Putting all the pieces together

I'm trying to get all the basic elements of a good latte pour together in a single attempt, but it's really hard. Making one "cupped" latte a day or only 3 per week makes it difficult for repeatability (my other daily lattes end up in a travel mug for work enjoyment/survival). Oh to be a barista at a European cafe...

I've decided that to make a perfect latte...

The Silvia has to be spitting out very dry steam (not the furious steam when the heater is cranking) and you can only "stretch" the milk for about 5 seconds or you get WAY too much foam - which makes for a ruined pour. The crema has to be thick and dark and not extract too fast. But it's still the swirl of the pitcher and the pour speed as well as the shake and drag that are of the utmost sensitive. Granted unless you have good crema AND good microfoam, a good pour can't even occur.

Yesterday I got most of the elements just right. Thick dark crema - check. Good textured microfoam, but not too much - check. Slow relaxed pour - partial check. Shake and final drag - partial check minus. Somehow my rosetta, though rather nice in shape turned out a bit too small. I think I should have been tilting the cup slightly during the pour but I usually mess this up when I attempt to pour this way so leaving the cup on the counter is what I tend to do. I also may have been pouring TOO slow.

But enough of all this technical jargon. Sometimes it's just about flavor and I admit I cheated and had Starbucks today mostly because I'm low on beans and need to roast - but I also have to wash the roaster first. So many chores. Ugh. Until next blog.

-Naug

Late but great

This is another great pour that has been hiding on my small digital camera for some time now. It was made right around thanksgiving and is one of my best to date. I have been having really bad microfoam issues recently and so I have nothing respectable to submit these days. Either I have too much and it's a white blizzard of a mess, or too thin and doesn't stand up well to the crema.

Speaking of which, I have discovered - and I had read this a while back but didn't put it into practice until now - that you should heat the portafilter attached to the machine as it warms to operating temperature. Thus the thick brass portafilter is roughly the same temp as your extraction water. I have been getting TONS of wonderful crema by just adopting this simple change when pulling my shots.

Seriously... Wow!

I wonder much like Julie (what's-her-name, from the movie Julie & Julia) if anyone really reads this silly latte art blog. Oh well. It's fun for me to write.

Thanks for all your support! Send payments of appreciation to my Paypal account. Ha ha.

-Naug

I never posted this one...

Sorry all. I kinda thought I had posted this blog entry months ago, but I guess I was wrong. It was a pour from October and it was rather nice. Guess good things come to those who wait. And a good cup o' joe never goes out of style.

-Naug

4 respectible pours and yet I find myself wanting to do better

Too much froth

Almost perfect microfoam - pour needs work

Crema and froth not quite right hence a weaker pour

Best pour of the group - It looks a little "fuzzy" because I couldn't photograph it right away until I found fresh AA batteries. Oops.

These have all been pours in the last few weeks. I'm getting some consistency and have a decent pour greater than 50% of the time. I just wonder what's preventing me from getting a much "crisper" rosetta design. I think my crema is decent enough, but the froth is USUALLY too thick and you get no detail or too thin and you can't even make a design.

I have noticed that every attempt I've make into latte cups that are not "cupped" shaped on the bottom almost always result in a lousy pour. I've seen baristas make pours into tall to-go cups, so I'm not sure what technique I'm lacking.

Anyway... I'm gonna keep at it cause it's fun and only takes an extra few seconds so, why not?

Naug out!

I'm getting good at this...

Nearly perfect

Good form but EXTREMELY wee

Looks like a pine tree?!

So I've been having some pretty darn good pours recently and besides getting the frothing just about right, I've changed up my pouring technique. Instead of holding both the cup and the pitcher in the air I've started putting the cup on the counter and resting the spout of the pitcher on the edge of the cup. This lets me do a slower more consistent pour before I begin the rosetta "shake".

As you can see the results have been very good. Not master barista good, mind you. Just good enough that I'm pleased with the look I've achieved before it goes in my belly. After all, it's kind of a stupid thing latte art, because once you enjoy the drink the art is all but a memory. But yet it's still fun to do! I'm odd, what can I say.

As a side note, I'm getting MUCH better crema now that I have some robusta beans in my home roast once more. I don't know anywhere in town that carries them so I had to order online - 3 lbs to be exact and since I only use about 25-30g at most per roast I think I'm set for quite some time. :)

Happy ending of summer!

