Blog
by Laura Minet | 13. January 2020

Art & Coffee.

The art of coffee is not only to create the perfect coffee, but also to serve it perfectly. Whereas hearts, flowers or pretty patterns used to be enough on the coffee tableware, these decorations can now be seen on the coffee itself. You can find out how to do this and how to become a latte art master here:

What do you need for Latte Art?

  • A milk jug with a pointed spout
  • Perfectly frothed homogeneous milk foam
  • An incredible amount of practice, time and patience

THE HEART

The heart is said to be the beginner of the Latte Art and is considered the simplest form of Latte Art. To pour a heart into the milk foam, the milk jug with the pointed spout should be supported on the rim of the cup if possible and the milk foam should be poured evenly at a point slightly offset from the centre of the espresso. The milk will then first flow under the crema and then come back to the surface. As soon as the milk breaks through the surface, the heart can be drawn with the remaining milk by drawing the milk stream once through the point from top to bottom and then putting the jug back. The trick is to find the right time, speed and angle when the milk moves below or above the crema.

THE LEAF

A so-called leaf motif is obtained by pouring the milk foam offset to the centre of the cup with espresso at a point from left to right, swinging towards the rim of the cup. This results in a zig-zag pattern along the cup. Once this zig-zag motion has reached the edge of the cup, complete the leaf with a final swing, perpendicular to the swing motion. This creates the “stem” of the leaf. Again, the difficulty lies in choosing the correct angle of the sprue. The steeper this is, the more white becomes visible on the cup surface.

THE TULP

The shape of the tulip poses the greatest challenge. Because to cast this motif, the milk jug has to be put down several times, which requires a lot of skill. First of all, the milk is poured in such a way that it only enters underneath the crema and is not visible on the surface. This is done until the cup is half full. Then place the first point just below the middle so that the milk foam breaks through the crema. This is followed by a second, third, fourth and possibly fifth point along a row. The number of points is three, but it can be extended at will. It is important that the last point is poured as a heart and the backward swing is pulled through the entire line of points.