Making a latte can be said to be a skill for every barista: first extract the espresso, then prepare the milk, and let the two achieve a perfectly balanced taste. But many friends say that when they make lattes at home, they always fail to achieve the effect of a coffee shop, so they ask Front Street Coffee for tips on making latte coffee.

Iced latte coffee seems like a very simple method: [add ice, pour milk, pour coffee] and it is done. Though the operation seems simple, making a delicious iced latte coffee still requires a lot of mental understanding.

First point: Choose suitable materials

Why is iced latte so simple? Basically, every coffee bean menu has it as a must-have, but the taste of iced latte at every shop is not exactly the same. One of the main reasons is that the milk and coffee beans used are different. The flavor of coffee beans can very intuitively control the flavor direction of iced latte coffee. Most espresso blends will make iced latte show rich nutty, chocolate, and strong coffee flavors, while a small number of coffee beans bring out the sweet, rich flavor of the milk in iced latte.

To make iced latte, it is recommended to buy Front Street Classic Espresso Blend. This is a recipe composed of beans from three origins: Brazil, Indonesia, and Vietnam. It uses a deep roast, which can maximize the mellow aroma of the coffee and also allow everyone to easily extract rich and dense coffee crema. It is very suitable for both americano diluted with water and latte paired with milk. You can place an order at the Front Street Taobao store or the Front Street Tmall flagship store.

The choice of milk is also very important. For whole-fat fresh milk alone, there are more than 10 common types on the market. Among these milks, some have a strong milky taste, some have a thick mouthfeel, and some are light, like water. The standard for choosing milk is not simply to pursue thickness and an obvious milky taste, but to choose one suitable for pairing with coffee. A strong milky taste will cover up part of the coffee's flavor, while milk with an obvious watery feel will also make the latte watery.

Second point: A reasonable milk-to-coffee ratio

Choose good coffee beans and good milk, and you can make delicious iced latte coffee, right? The premise is a reasonable ratio. Front Street's iced latte coffee uses Sunflower · Warm Sun Blend coffee beans and Vitasoy fresh milk. The ratio of espresso to milk is 1:6, that is, 40 grams of espresso liquid, corresponding to 240 grams of iced milk and 75 grams of ice cubes, and finally it is served in a transparent glass cup with a capacity of about 300ml.

This ratio is for everyone's reference, and it is not the golden ratio for latte coffee. Front Street obtained these parameters by adjusting the ratio many times using the above materials, mainly based on real tasting feedback. So when making iced latte coffee, everyone can also appropriately adjust the ratio. More milk will cover up the coffee flavor, less milk will make it bitter, and more ice will make it lighter.

Third point: Operational details

Just as the [add ice, pour milk, pour coffee] method of making iced latte coffee is simple and clear, in fact there are still some small details to pay attention to. The most important of these is the extraction of espresso. Whether a cup of latte coffee is delicious depends on whether the espresso extraction meets the standard. Common espresso extraction problems such as channeling and incorrect extraction time will naturally also affect the taste of iced latte.

The process of making iced latte should also be fast. Fast here means that the time the ice and milk spend in the cup should be as short as possible, and the extracted espresso should be poured into the cup as soon as possible. This is also why freshly made iced latte coffee shows a gradient layer formed by milk and coffee. If the ice sits in the milk for too long, the ice cubes will melt, a water layer will appear on the top, and when drinking, the whole cup of coffee will become lighter. Espresso is even more sensitive. Freshly extracted espresso has very rich crema, but after 30 seconds, the crema noticeably decreases. Espresso without crema is also relatively difficult to float on the surface.

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