Latte (from Italian Latte - milk) was first prepared in Italy. The drink is valued for its soft velvety taste. About half a century ago, Italian baristas breathed new life into the familiar lattes and cappuccinos. In his cup, the client was happy to find either a “flower”, or a “heart”, or an “apple”. It was these drawings that were the first and became the basis for the rest.
In the US, latte art was popularized by David Schomer in the 80s and 90s. Having visited Italy, he was inspired by the art of local baristas and today is the author of the book “Espresso Coffee. A guide for professionals” and many articles about coffee and latte art. His Espresso Vivace Café is internationally renowned for its high quality coffee.
Surely you have noticed that the patterns on coffee for visitors are different. Latte art is a way of dialogue with the visitor. Often the barista selects drawings on purpose. He will draw hearts for a couple holding hands, a smile for a sad person, a sun for a girl he likes.
Latte art allows you to create additional value for guests of coffee shops, cafes and restaurants. At the same time, the cost of a cup of coffee increases, and, accordingly, the revenue of the institution. For many local markets, latte art is a novelty that allows you to attract guests and drive out competitors. The quality of the resulting patterns on a latte or cappuccino depends, first of all, on the skill of the barista, the quality of the coffee itself and the milk foam.
The most common types of latte art are as follows:
- Pouring milk foam into thick espresso is the easiest and most practical way to create patterns on the surface of coffee. This method is widely used in American coffee shops due to the speed of preparation and durability.
- Creating patterns on the surface of milk foam with a toothpick - patterns created in this way are less stable compared to pouring milk foam. Painting with caramel and food coloring also finds application in latte art.
- Using stencils - coffee designs are created using a stencil and cinnamon or cocoa powder.
Technology for applying latte art
The pattern created by the master is influenced by the technique of the master and the following factors: the height of the milk jug above the surface of the cup; milk jet oscillation frequency; the point at which the jet of milk enters the cup; infusion rate.
For drawing, you need to prepare espresso coffee and high-quality milk foam. It's all about her bubbles. Before preparing the foam, the milk is cooled to 2-4 degrees. After that, a modern coffee maker equipped with a steam engine is used. Through this device, steam is supplied under pressure, which warms up and whips the foam. Milk should have time to warm up to 60-70 degrees, but no more. Then part of the milk will turn into a dense, tender and, most importantly, fine bubble foam. Milk whipped in any other way will only give big bubbles. On such a foam, the pattern will quickly settle and spread. High-quality foam retains the pattern for 10-12 minutes. Even if most of the coffee is drunk during this time, the pattern will settle to the bottom of the cup, almost unchanged.
Before pouring the frothed milk into coffee, it must stand for 30 seconds in the milk jug. After that, you can draw. According to the Italian method (pitching) - coffee or milk jet. When preparing a cappuccino, drawing begins with the first drop of milk foam that has fallen on coffee. If we are talking about coffee latte, then they draw a stream of coffee over milk foam. You can also draw in the Australian way (etching), using, apart from the pitcher, any means at hand: wooden skewers, Chinese sticks, coffee spoons, chocolate and fruit syrups, cinnamon, etc.
Barista Secrets
A real barista always has his own secrets of creating unique latte art. The brewed coffee has its own foam. If you sprinkle it in a cup with cocoa powder, then the poured stream of milk foam will turn dark beige. It is necessary to study well the behavior of the foam when applying drawings. To "pull" the image in the right direction, you need to sharply draw a line-jet. The height of the milk jug above the cup, the strength of the jet are also taken into account. Training sometimes takes months. Baristas know that the main taste of coffee is concentrated in the coffee foam. To emphasize perfection, you need to correctly position the picture. The execution of the classic "heart" allows the coffee foam to stray to the walls. This enhances the aroma and taste of the drink. If you sprinkle coffee with cocoa powder, the pattern will be brighter.
