Latte Art, What Is It?
Have you ever been served a coffee with artwork on top? Well, that design on your espresso is known as latte art. It is usually created by drawing on the froth right after the latte is made. This is difficult you may think, but as with all the other arts, practice leads to perfection. Most quality coffee shops feature latte art these days, the subtle artwork adding appeal and excitement to a cup of coffee.
Hearts are the most popular among things drawn on the froth. Nowadays you will also find swans, people, leaves, stars and even cats drawn on your coffee. Rosetta is also a popular pattern and is slightly more difficult to make compared to the heart. A few experts who have a lot of control over the patterns have even been able to create faces, flowers and animals on the coffee with a lot of detail included.
If you wish to learn this art, a lot of training classes can be found. You can also learn it by yourself by watching tutorial videos online. There are two basic methods of making this art. First one is the free pouring technique where the patterns are made when the milk is poured into the espresso. The second method is the etching where the pattern is made after the milk is poured using a stick. Before one adds the milk to create the white part of the design, the espresso should have an even brown surface.
The free pouring pattern can be made by either keeping the cup flat or tilted on the table-top. After the poring is done in the particular way, the white foam will rise to the surface, either straight up or sideways depending on how you had initially placed the cup. Placing the cup level with the table will give you the heart shape while the other method will help you get the leaf or the fern pattern.
The etching method enables you to come up with complicated patterns unlike the more simple hearts, fern, etc. The micro foam on top will soon disperse into the milk layer below so this form of art stays only for a short time. A barista should always know how to effortlessly make latte art. Perfecting these techniques and perfecting more than a few patterns can take years.
The kind of espresso, the espresso maker, the microfoam and the skill of the artist matters when it comes to the end result. As coffee is something you regularly have, this is one art you can practice everyday. If you are planning to work in a coffee shop, this art will come in very handy. Coffee places usually have competitions on these arts and you can check the local shops to see when they are held. Unique designs that are perfected always help you score better but you should always know how to get the common patterns right.
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.
categories: coffee,espresso,latte art,art,caffine,cafe,art,visual arts
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