Latte Art Tips & Tricks
One of our most frequent questions in our BonLife cafe is “how did you do that?!” in reference to latte art. Often the question comes from home baristas who genuinely want to learn more, so today we’re sharing some tips and tricks that will help you improve the quality of your latte art no matter your skill level.
Tip #1: The key to good latte art starts before you start pouring it— good latte art starts when you steam the milk. If your milk isn’t steamed correctly, you’ll never be able to achieve that glossy latte art with good contrast. If you want to brush up on how to steam milk correctly, read our blog post here. The short version is: make sure you’re letting the right about of air into the milk. If you add too much, the milk will be to fluffy and won’t pour smoothly. If you add too little, the milk will be thin, and the latte art will float around.
Tip #2: Choose one design. If you’re very new to latte art, pick just one design and practice it over and over until you’ve perfected it. Once you’ve mastered the rosetta for example you can take those skills and control you have over the pour and transfer them to a new design.
Tip #3: Everything you do when you pour latte art affects the end result. For example: if you’re holding the pitcher too close to the surface of the drink when you cut through the art at the end, it will drag the whole design down and cause it to be misshapen. If you’re pouring slow or fast, it will change the design too. This can be intentional and used on purpose to create a slow rosetta vs a fast rosetta. The point is, take stock of any habits you may have when you pour, and make sure they’re intentional. Switch up the speed and height of your pour and see how it changes your art. Once you begin to grasp the ways your art can be influenced by these movements you can harness them for your latte art powers!
Tip #4: One of the easiest ways to learn more about latte art is by watching videos online of other baristas pouring. Look for slow motion videos; these will especially help you see each movement and motion the barista is using to create certain designs. We know watching videos of other people pouring latte art seems too easy to even be a tip, but you’ll be surprised at just how much it can help you see how certain pours work!
We hope these tips and tricks are helpful for you in your latte art journey! Check back here for an upcoming post that delves even deeper into latte art and how it works.
Happy pouring!