Thanks to innovation, latte art has been taken to a whole new level of development. Taiwan's Let's Cafe uses a special coffee printer that allows you to print a photo with a portrait of a guest directly on the surface coffee drink. To create a pattern on the surface of the milk foam, the printer uses special food-grade inks. At the request of the guests, in addition to the photograph, various inscriptions can also be added to the surface of the drink.
Now the best coffee bartenders gather for the annual coffee painting championships. There, coffee gurus create new patterns and technologies for their application. Aerobatics is considered "Taj Mahal", invented by Australian barista George Sabbads. One of the last world championships in latte art was won by Australian Scotty Kalagan, who designed 6 cups with an identical pattern, drawing behind his back. And the world record today is 7 roses, "blossomed" in a 150 ml cup of cappuccino.
Is latte art difficult to learn? Of course, it is difficult, because you need to learn how to control several processes at once, and at the same time also have a certain artistic taste. Difficult, but nothing impossible, especially if you have a Saeco automatic coffee machine at hand. After all, it is well known that it is not the gods who make pots, and everything can be learned with appropriate effort.
Do good coffee easy: all coffee machines brew it equally well. But the intricate drawing on the foam will make the girl see you as a creative and subtle personality, even if you work as a personnel manager at a slaughterhouse.
Ignat Sakharov
Technique 1. Stencil
You prepare a latte or cappuccino, trying to make the milk cap thicker.
Then you take a pre-purchased stencil - there are, for example, candygrand.ru and domoteka-market.ru. You can even order stencils for a dollar a million on AliExpress, if you are not afraid that they will send you a dried basilisk by mistake.
You hold the stencil over the cup, pour cinnamon or chocolate through a strainer (it will be smoother). You remove the stencil and admire the creation.
Technique 2. Pitching
This is how professional baristas usually draw on coffee. First you need to turn the milk into a thick foam. To do this, it is poured into a pitcher - a steel jug with a long narrow spout - and whipped with steam from a coffee machine. This results in what baristas call microfoam.
By this time, an espresso of finely ground coffee should already be ready: this will thicken the foam. You tilt the cup and pour the milk into the coffee in a circular motion, as if stirring the coffee with a thin stream of microfoam.
As soon as the milk, pushing off from the bottom of the cup, appears on the surface, you begin to move the pitcher's nose in a short zigzag. So on the surface of the coffee you get a pattern of foam, which is called a rosette.
Now if you take a toothpick and draw the details to your taste, it will be not only pitching, but also etching. And all together - latte art.
Drawing on coffee is a whole branch of fine art. A cup of familiar coffee turns into a work of art. Drawing on coffee brings a smile and improves mood.
Photo Shutterstock
For different types coffee technology for obtaining images on the surface of this drink is different. For black types of coffee, such as espresso, americano, the pattern is formed on the surface of the coffee itself. For coffees with milk foam, such as cappuccino, latte, macchiato, the design is applied to the milk foam that covers the coffee.
Drawing Secrets for Black Coffee
The most important thing when drawing on the surface of black coffee is to create a dense base for drawing. One of simple ways creating such a base background is sprinkling the coffee surface with cocoa powder. Pour cocoa from a salt shaker or through a strainer into a cup with freshly brewed coffee in an even layer until a dense, dry brown base for the pattern is formed.
You can also use cinnamon to create a base.
On a brown surface, the pattern will look bright and contrasting.
Secrets of the design for coffee with milk foam
For coffee with milk foam, it is the foam that will serve as the basis for painting. The foam should be dense so that the pattern stays on it for at least 15 minutes. The main secret basis density - milk foam should consist of small bubbles. The technique for obtaining foam from small bubbles in modern high-pressure coffee makers is simple: it is whipped from milk cooled to 2–4 ° C.
Foam from large bubbles is loose and quickly settles, losing its shape, and then completely dissolving in coffee along with the pattern
Necessary drawing tools
Prepare or buy a pitcher, salt shaker, wooden sticks, confectionery syringe.