-Naug

New house still average results

So, I have a new house and I had to fight with my wife to put my Silvia and Rocky where *I* wanted them. I eventually won and she gets to buy $1200 worth of drapes. Wait, did I REALLY win after all?

I really need to order some robusta beans online cause even though my crema is good, it could be GREAT!

I also have to roast in the basement now using the dryer vent since my new house sadly doesn't have a vented stove hood as my first house did. But it's all good.

Here's one of my rosetta pours. It's not great. I wish I could get that perfect pour. Someday, right?

-Naug

Sunny Morning Latte

Nothing like a sunny morning and a good pour to cheer up one's day. If only my new water heater would self-install itself.

Happy and warmer days ahead!

-Naug

Less froth is better...

I now know - or at least I have reaffirmed my understanding that LESS is more and in the case of latte art, you need good tight froth, but you can't have too much lest you ruin the crema during the pour. I am also getting more comfortable with the pour itself. It is just often hard to get good dry steam and not TOO much so that I can quickly get some tight microfoam then bury the wand deep into the milk and get a whirlpool going.

My wife still wants me to learn a new pour, but until I can do a rosetta every time and equally as good as the last I continue to trudge onward and forward. My baby is crying so I end this blog entry now.

-Naug

Another try - not bad... not bad

I still try to pour good latte art every time I make a latte but depending on the freshness of the milk and basically how little I try the better results I get. I try to just minimally incorporate air when I begin to froth then I get the milk whirlpooling around. Sometimes this works great and sometimes I get no froth whatsoever and therefore no art.



I'm getting a little more consistent with the actual pours - this is where the true skill lies. And then there's my wife who keeps chiding me asking when am I going to learn a new design. Sometimes she can be so mean. ;-)



I wish I worked in a coffee shop... part-time, that is.

When you give up caring...

...is the only time I actually get a decent rosetta. I have been trying SO hard the last month to get perfect microfoam and just the right amount but I was getting way too much or none at all. Only when I wasn't even going to bother working the foam and such is when I actually made a pretty awesome pour. I guess I have much to learn.

Till next pour...

-Naug

Triumphant Return?

I realize it HAS been a while since I last blogged a good latte art. I have been more interested in facebook, origami, and most recently candy making?

But my love of coffee has never wained... just my ability to make a good pour and get the crema and microfoam just so.

Hope everyone had a great turkey day and gets all their Christmas shopping done in time - and please... no more shopping horror stories! It's just stuff... relax and enjoy the season!

-Naug

3 back to basics

I've really been having such bad latte art recently that I pretty much gave up even blogging any of my attempts. I have been more addicted to origami and somehow lost touch with the preparation and technique of a good pour.

Then I read again how to properly create microfoam and how to pour. The foam is SO important. So much so that without the right consistency you might as well just not even bother. I've been frothing the milk FIRST recently and when finished have made sure to continually tap and swirl the pitcher while I'm both cleaning the steam wand and cooling the machine down to pull a shot. I also am swirling during the 25ish seconds to draw the shot.

I have been getting better crema recently but it too has a fine line. Over pack the basket and the water barely comes out producing more sludge than caramel colored crema. Slightly under pack and you've got a real mess of a thin watery shot.

The pour has to start slowly and right in the middle letting the milk (hopefully) cut through the crema and only when ready can you slowly shake the pitcher to get the rosetta started.

I feel like I'm back on track to perfecting this art but the success is in the details. Keeping the pitcher in the freezer before frothing gives me more time to create good tight foam. Also bleeding ALL water out of the steam wand until you have only the driest steam possible has been VERY beneficial to producing tight foam with no big bubbles.

I'll keep you posted if I have more good pours. (I'm not sure who "you" refers to since no one subscribes to this blog.

-Naug

Could they be more different?!?

This is my 2nd belated post of September. I had 4 decent lattes to post but have not had internet/power for the past few days (my town had 660,000 ppl without power this week and mine finally came back LATE Monday night). The top pour is one of my favorites of recent. I only wish the crema was a little darker near the bottom, but the overall rosetta is pretty nice.

