Barista Skills
A Guide To Making Perfect Latte Art
If you’re looking for a way to add value for your customers and make your coffee drinks really stand out, one fabulous solution is latte art. Baristas can use latte art to create unique and eye-catching designs that make a cup of coffee that little extra bit special. Latte art isn’t a new concept but more baristas are using it as a way to get creative with their work.
If you’re already using high quality coffee beans to make great tasting coffee, latte art is the perfect way to take things to the next level. It adds an extra touch of flair and coffee making expertise to your products, for drinks that look as appealing as they taste.
If you’ve never tried it before or you’re unsure of which coffee supplies to use, getting started with latte art might seem a little daunting. Don’t worry – there’s no need to start with complex and advanced designs. There are some surprisingly simple designs that look really impressive when you’re getting to grips with creating latte art. With a little practice, you can quickly advance onto more complex imagery. To help you get started we’ve put together this guide to provide some tips, tricks and inspiration.
The Origins Of Latte Art
There’s no doubt that you’ve probably seen attractive coffee designs on Instagram and elsewhere online. Perhaps the chance of going viral is one of the reasons that baristas are becoming more and more interested in making their own latte art.
Turning coffee into an art form began in Italy, where coffee beans were first transformed into the popular espresso-based drinks we know and love today. However, latte art surged into the mainstream in the USA in the 1980s and 90s.
By the 21st-century, latte art had become one of the leading coffee trends and popular in countries throughout the world, with the rise of social media only adding to its prevalence. Baristas today are constantly coming up with new ways to create fascinating coffee-based designs.
Latte art techniques
There are a couple of different techniques that are popular for creating latte art. If you’re new to making art you might want to experiment with both to practise your technique and find out what works for you. Another factor in what technique you should use is the type of designs you want to create. As you become more experienced you might start to combine techniques or work on more elaborate designs.
One method that’s used by many baristas is free pouring. As the name suggests, this involves pouring the milk from a specific height whilst moving the jug. This combines milk foam and coffee crema.
An alternative is etching, which is carried out with a toothpick or special latte art tool. This allows you to create intricate shapes and designs once you’ve poured the milk into the cup. The milk and crema remain more separated with the etching technique.
Making The Coffee
Of course, if you want a great latte design you have to start with the basics – you have to prepare your milk and coffee properly. Any good quality coffee made in commercial espresso machines is usually fine for making art, but baristas need to pay careful attention to how they prepare the milk to ensure it has the ideal consistency.
The milk should be a smooth and silky microfoam. You can achieve this by steaming cold milk to 60-80 degrees. If large bubbles are foaming you need to lower the wand further into the milk. After steaming, tap and swirl to jug to create a consistently creamy texture. At this stage, your milk is ready to pour.
6 Latte Art Designs To Try Out
If you’re keen to try your hand at latte art it’s a great idea to start with some simple and basic designs. Once you feel more confident you can branch out into more elaborate motifs or your own original designs.
Before you make your design, assemble your tools and prepare your milk. When you’re ready to go, try out one of these designs – and remember to keep practising!
Rosetta
The rosetta is a classic and widely-recognised latte art motif. Although it may look complicated, it’s actually a great option for beginners to master. Simply pour the milk with the cup at a 45-degree angle and avoid holding the jug very close to the cup. Pour out a thin stream of milk that sinks to the bottom.
When the cup is three-quarters full, bring the judge closer to the cup until it rests on the cup’s edge. Now pour a little more milk until you see a dot of foam. When you see it, start to move the jug from side to side.
Start pouring less milk as the cup becomes full, lift the jug higher again and move the stream of milk through the middle. This should give you an elegant yet simple rosetta design.
Heart
Hearts are another simple but popular design. You can customise them as you become more experienced with creating latte art and they’re great for days like valentine’s day or birthdays. Like the rosetta, tilt the cup to a 45-degree angle and pour the milk into the centre. Hold the jug up high so that the milk reaches the bottom of the cup.
When the cup is three-quarters full, pour the milk, start gently shaking the jug, then bring it closer to the cup and stop shaking.
You should see white circles developing on the surface. When the cup is almost full, pour the milk in a line through the middle. This creates a simple but attractive heart design.
Tulip
The tulip is another popular latte art design that you often spot in coffee shops and on social media. This design is effectively multiple hearts stacked on top of each other, so you might want to move on to this design after you’ve perfected making a single heart. Once again, tilt the cup and hold the jug up high so that the milk forms a base at the bottom of the cup.
Lower the jug and gently shake to create a small heart motif at the base of the design and then lift it again to cut off the flow of milk. Lower it again to create the next layer of the design and keep repeating this until the cup is full.
You can then add a line through the middle. Once you’re accustomed to this design it’s quick to produce whilst still looking impressive.
Spiral
Spirals are a simple yet attractive motif that you can make using either milk or coffee syrup. This design uses etching. If you use syrup, the milk foam underneath needs to be thicker and heavier than the syrup to prevent it from sinking.
Pour either the milk or syrup into a spiral on top of the coffee. Pour the milk as normal and then use the syrup on top of it if you’re making the design from syrup.
Use a toothpick or latte art tool to pull five lines from the middle to the edge of the cup. This makes the spiral resemble a star. In between each line, pull another line in the opposite direction from the edge to the middle. This creates an intricate yet simple to make spiral design.
Swan
The swan design is impressive but can certainly be a challenge. You’ll want to perfect the other designs before moving on to this option. Once you’re able to pull it off it’ll help your latte art to really stand out from the crowd. It combines techniques from a number of other designs.
Once your milk is ready to pour, use the rosetta technique to create the body of the swan. Above the body, create a head by making a small heart shape. You can also add an optional base layer made with the tulip technique if you really want to show off your skills.
Once you’ve finished free pouring, use a toothpick or latte art tool to guide the foam and crema into an elegant curved neck shape that connects the head and body.
Bear
A bear is a fun and quirky design that involves a number of techniques. You might want to master the more basic designs before attempting this one. Once you’ve mastered this design your latte art will really make an impact and you can explore other, more unique designs.
Start by using the heart technique but don’t finish by pouring milk through the centre, which is what creates the heart shape. Hold the jug higher to pour the milk, then bring it closer to create a thicker stream and stop pouring.
The shape should look like an apple. Using a spoon, add a dot of milk on each side to make ears. Then use a toothpick to draw eyes and a nose and add any extra detail.
Discover Latte Art
Latte art can make a cafe or any other type of coffee retail environment really stand out against its competitors. Seeing fantastic designs might make it seem impossible to master but if you can get to grips with a few basic techniques you can use them to create increasingly elaborate motifs.
Remember to start with the basics and keep practising – before you know it you’ll be creating Instagram-worthy elaborate designs that will truly wow your customers!