The main tool for drawing is a pitcher - a metal vessel with a spout and a handle, similar to a milk jug. Designed for frothing milk by hand at home. In drawing on coffee, it is used instead of a "pencil".
You will also need a salt shaker filled with cocoa to create the background of the picture.
Wooden sticks are useful for drawing thin lines.
A confectionery syringe is needed to outline the contours. Instead of a syringe, you can use ready-made cans, tubes with a thin tip filled with liquid chocolate.
milk heart
Prepare chilled milk. Lather it with the steamer of the coffee maker in the pitcher. Brew espresso. Sprinkle the surface of the coffee with cocoa from the salt shaker. The espresso already has its own crema, so the cocoa won't get wet or sink, but will be a great base for the pattern.
Grasp the pitcher with your arm and tilt over a cup of coffee. The frothed milk from the pitcher should come to the surface of the coffee from a height of about 5 cm. It should be poured strictly in the center. When a white circle of the right size appears on the surface of the coffee - a blank for a milk heart, move the pitcher's nose to the place where the heart should have a cavity. Bring the nose closer to the surface of the coffee at a distance of 2 cm and sharply cross out the milky circle in diameter - from the beginning of the supposed depression to the sharp tip of the heart. Finish drawing. A sharply drawn line will pull the drawing in the direction where the last drop of the drawing was made: a depression forms on the circle, and a sharp tip on the opposite side.
All coffee lovers know the joy when a barista serves a cup of latte with a pattern. It is unexpected and pleasant, and especially fun when companies offer different images, while drawn so easily, it would seem, with a few hand movements, in passing. Well, you too can learn how to draw on coffee and master latte art. True, for this you will have to work out, and drink (or treat friends) with a lot of coffee. But then you can also surprise and delight your guests.
To draw on coffee, you need a coffee machine with a milk frother function. Just like that, with a whisk, you won’t beat it. Simple battery-operated beaters are also difficult, at least until you have experience. We will talk about the methods available to you in such conditions, but later. First, let's deal with traditional way. We take:
- Quality milk, better than 3.5%. The more fat content, the stronger the foam will be;
- Coffee - do not take the best one until you learn - spoil quite a lot of product, and drinking so much espresso in a short time is harmful;
- Pitcher, stainless steel pitcher for whipping. You can use any other, but with this you will definitely feel the right temperature and be able to whip the milk to the right degree. It is a jug that is needed, a metal bowl will not work;
- Cup, preferably round;
- A toothpick or a special thicker wooden stick;
- Espresso machine;
- Syrup, preferably chocolate (not for all recipes).
You need to make the perfect creamy milk foam that will create the "cushion" for the drawing, the base on which the white drawing will then rest.
First, you need cold milk, and do not heat it before steaming. When it comes to lattes, full fat milk is usually used - skim milk is definitely not suitable for beginners. Pour the milk into a jug and lower the steamer into it, but be careful not to raise it too high. If you see big bubbles, it means the steamer is too high.
Hold the jug with your other hand - when it gets very hot - it means that the desired temperature of about 60 degrees has been reached. Tap the pitcher on the table to remove large bubbles and thicken the foam. Swirl the milk a little and it will be ready to pour.
While you're making froth, brew your espresso. You can even make it ahead of time, let it cool a little, it's better than the foam settling while you brew coffee.
How to draw on coffee: 3 ideas and instructions
So, you have a round (not too flat and not too tall) cup with a shot of espresso in it. Now let's try to draw.
Heart
The most simple and invariably pleasing drawing. Tilt the cup at a 45 degree angle with one hand and pour the milk into the center with the other. The jug must be held high so that the milk spills through the layer of coffee to the bottom of the cup. When the cup is three-quarters full, shake your hand a little (not the cup, but the jug), then bring the jug closer to the cup and pour until you notice the appearance of white circles. The moment the cup is almost full, pour the milk in a line from one side to the other across the center.
