they had recently drunk in Beijing. In the photo, the latte was served in exquisite and ornate tableware, and on the surface of the liquid was a painting depicting one of Beijing's landmark buildings, the Zhengyangmen Gate Tower. The distinctive-looking latte greatly astonished this netizen, who remarked with emotion that cafés nowadays are "truly getting more and more refined one after another."

The onlookers also marveled at this highly attractive latte. Many believed that the coffee shop's idea of painting a famous scenic spot on a drink was very special, allowing consumers who received the coffee to not only drink it but also get viral-worthy beautiful photos from it, and they exclaimed that the owner was full of creativity.

However, some netizens also frowned upon seeing this latte and became worried about the richly colored and vivid design, saying, "It feels like there's a lot of chemical stuff in it," "One look and I don't want to drink it," "It feels toxic," "Although it looks nice, I always feel that after one sip, I'm drinking a lot of paint."

In response, well-informed users explained that the exquisite design on the surface of the coffee is actually a glutinous rice paper print made with edible color-ink printing. Placing it on a latte not only serves a decorative purpose, but it can also be consumed after merging with the drink.

Some people in the comments pointed out that lattes with special designs are actually very common nowadays. Some cafés place a glutinous rice paper print with an exquisite picture on the drink, or use a food printer to print a designed pattern on the surface of the liquid, making their lattes both visually enjoyable and edible, and giving them a unique style.

From photos shared by users in different places, café owners print local scenic spots, portraits of celebrities, brand logos, and so on on drinks, making this uniquely featured coffee become the focus of attention as soon as it appears. Consumers who like novel things are attracted as soon as they see the customized image on the surface of the drink and open their wallets to pay for it.

But in the eyes of some netizens, the colorful printed design turns coffee into "coffee for looking at," making it a "photogenic prop that looks good but is useless." They said bluntly that although it is a decorative painting made from edible materials, "whether in terms of nutrition or taste, there's nothing to it, just a mouthful of coloring," and added, "The colorful one doesn't look appetizing either," "When drinking it, you still have to fish it out," "Is this for drinking or for looking at? I can't even bring myself to take a sip."

Admittedly, this ingenious idea adds something unique to an otherwise ordinary latte and makes it look pleasing to the eye. But in diners' eyes, the colorful design covering the surface of the liquid cannot take the flavor of the whole cup of coffee "to the next level." Instead, it affects the mouthfeel when drinking and fails to play the role of adding brilliance.

At the same time, when colorful printed designs appear on a drink that is about to be consumed, customers inevitably worry about its food safety upon seeing it, fearing whether the coloring in the decorative picture might harm the human body, thereby deterring some consumers from placing an order to try it.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.