Latte coffee is the most familiar coffee drink in many people's daily lives, but to make a delicious latte, from choosing the roast level of the coffee beans, the extraction parameters of the espresso, to the milk steaming techniques and integration for latte art, every step has its own particularities. Starting from the practice at Front Street Coffee, this article explains in detail the history and origins of latte coffee, the types of coffee beans suitable for making lattes, the golden ratio of espresso to milk, and the staged operation method for steaming milk foam. It also introduces the flavor performance of Front Street Sunflower Warm Sun Blend in a latte, helping coffee enthusiasts, on the basis of understanding the principles, gradually master the key points for making a smooth and rich latte.

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Latte coffee is one of our most common coffee drinks. At Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), latte coffee is also the most popular espresso coffee series. So how is a cup of latte coffee made?

What is latte coffee? Latte coffee appeared much earlier than espresso. At least since the 17th century, Europeans had been mixing coffee and milk. William Dean Howells first used the term "caffè latte" in his 1867 essay "Italian Journeys." At this point in history, coffee was beginning to cause a sensation around the world, but because the espresso machine had not yet been invented, the brewing method was still very primitive.

Latte is actually a transliteration of the Italian word "Latte," meaning milk, so if you order a latte in Italy, you may be given a glass of milk. Therefore, latte coffee actually means milk coffee. With the appearance of the espresso machine, the steam wand became standard equipment on espresso machines, making it easy to heat milk on the coffee machine, and modern latte coffee took shape accordingly. In the 1980s, baristas from Seattle, Washington, began to "color" with richly textured milk, which was the prototype of latte art.

For latte coffee, the ratio of milk to coffee, the beans used, and the extraction parameters vary slightly from shop to shop. But in general, latte coffee is a coffee drink made by adding a large amount of milk to espresso. Lattes made with different coffee beans will also have different flavors, lattes made with different milks will also have different flavors, and even different ratios of coffee to milk can present different flavors.

What coffee beans are better for making lattes? Generally speaking, coffee beans used to make latte coffee must be suitable for espresso machines, so coffee that is too lightly roasted is not suitable for making latte coffee. The darker the roasted coffee beans, the stronger the coffee flavor in the latte (caramel, bitterness). The lighter the coffee beans, the more obvious the milk flavor in the latte. Therefore, the roast level should be chosen moderately so that the coffee and milk are more compatible.

The house blend Sunflower Warm Sun series used by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) is Front Street's most proud blended coffee work at present. It is blended from Honduras Sherry coffee and Yirgacheffe natural Red Cherry coffee, and when integrated into milk it highlights rich chocolate, caramel, and slightly tipsy flavors.

How to make latte coffee The latte coffee recipe used by Front Street is 1:6.5, that is, 40g espresso mixed with 260g steamed milk.

The espresso extraction plan used by Front Street is 20g of coffee grounds extracted into 40g of espresso liquid in 27 seconds, as the base of the latte.

Next is steaming the milk foam. First, we need a steam wand. Generally, semi-automatic coffee machines are equipped with a steam wand. Second, we need a container for holding milk, such as a milk pitcher or latte art pitcher (professional tools will get twice the result with half the effort).

Finally, there is the choice of milk. Whether it is room-temperature milk or chilled milk, whole milk or skim milk, all can be steamed into milk foam, but if you want the milk to have better texture, taste, and stability and durability, Front Street still recommends using chilled whole fresh milk.

1. Best capacity for steaming milk: Steaming milk requires a reasonable steaming capacity. Front Street recommends using 40-60% of the total capacity of the milk pitcher. Too little milk and too much milk both test your steaming technique. Of course, besides this factor, it also depends on the actual amount of milk used in one cup of coffee to avoid excessive waste. The milk pitcher used by Front Street has a capacity of 550ML, and the amount of milk poured in is 250ML (just reaching the bottom of the pitcher spout).

2. Steaming position: Before preparing to steam, first turn on the steam wand switch to release condensed water vapor (close the switch after releasing it). Then pull out the steam wand at a 45-degree angle, use the pitcher spout to stabilize the position of the steam wand. This time the steam vortex is counterclockwise, and the position of the steam wand is to the right of the center cross on the liquid surface, with the steam wand half-buried.

3. Steaming stage: Turn on the steam switch, and you will hear a sizzling sound. This is the steaming stage. According to the required milk foam thickness, the steaming time also differs (the longer the steaming time, the thicker the milk foam). Generally, steaming milk from 50% to 60% of the volume (latte milk foam thickness) takes about 3 seconds. The direction of the milk's rotation uniformly forms a vortex.

4. Texturing stage: At this time, the steam holes need to be fully buried, and only heating is carried out, no more steaming. Do not bury the steam holes at the very bottom; it is recommended to keep them in the milk foam layer, which is beneficial for texturing (making rough milk foam fine and smooth). When should you stop? This depends on your milk temperature, generally controlled between 55-65°C. Too high a temperature will denature the protein (generally speaking, heat-induced protein denaturation in food occurs at about 60°C).

Next is integration and latte art. Once the espresso is extracted and the milk is steamed, you can carefully integrate them to complete the latte coffee presentation. Integration is also a very important part of making latte coffee. Good integration can make the latte coffee taste smooth and comfortable, with no miscellaneous sensations. After good integration comes what we often call pouring latte art. Finally, a cup of latte coffee is complete.

Flavor of the recipe latte at Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee): a smooth mouthfeel, lasting chocolate flavor, mixed with a pleasant alcoholic note, a persistent finish, and obvious sweetness.

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