Rosette, she is a plant, leaves
On the net, it is called differently, but these are the same leaves of different sizes, similar to a plant or a twig. Tilt the cup at about a 45 degree angle and start pouring the milk, but don't hold the jug too close to the cup. Make sure the milk flow is thin so that it creates a base as the froth sinks to the bottom.
When the cup is three-quarters full, bring the pitcher closer to the cup until he is almost in contact with it. As soon as the jug touches the cup, pour in a little more milk and you will see a dot of white foam. At this point, start moving the pitcher from one side to the other. When you reach the rim of the cup, start pouring less milk, lift the pitcher and pour a stream of milk through the center. It turns out that you first draw the wide part, reach the tip, and then draw a line to the base.
Chocolate star, snowflake
To prevent the syrup from sinking to the bottom, you need to make your foam thicker, this will keep it on top. Beat it a little harder. Using syrup, draw a spiral from the center of the mug to the edge. Then take a toothpick or something slightly thicker and then draw lines from the center out to the edge. Make five stripes to make it look like a star. Then between these lines make lines from the edge to the center. Ready! Do not forget to wipe the tip of the toothpick with a napkin after each line.
The syrup should be in a bottle with a thin spout, not liquid, not in glass bottles with a portion dispenser.
On a thick cushion of foam, you can draw anything with chocolate, write inscriptions. You can also make a thread:
Draw a snake along the edge of half of the cup and stretch it with a toothpick - you get a branch of the plant. And in the center you can draw a circle, and stretching it out with a toothpick, get a heart.
How to make a drawing on coffee if the foam is not whipped
Don't worry, you can decorate the drink anyway. To do this, you will need a stencil - it can be easily made from any paper. Cut out a heart or something more complicated, you can bend the paper to make it symmetrical.
- Grate chocolate or take cinnamon.
- Holding the stencil over the cup, fill in the decor.
- Even if the foam is frankly weak, you will make the drink interesting and beautiful.
Try, experiment, and you can make a drawing on coffee.
Conclusions:
- To make a drawing on coffee, the main thing is to whip up a strong foam, on the basis of which the white layer of the drawing will adhere.
- The easiest way to beat the foam is with a steamer in a pitcher.
- Pour first at a 45 degree angle, then level the cup and pour until a white circle is visible, then paint by moving the jug.
- Well-whipped foam holds chocolate or any dark syrup perfectly.
- In extreme cases, you can draw a heart through a stencil, sprinkling cinnamon through it.
Each era has its own distinctive features: somewhere great artists appear, somewhere legendary musicians glorify their names, and somewhere the real Overseas word “barista” literally 5 years ago was not yet known to a simple layman. And today he can show how to draw on coffee.
A little about the profession and art
In Italy, local residents created a separate coffee culture several centuries ago, but the profession itself - coffee bartender - appeared relatively recently - about 50 years ago. Who is a barista? This is a professional coffee bartender who prepares all types of espresso, including lungo and ristretto, as well as all sorts of cocktails (cappuccino, machiatto, latte and coretto).
How to draw on coffee? A professional barista will say, "Very simple." The art of drawing on coffee has appeared quite recently, and in order to master it perfectly, it is not at all necessary to complete courses of a professional bartender.
Professional requirements or what should a coffee bartender be able to do?
An interesting feature: in Italy, most often men become baristas, since latte art requires the greatest skill, honed over the years, but in the domestic restaurant industry, ladies become coffee cup decorators.
A coffee bartender is not just an attractive appearance and the ability to create unpretentious squiggles. The profession has special requirements that a real barista must fulfill:
- Thoroughly know the rules and techniques for preparing espresso, its varieties and coffee-based drinks.
- Excellent understanding of coffee, its cultivation methods, varieties and preparation features.
- Perfectly master the flair of a gourmet - be able to determine the type of coffee from half a sip.
