'The perfect latte art will make a true Italian puke' is a saying I once heard from a real coffee purist. Italians are strickt with their coffee rules. No cappuchino after 10.30 in the morning and latte in general is very debatable is that will leave anything left from the quality of the coffee.
Because...damn..Setting up a good coffee with a coffee grinder according to 'the rules'. Well that aint so damn simple and you loads of weekends to try, take the time and make it work.
#Proud!! It is starting to look like something
It starts with the bean and grinding
Grinding the beans already is dependent on what weather type and temperature it is. That is why these full automatic machines are 'no bueno' because they have no option to adjust the grinding rate on how fine the coffee comes out.
For the perfect doppio (double espresso) an amount somewhere between the 13.5 and 16 grams of coffee should be grinded. When you start to run the coffee after between 6 and 10 seconds the coffee should start to run. Running should take only 27 seconds to create 25 to 35 ml of coffee.
Excuse me, that sounds like a lot of rules for a simple cup of black gold! But after experimenting myself into some high blood pressure because of the caffeine amount that was consumed, I can only conclude that these 'rules' are there for a reason. It doesn't take a lot of the perfect coffee to because sour or bitter.
Which ofcourse you can mask a lot off with some decent milk in the cappuchino. But it starts with the base
Over to the milk
Ahhh then the milk is where the new study starts and Youtube comes on in! Because making latte art is not about getting the shape right, it is about getting the milk right!
This dude explains quite well on how to make the heart in there. But again it start already with the milk and what kind of milk this actually is. Because to create milk with a thicker dense you need a higher fat kind of milk. This can be the special kind of cappuchino milks, but those are overpriced and not particulary special. A full fat 'normal' milk is enough for this.
'Oouch that hurts'
This one time I was sitting in a bar somewhere and the barista was making a lot of coffees next to me. When he was nearly finished I asked him what the secret was on how he did not make his foam too puffy. Because too puffy means a thick layer of milk on top and not making any latte art.
He told me the golden rule. Only in the beginning add extra air by holding the tube half in the milk half out of the milk. And then put the tube into the milk. Hold the cup also under the bottom to feel how hot the milk becomes.
And then he said:
'When it is getting damn hot. You say the words...'Ouch that hurts' and THEN the milk is ready'
Admittingly....when the guy told me this, that is already a couple of months ago. And after some practise....this little Christmas tree is what came out in the weekends of failing.