Fancy coffee art covers three categories: latte art, etching, and stenciling. Among these, latte art and etching are collectively known as milk latte art—latte art relies on wrist control while pouring hot milk to create patterns directly, while etching uses chocolate sauce and tools such as toothpicks and bar spoons to refine details. Latte art is the foundation, and etching is the辅助—the former tests technique, the latter tests creativity. To master milk latte art, one usually goes through five stages: choosing the right milk pitcher and coffee cup, practicing flow control, becoming familiar with basic patterns, hands-on practice, and then further refinement. This article will use tulip and leaf—two basic patterns—as examples to break down key techniques such as injection point position, flow rate, and swinging rhythm, and explain how to use [Front Street Boutique Blend] to extract espresso suitable for latte art.

Fancy coffee art is mainly divided into three categories: latte art, etching, and stenciling. Stenciling uses molds to sprinkle cocoa powder, chocolate powder, or cinnamon powder onto the coffee surface to form patterns. Latte art and etching are collectively called milk latte art (Latte Art): latte art is when hot milk is poured into espresso while using wrist movements and other motions to directly "draw" a pattern; etching uses auxiliary ingredients such as chocolate sauce, along with tools like toothpicks and bar spoons, to carve and refine the pattern to make it more complete. Latte art is the foundation, and etching is auxiliary—latte art tests technique, while etching tests creativity.

Five Steps to Learning Milk Latte Art

Step one: prepare a latte art milk pitcher with a pointed spout and a wide-mouthed coffee cup, and make sure you can extract a good Espresso (preferably use an Espresso coffee machine, because the richness of the crema is closely related to the latte art effect), while also being able to steam dense, thick milk foam.

We chose [Front Street Boutique Blend], with Colombia and Brazil blended at a 3:7 ratio, giving the espresso a flavor profile of soft slight acidity, nutty aroma, and caramel-like sweetness; after adding milk, the sweetness increases, and as it cools, it brings out a bit of a cookie-like note.

Step two: practice controlling the flow rate and direction of the stream. In the beginning, you can practice with clean water, then later simulate with dish soap and soy sauce. Of course, using coffee grounds mixed into a paste can come closer to the texture of espresso.

Step three: practice the process of presenting basic patterns, and try to achieve mastery through repeated practice. Tulip and leaf are two relatively basic milk latte art patterns.

Step four: use milk and coffee to practice latte art of the basic patterns.

Step five: with the foundation from step four, you are already a qualified milk latte artist. Next, you need to further refine your technique.

Let's extract a cup of Espresso, then hold the coffee cup with one hand, tilting the rim slightly inward, and hold the milk pitcher with the other hand. The milk pitcher should be about 10 cm above the coffee cup, with prepared milk foam inside, and the pitcher body slightly tilted, with the pointed spout facing forward toward the coffee cup. Next, let's begin the latte art journey.

[Tulip Coffee Latte Art Steps]

1. Integrate the milk and coffee well;

2. Find the center point of the cup, bring the pitcher close to the cup and increase the flow to maximum until a white ball appears on the coffee surface, then stop pouring;

3. The second injection point should be a bit further back. Pour with a large flow, and stop pouring once a white ball appears;

4. Repeat step 3 several times to make a tulip

5. After the last ball appears, immediately reduce the flow into a thin line and draw it out straight.

The tulip is not especially difficult and is also quite suitable for practice. Practice several times, understand the formation and changes of the pattern, and master the key points. When practicing, pay attention to the amplitude of the swing; there is no need to go too fast, and there is no need to worry about too few layers of pattern. You can also just push forward twice. Once proficient, you can appropriately add some layering and push forward several more times to make the pattern look better. Moreover, to make tulip latte art, you need to know when to stop and when to continue pouring milk foam—this rule of slight pauses.

[Basic Steps for Leaf Latte Art Pattern]

1. Pour the prepared milk into the cup containing Espresso. Note that at the beginning, do not let the milk foam float on the coffee surface. Tilt the cup toward the latte art pitcher, and pour from a point slightly behind the center point.

2. When the coffee surface begins to show whitening, increase the amount of milk being poured, and at the same time gently swing the latte art pitcher to create texture. At this point, do not panic; keep shaking and maintaining the increased flow, and slowly move backward.

3. When you have drawn the desired number of leaves and decide to move into the finishing stage, raise your latte art pitcher to about 5 cm from the coffee, narrow the milk flow, and push forward to draw a stem. Then it's done~

Probably quite a few baristas or coffee enthusiasts got into coffee because of latte art. Coffee latte art is not only a visual enjoyment, but also has been continuously improved in the dense mouthfeel of the milk foam and the technique of integrating it with coffee, ultimately achieving an artistic effect complete in "color, aroma, taste, shape, and artistry." Coffee latte art looks difficult, but in fact, as long as you practice more and master the key points, it becomes much easier.

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