Disclaimers a plenty on this one!

You might say to yourself "Hey... (self). This isn't all that bad of an attempt. It kinda even looks like a fern leaf." Yes, it actually sorta does look like a leaf. I'm rather impressed it looks like much of anything, actually. And so begins my morning saga...

First of all, my wife decided to stay late in bed which left me to entertain the baby. Now she's just coming up on 3 months and needs constant attention and/or body contact. Her favorite thing is to hang in the Baby Bjorn (think chest harness for infant). I start grinding my espresso... baby happy and looking around. I tamp and get the milk ready... baby's still fine. I start to froth the milk and baby starts to *SCREAM* like I've just scalded her with hot steam (which I did not). So I'm trying to comfort my baby and make good micro-foam with her cute head blocking my view of the process - very difficult indeed!

Finally I finish frothing and she settles down a bit. I don't know if it was the sound or what. So I pull the shot and get ready to pour. I viewed a YouTube video of leaf art right before I made the latte so I tried to incorporate new technique into my latest effort. Right as I start to pour, my baby decides to start thrashing about in the Bjorn - not to be confused with Björn Borg - the great tennis player of my youth, mind you.

So I finish the pour and think, hey... not great, but actually rather nice considering all the points listed above. I go to grab my camera and go figure, it doesn't turn on... dead battery. I realize also there's no memory card in it. I put the spare battery in and surprise... also not charged. I look for my wife's small digital camera and it's disappeared. Finally I grab my father's loaned video cam and snap off a picture at least 5 min after the pour took place - better "latte" than never!? Ha ha.

So that has been my lengthy dissertation of a disclaimer for an actually half-decent latte pour.

I guarantee you I won't be holding a baby trying to do the process again any time soon. Until my next attempt... happy drinking! -Naug

Saturday morning latte

I had a bit of time Saturday morning and made a quick latte before work. As you can see I started my art pour too soon and had milk left over in the pitcher - which I later added to bring my drink up to level. ;-) Not my best attempt, but sometimes this is the best I can manage with the foam I can muster. I will try again soon, I promise. Byeee!

Not bad... not bad....

So after spending all night thinking about NYTIMES no-knead-dutch-oven bread and wanting to make some, I settled on making a morning latte and did get some decent foam to make a nice feather-like pattern. Not quite a leaf, but I like the results.

I'll write more if I have time but for now... BABY DUTY!

-Naug

No lazy mornings = no latte art

So I've been working early the last few days and haven't had time to pour a good latte. I rushed to make one before 8am work, but it didn't turn out so good. Too much foam makes not for a good pour. Man, I sound a bit like Yoda - what up with that?

So here's my dilemma. I'm definitely a perfectionist and I don't want to share my "bad examples" of latte art, but at the same time how "honest-to-blog" am I if I only post the good pours? I suppose I should post the good, bad and downright ugly. This may even force me to work hard to hone my skills. However I'm still at the mercy of my Saeco Classico and its hardly-consistent-steam.

On a side note, there is no place in my city where I can buy green robusta beans. I like to use about 10-15% robusta to give a nice thick crema (and a little bit of caffeine kick). I ordered some online and I think I paid more in shipping than the actual cost of the beans. Ha! My only consolation is that they SHOULD last for at least 6 months or more.

I work late tomorrow and with any luck I'll get a decent pour and good crema with freshly roasted beans. If you don't see a post or a picture either my camera's busted, I didn't have time to post, or more likely I made some BAD art!

-Later!

Starting a new blog is fun! :-)

This is my first official Latte Art post... I am a newbie and only have a Saeco Classico espresso machine, but I've been able to get some decent leaf art I suppose. I hope to someday get a Rancilio Silva machine which gives much more consistent steam for making good latte art. I'm also currently out of robusta beans so my crema is somewhat lacking - yes, I roast my own espresso blend as well.

If you've stumbled upon this blog, feel free to comment how bad I am or what not... even encourage me if you like. I have no formal training. I just like to make my own coffee and I figured it would be something fun to blog about.

Cheers!

-Naug