Latte art mainly includes three forms: latte art, etching, and stenciling.

Stenciling uses molds to sprinkle cocoa powder, chocolate powder, or cinnamon powder onto the coffee to create patterns. Latte art and etching are collectively known as milk latte art (Latte Art). The former involves pouring hot milk into espresso while using techniques such as wrist movements to directly "pull" out patterns, while the latter uses auxiliary materials like chocolate sauce and tools such as toothpicks and bar spoons to do some carving work to perfect the patterns. Latte art is the foundation, etching is the auxiliary; latte art tests technique, while etching tests creativity.

Five Steps to Learning Milk Latte Art

Step one, we first need to choose a latte art pitcher with a pointed spout and a wide-mouthed coffee cup, and ensure we can extract excellent Espresso (it is best to use an Espresso machine, because the richness of coffee crema is closely related to latte art), and can whip up dense and thick milk foam.

We chose [Front Street Coffee House Blend], with a 3:7 ratio of Colombian and Brazilian beans, giving the espresso a soft slight acidity in flavor, nutty notes, and caramel-like sweetness. After adding milk, the sweetness increases, and when it cools, it takes on a bit of a cookie-like feel.

Step two, practice how to control the flow rate and direction of the stream. At first, you can practice with clean water, then practice with dish soap and soy sauce. Of course, using coffee grounds mixed into a paste can better simulate the texture of espresso.

Step three, practice the process of presenting basic patterns, and strive to achieve mastery through practice. Tulips and leaves are two relatively basic milk latte art patterns.

Step four, use milk and coffee to practice latte art with basic patterns.

Step five, with the foundation from step four, you have already become 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 pitcher with the other hand. The pitcher should be about 10cm above the coffee cup, with the prepared milk foam inside, and the pitcher body slightly tilted, with the pointed spout facing forward toward the coffee cup. Next, we begin our latte art journey.

[Tulip Coffee Latte Art Steps]

1. Mix 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. For the second pour, position slightly further back, pour with a large flow, and stop when a white ball appears;

4. Repeat step 3 a few times to make a tulip

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

Tulips are not particularly difficult and are quite suitable for practice. Practice a few more times, understand the formation and changes of the pattern, and master the key points. During practice, pay attention to the amplitude of the swinging, no need to go too fast, and don't worry about too few ripples. You can also just push forward twice. Once proficient, you can appropriately add some ripples and push forward a few more times to make the pattern more beautiful. And 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 Latte Art Leaf 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 pitcher, and pour from a point slightly behind the center.

2. When the coffee surface begins to show whitening, increase the amount of milk being poured, and gently swing the pitcher to create ripples. At this point, don't 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 enter the finishing stage, raise your pitcher to about 5 centimeters from the coffee, reduce the milk flow to a thin stream, and push forward to draw a stem. Then it's done~

Many baristas or coffee enthusiasts probably got into coffee because of latte art. Latte art is not only a visual enjoyment, but also constantly improving in the dense mouthfeel of the milk foam and the technique of blending with coffee, ultimately achieving an artistic effect that combines "color, aroma, taste, shape, and artistry." 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.