The Lowdown On Latte Art

Latte art is the art of drawing things on coffee when pouring milk into your espresso. The art can also be accomplished by just drawing on the froth after the latte is made. Latte art, like all other arts, needs practice to perfect. If you have ever had coffee at any good coffee shop, you will have come across latte art. It is the art of drawing on the top of your coffee. It adds to the appeal of coffee and shows the skill of the one serving it.

Amongst the many Latte Art designs, hearts are the most popular usually. You can find latte art such as leaves, stars, cats, swans and more. The rosetta is another more difficult design compared to the heart, but is popular non the less. Experts in the field of latte art, who have mastered pattern control can create faces, animals, flowers and more on top of the latte with much detail.

Learning latte art can be tricky as most skills are passed down from barista to barista. There are many training classes and video tutorials online that can help you learn. Here we cover two basic ways of creating latte art. The first method is the free pour, in which latte art designs are made as the milk comes into contact with the espresso. The second way is an etching design, made by creating artwork in the froth shortly after the milk is poured with a stick. The trick is to add the milk to create the white part of the design where shades of brown are created at the coffee surface.

The free pour is achieved by keeping the cup flat or slightly tilted on the table top. Pouring in a particular way, the white foam rises to the surface, straight up or sideways depending on the cups initial placement. Placing the cup level with the table and pouring slowly and particularity will result in a heart like shape while movement on the pour can result in the leaf or fern pattern.

With etching, complicated patterns that are impossible to do with the free pour technique can be achieved. The downside of the etching techniques is that they don't last very long. Since you are mixing the foam and the espresso with a thin stick, they will dissolve into each other and fade away rather quickly. It may take years to prefect these latte art techniques and as you become an experienced barista, you will notice these things happen effortlessly.

The type of espresso used, the espresso maker, the foam layer and the general skill of the artist all come in to play when creating the end result. As coffee is something consumed regularly, it is easy to practice, even if you don't work in a coffee shop. If your ever planning to work in one, this skill will come in very handy. Many competition exists for latte art, so check your local coffee shops to see if there are competitions in your area. Designs that showcase uniqueness and creativity perfected will help you score great but its always good to have the basics down as well.

Learn more about Latte Art today! RateMyRosetta.com is your source for latte art pictures. Don't miss the how to make latte art tutorial and refine your latte art skills.

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October 07 2010 | coffee | No Comments »

Latte Art – The Simple Pleasure

Latte art is basically the ability to draw on coffee or more specifically the most common coffee used for latte art - espresso, because of its density. The drawing happens in two ways. You can either pour milk in the cup of espresso thus creating a pattern form, special design or a portrait on the top espresso layer which is mainly foam. The other latte art style is named etching and it is done by using a plastic stick. However for a good latte art to be created you need a good espresso machine and a barista who knows what he is doing and possesses some talent. Latte art has been around us for centuries, but it has become more popular in the last years and you can even go to classes which educate you to be a barista. Barista is basically the formal name of the artist who creates the latte art.

Latte art develops in different tempos depending on the country. However it wasn't a well known art before several years, but because of the recent advance in micro foam research and the developing of the espresso it has become even more popular. The country that is considered the birthplace of espresso is Italy. Latte art needs two main ingredients to be created - foam and crema. Foam is nothing more than buffed up milk and it is buffed by mixing it with air. Crema is the brown cream that appears on top of the espresso. However those two mixtures dissipate rapidly and you can enjoy latte art only for a few minutes.

The quality of the latte art depends on the espresso itself. The espresso is bound to have a cream surface which is usually called crema. After the espresso is prepared the barista starts to pour milk into the cup and as the foam and crema react a pattern starts to be seen on top of the crema. However you need a very steady hand to be able to create delicate figures. Of course pouring milk cannot create delicate forms, so for more complex patterns you will need a barista specialized in etching. The use of the stick is much harder, but results in much clearer and more beautiful forms.

Free pouring isn't very precise so it is quite hard to create complicated forms using it. Because of that the most commonly made forms using free pouring are hearts and flowers while etching allows you to create much more complex forms and even portraits, however etching is much more harder than free pouring that's why there are special classes which teach the art of etching in latte art.

Latte art is a marvelous way to decorate a beverage of your choice. And the good thing is that you may not only order an espresso which is decorated, but you can also practice it yourself while going out for a coffee or just while drinking your morning coffee. However latte art done in coffee instead of espresso will result in a fader image, but it will still be a joy to the eyes.

Do you want to know more about the latte? A great place to find out more about latte art is RateMyRosetta.com - your source for latte art pictures. If you want to learn how to make latte art, don't miss the latte art how to and refine your latte art skills.

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August 25 2010 | coffee | 1 Comment »