This second attempt from yesterday had potential. I got a lot of detail in the "leaves" but did not get good contrast - too much of the foam slipped under the crema. Again, this is all in the pourer's abilities and mine are far from perfected. So I will continue my quest to hone my skills as a master barista. Ha!

Pour it again, Sam.

-Naug

Been slacking on my blog...

...not that anyone reads it anyway! These are my 2 previous attempted pours. I have not posted in a while because I have had both a power outage and just haven't felt like I was getting anything worth posting. I will also post a 2nd entry with my most recent 2 from this week.

As you can see, neither is a very good example. The 2nd has a heart design - purely unintentional I'll admit. My crema has been pretty good with the home roasted beans, but my microfoam is still all over the map and don't even get me started on my pours. Ugh.

Thus concludes post 1 of 2...

-Naug

Not much luck these days...

I'm having issues getting the microfoam right. As you can see there are many larger bubbles which are affecting my pours and the latte art in general. I think I'm doing something fundamentally wrong. Oh well. Back to the drawing board.

Sadly lacking in style.

-Naug

Neverending...

I don't see any foreseeable conclusion to this hobby of making latte art. There are times when I think, hey... a couple more days and I'll have everything just so, but there are SO many variables that I'm surprised baristas DO master the technique. I'm sure it helps having professional equipment and doing multiple pours on a daily basis. My 3-4 pours a week does make for a steeper learning curve.

I tried frothing the milk FIRST today then pulling the shot to see if I could get better results in this order - what I used to do back in my Saeco Classico days. The milk seemed to froth really nice and even without too much steam pressure. I then purged the machine and pulled the shot.

The end result is fair, but it still seemed as though my microfoam was a little thin and didn't hold up to the much thicker crema and so my overall pour wasn't very great. Back to the drawing board I suppose. But at minimum my brother can't critique my lack of good crema. I've currently got an excess of the stuff. :-P

Until next time, pour like you mean it.

-Naug

Hello my pretty

This was my Saturday attempt. Pretty nice. I think it was my 2nd because my first had SO much steam that I ended up with some ridiculous frothy foam that I just couldn't make any art with. This was made for my sister-in-law's husband and I even did the pour after adding syrup so the crema MUST have been good.

I still feel like I don't know what I'm doing at the start of my pour, but one day... one day my perfect pour will arrive.

But until then, I pour, I drink, I impress only my own ego.

Cheerios.
-Naug

OH NO! I rushed it.

Sometimes everything starts so perfect... great crema, lots of powerful steam and then the moment of truth - the pour! I suppose my microfoam wasn't the best but I definitely rushed my pour and ended up running out of cup at the end to get the rosetta made. I'd give my effort a C+ mostly because the execution was poor even though the end result is better than average.

Man. I MUST be my own worst critic. Perfectionist Latte Blog is what I should rename this thing. Oh well.

Happy Weekend and keep on frothing all!

-Naug

The crema my brother was buggin' me about

So I FINALLY got those darn beans roasted and this is my first REAL attempt with the extra crema that I now obtain. I made a couple lattes for my wife and myself yesterday but trying to froth milk for 2 lattes AND get art is a bad idea. Both looked horrible (but with good crema). So today I concentrated on just one cup and got pretty good results. As usual the end pour is better than the beginning so I need to work on my technique a bit more.

Not to make excuses, but I was rushed because the man (an old scouting buddy) who is tiling our kitchen floors showed up right as I finished frothing and I had to pour "with company". Oh... the pressure.

Anyway, the taste is very good - strong but smooth. Maybe next post I'll get a little better definition in the leaves of the rosetta.

Until then... making it "Good to the last drop!"

-Naug

Best yet?

So I'm not sure this is my best ever, but it's my best in some time. This may be the last latte I make using the free beans that came with Miss Silvia. I just roasted my blend of Brazil, Colombian, and Nicaraguan this morning so I will probably have another entry on Monday if I get a good pour - hopefully with nice dark CREMA!!!

The free "Super Crema" espresso beans (as they are dubbed) did have better crema than any vacuum bagged beans I've used prior, but nothing like what comes with a fresh home roast, especially one with 15% robusta to give a nice crema boost.

So, hopefully next post I will have some nice dark crema as a starting palette to work my "magic". ;-) THEN my only excuse will be my ability to pour!

Ta ta.

-Naug