Latte is the transliteration of the Italian word "Latte," and it is also a classic fancy coffee combining espresso and milk. From the perspective of Front Street Coffee, this article systematically introduces the origin of latte, the selection of ingredients, the steps for making hot lattes and iced lattes, including coffee bean selection, extraction parameters, milk frothing, and latte art techniques, and provides ratio suggestions for coffee beans with different roast levels, helping coffee enthusiasts make an authentic and delicious latte at home.
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"I am not in a café, but on the way to one." For Italians who love coffee, latte is an all-too-familiar drink. On a beautiful morning, sipping a latte feels incredibly cozy and refreshing. So, what exactly is a latte? And how is it made? Let's learn and savor it together with FrontStreet Coffee!
What is a latte?
"Latte" is the transliteration of the Italian word "Latte," belonging to one of the fancy coffees, and it is also a classic combination of Italian espresso and milk. By adding a specified proportion of milk to rich and full-bodied espresso, it becomes a latte. With the gentle blend and flavoring of milk, the originally bitter and heavy coffee becomes smooth and sweet. Even those who are not used to drinking coffee find it hard to resist the deliciousness of a latte.
Originally, latte coffee originated in Vienna, the city of music. Viennese people began the habit of drinking coffee in the 17th century. At that time, the Turkish army failed in its attack on Vienna and left behind hundreds of bags of coffee beans in their hasty retreat. These coffee beans became the raw material for Vienna's first coffeehouse (Blue Bottle). To cater to European tastes, the coffeehouse filtered the coffee grounds and mixed in a certain amount of milk, which not only made the bitter black coffee smooth and sweet but also made its flavor deeply fascinating to the Viennese. Thus, the combination of milk and coffee began to sweep the world.
What coffee beans and milk to choose for making a latte?
As mentioned earlier by Front Street, the ingredients used in latte coffee are very simple, requiring only espresso and milk, with no fixed ratio. Everyone can adjust up or down according to their own taste, but the use of ingredients is very important because it directly determines the quality of the latte made.
Based on extraction experience, FrontStreet Coffee recommends prioritizing espresso blend beans with higher stability. Blend products usually combine flavor profiles from different origins and use medium or darker roasts, making it easier to extract rich crema (coffee beans with high crema are more suitable for milk coffee). In this way, our espresso has a thick and rich taste, and the tolerance for error is higher. Moreover, most espresso blend beans are mainly supplied for store use. Compared with single-origin beans of similar flavor, the price is relatively lower, focusing on an economical and cost-effective route. For beginners without much coffee-making experience, if they want to make a delicious latte, using espresso blend beans is clearly more advantageous.
For example, what Front Street stores use is the Front Street Sunflower Warm Sun Blend coffee beans, blended from Front Street Ethiopia Natural Red Cherry and Front Street Honduras Sherry Barrel. The roasting curve makes it mainly used for espresso extraction, and when made into an iced latte, it has the flavors of wine, vanilla, cream, and chocolate at the same time. Some friends have reported to Front Street that their extracted espresso has a lot of rough foam, which is caused by the coffee beans being too fresh. This kind of espresso often tastes ordinary. From Front Street's experience, if the espresso coffee beans in hand are too close to the roast date, it is best to place them in a cool place for 7–10 days first, and finish them within 45 days for the best flavor.
How to make an authentic and delicious latte?
The coffee machine used in Front Street stores has a portafilter basket with a double espresso capacity, with a dose of about 18–20 grams. When Front Street produces lattes, it uses 20 grams of coffee powder and adopts a 1:2 coffee-to-liquid extraction ratio, meaning 20 grams of coffee powder extracts 40 grams of coffee liquid. The time is related to the flow rate of the coffee powder. Generally, a single extraction time is controlled at 20–35 seconds, because within 20 seconds the coffee taste tends to be thin, while over 35 seconds it is easy to over-extract and produce a burnt bitter taste. Most of Front Street's espresso falls within the range of 28–30 seconds.
Before extraction, Front Street prepares these in advance: ceramic coffee cup, milk pitcher, fresh milk. First wipe the portafilter basket dry and align it with the grinder's discharge port, turn on the switch, grind the amount for a double espresso, place it on an electronic scale to increase or decrease until it reaches 20 grams. Then use a distribution tool to level the coffee powder, and press the tamper vertically downward with force to tamp the coffee puck firmly, ensuring more stable coffee extraction.
Then turn on the coffee machine's extraction switch and let water run for 1–2 seconds, with the purpose of moistening the group head and also removing coffee grounds stuck on it. Place an electronic scale under the cup that will receive the espresso and set the weight to 0, and place it together under the group head during extraction. Gently lock the portafilter onto the group head and start flipping down the extraction switch. Observe the changes in the extracted liquid. When the electronic scale shows that 40 grams of coffee liquid has been extracted, at about 30 seconds, pull down the extraction switch and pour the Espresso into the pre-prepared ceramic coffee cup.
Frothing milk mainly relies on the coffee machine's steam wand. Pour an appropriate amount of milk into the milk pitcher. For example, FrontStreet Coffee's latte serving cup is 300 milliliters, so 240 milliliters of milk can be poured in, because after frothing the milk expands due to the incorporation of air. Before starting to froth the milk, slightly open the steam switch and purge it briefly to release excess water from the steam wand, then submerge the steam wand's tip into the milk surface and turn on the switch.
Milk frothing is divided into two stages. In the first stage, the steam holes need to contact the milk surface. This stage is for creating foam, and at this time a sharp sound like tearing paper is made. This stage determines the thickness of the milk foam. The second stage is texturing. After enough foam has been created, lift the milk pitcher so that the steam holes are submerged in the milk, allowing the milk to rotate and froth under the action of the steam. This stage determines the quality of the milk foam. The milk foam thickness for latte coffee is moderate, about 1 centimeter or so. After frothing, the milk surface is glossy, without bubbles, and has a certain fluidity.
Finally, combine the frothed milk with the extracted espresso for latte art. Before making latte art, first integrate them. Keep the milk pitcher's spout slightly higher above the cup, with some impact force, and gently integrate the milk and coffee until it is seven-tenths full. Then lower the milk pitcher so that the spout is close to the coffee surface, reducing the impact force, and the milk foam will rise due to buoyancy, so white milk foam will begin to appear on the surface. At this point, you can create a patterned motion by swinging your arm. Because the milk foam is moderate and has a certain fluidity, it will present a continuously swinging line. Finally, raise the pitcher and push forward to finish, and you can create a basic heart-shaped latte art pattern.
So, how do you make an iced latte?
Compared with hot latte coffee, iced latte coffee is relatively simple to make. The method is the same as iced Americano, except that the water in Americano is replaced with milk. Therefore, the steps for making iced latte coffee are: pre-chill the cup with ice cubes, pour in 100 grams of ice cubes, 180 grams of milk, and finally pour in espresso. Of course, don't forget to stir evenly when drinking.
Most online tutorials for making iced lattes do not give an absolute ratio, but instead fall within a general range: coffee:milk = 1:4 to 1:8. This is because everyone uses different coffee beans, different extraction parameters, and possibly different milk. Even if the same ratio is used, the taste of the iced latte will still differ. As a reference, when using dark-roasted espresso beans mainly featuring dark chocolate and nut notes, we can add a larger proportion of milk to maintain a balanced taste, such as the 1:6 commonly used in Front Street's daily production. When the coffee beans are a lighter-roasted floral and fruity acidic type, the espresso itself is not so intense in flavor, and too much milk will only mask the coffee aroma. At this time, the proportion of milk can be appropriately reduced, for example, falling within the range of 1:4 to 1:5.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