- Be able to make the most delicious coffee in the world, as well as draw unimaginable patterns and unsurpassed patterns on the foam.
To create a small masterpiece that will disappear with the first sip of the visitor, the master perfects his art for hours, or even weeks, tries, experiments and enjoys the amazing result. Understanding how to draw on coffee is not difficult. It is much more difficult to put theory into practice.
Master class from a real "barista"
Latte art - the art of creating designs on coffee crema - requires a certain level of craftsmanship and skill. Any beginner can draw a simple heart, but to create three-dimensional images or drawings with small details - this needs to be learned.
First of all, it is necessary to whisk the milk with high quality and pour it into the espresso correctly. The image itself is created in two ways:
- Regular drawing with a toothpick.
- Infusion of frothed milk in a special way.
In one case or another, a wide variety of patterns are created on the surface of the drink, ranging from simple figures to true masterpieces of coffee painting.
Drawing technique
There are several of them, but to perform any of them, you should know a few secrets that will allow you to achieve an excellent result. How to draw on coffee:
- It is necessary to create a thick base for the image (cappuccino or espresso).
- Use cream with a high percentage of fat content. They should not be whipped for a long time - a slight thickening will be enough.
- It is recommended to whip cream in a special jug - a pitcher. The device was created specifically for latte art and, thanks to its design features, allows you to create magnificent drawings.
- To achieve the best result, you need to sprinkle the surface of the drink with cocoa powder.
These small but very important secrets form the basis of coffee art. Everything else is a skill honed over the years.
How to make drawings on coffee?
There are several basic techniques that are used to create original decorative elements on the coffee surface. These are the basics of art that even a novice barista can master.
- Pitching. This is the main and most difficult drawing technique. To create it, a special stainless steel pitcher is used - a pitcher. With it, you can draw a heart or a "rosette" - this is the base of latte art.
- Etching is a technique derived from pitching. For drawing, not only a special jug is used, but sticks, toothpicks or skewers, which allow you to create more detailed images.
- Mixed media - the name speaks eloquently for itself. It is a combination of the above two techniques. A distinctive feature is the ability to decorate the picture with cinnamon, syrup or chocolate.
Art is developing rapidly. Currently, there are special courses that provide latte art training, and today various competitions and competitions are held in this area, where professional baristas demonstrate their skills.
Stencil and 3D painting technique
This is the simplest technique for drawing a pattern on the surface of coffee. To create a pattern, special stencils for latte art are used, with which you can make complex and detailed images. The technique is available even to an unprepared beginner - stencils are available for free sale. Having tried several times to create original drawings, you can surprise your family and friends with an unusual drink, decorated with fancy decorations.
3D technique is the most spectacular and impressive way to create a picture. Barista from Japan Kazuki Yamamoto has achieved the greatest skill in this area of art. He easily creates incredibly voluminous and realistic images from whipped cream, from which it is impossible to take your eyes off.
From simple to complex
The theory is clear. It remains only to put the knowledge into practice and figure out how to do it. It is worth recalling once again the pitching technique - the basis of all the basics - and the two main shapes - the heart and the rosette. To get a simple one, you need to whip the milk in a special jug and carefully pour it into the espresso, while shaking the pitcher from side to side. This is necessary in order to obtain petals of various sizes. must be held at an angle - this is necessary so that the coffee foam does not fall. At the very end, all that remains is to draw a thin stream of milk - the stalk of the "rosette".
Drawing a heart is even easier. To do this, you need to direct the milk flow to the center of the cup, and then, swinging the pitcher from side to side, form a small circle. After filling the cup, lift the jug and cross out the circle along the diameter with a small stream of milk. So the circle is slightly extended in the direction of the last movement and a charming heart is created.
Latte art is art in its truest manifestation, which is perfectly mastered by professional baristas. However, anyone who wants to touch coffee art can create small masterpieces.
