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

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!

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

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

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

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

No crema but decent pour

This pour from this morning just goes to show that you can get fairly good art EVEN IF your crema is plain awful. I actually did my shot into an espresso mug and then decided to try a pour so I transfered that into my cup - something I never do. As a result, I lost most of what little crema I had to begin with.

I'm still a little unsure how to start the pours because I get really undefined lower leaves of the rosetta but only toward the end of the pour am I getting a good light and dark contrast in the design. I'm sure having better crema and fresher beans would help. Maybe I'll roast some on Saturday... I've been SUPER lazy recently.

Have sooperdy dooper day!

-Naug

Bottom 3

These are my last 3 latte art attempts. I guess I'm exaggerating when I say bottom 3 because I've had many worse pours than these. I didn't even get very good pictures of them - mostly because I could tell they weren't so spectacular. I am about sick of the pre-roasted espresso beans that I still have a half bag of which came with my Silvia. The sad thing is that I HAVE all the green beans to iRoast it up AND a new digital scale to weigh them out, I've just been preoccupied recently and can't be bothered to roast them.

As an aside, my old digital scale now displays EEE no matter what I do - even with fresh batteries (which were 2 of the CR lithium type that cost over $6 and weren't even the issue). My advice? Don't waste your money on a Salter scale. :-)

Rant over.

So I will trudge on and hopefully have some better, less-watery crema soon and maybe a beautiful pour in the not so distant future. This is DEFINITELY not a good hobby for a generally lazy person with perfectionist qualities... it's very easy to get frustrated.

Hoping your lattes are always tasty...
-Naug

Someday

Yes, someday. Someday I will truly know what it means to create the perfect latte art. I am not complaining too much about where I'm at now. I mean a couple of months ago I couldn't pour anything like what I can today. Maybe only one out of 10 pours I'd even want to put on the blog due to their lack of anything "blog-worthy".

So, I shouldn't whine or complain too much about not having perfected my art yet. I do wish I was a bit more consistant. I knew that on this one I had too much foam and it wasn't forming a very tight froth in the pitcher. Once again I sort of circled the milk in initially and then slowed my pour near the end with the shake, but since the foam was lighter and too "foamy" I knew I wouldn't get very good detail in the rosetta.

The good news is that it DOES look like an actual rosetta, just one from a distance photographed with an out-of-focus telephoto lense or something. Ha ha.

Well, at least the coffee tasted good as usual and that IS all that matters, right?

Cya next time
-Naug

I love you too!

Well... It seems that I can make a heart now. :-) My wife will be happy since she's been asking me to do some other type of design. I pretty much over packed my portafilter and the espresso was barely dripping out - this is a pretty hard thing to do on the Silvia with all it's power. I also frothed the milk first since the machine hadn't heated up its usual 30 minutes in advance and I wanted coffee bad!

I had a really dark small shot in the cup and with the milk frothed already I only had to swirl the pitcher for about 15 seconds and tap it before I was ready to pour. I again poured kinda quickly circling the outside of the cup trying to slip the milk in. Then I did a little bit of a shake but this time ended up more with a heart. I think this was because of the vigorous pour at the start. Either way, it's really pretty and tastes good and I'm quite satisfied with the results. I will have to try to replicate my result and pour the heart again.

I suppose if I ever lose my day job I could pass for a minimal barista at some non-Seattle non-Italian cafe. Ha ha.

Y'all come back now, Y'ear?
-Naug

A nice artful thing...

...but what IS it exactly. It's kinda leaf-like but also rather featherish. I do think I'm starting to get used to the whole pour technique thingy. It's almost like you have to kinda pour around the cup to "slip" the milk through the crema leaving it rather undisturbed. Then at the end the foam begins to settle along the top and you begin to shake to form the art.

My problem is that I can only practice 3 times a week or so which makes it hard to remember what techniques work and which don't. But I suppose this is the nature of the home barista vs the full-time barista.

And so I trudge onward. Seeking a perfect pour to one day impress my big brother.

Till next time,
-Naug

Hmm...

This is proving to be more difficult than I had first thought. I miss my home roasted super crema beans, but I should still be getting better by now. I am mostly having difficult with getting the microfoam just so as well as the start of the pour. The finish is coming along better and this is a pretty decent example but my foam is just a tad off.

As a side note I also was making blueberry/blackberry whole wheat muffins so I was just maybe a little distracted? OK, I wasn't, but just was hoping for an excuse.

See you folks latte! :-)-Naug

HEY! I'm WORKING on it...

This is NOT an easy thing making good latte art. In fact it is quite a challenge and no matter how good your crema is (and mine is very lousy with these free roasted beans I got) you have to have your microfoam JUST right to get a good pour.

I read a bunch of stuff last night and even watched a few videos but my first latte today was STILL bad. I went for a mid-morning cycle, came home, then tried again. The resulting latte above isn't too too bad. I mean it looks sorta like a tulip yet I wasn't trying for one mostly cause I messed it up, again. The pour is SO touchy as to when to start shaking the foam in and getting a nice smooth rhythm without rushing yourself.

So, enjoy as I will enjoy my 2nd latte of the day before I head off to another fun day at work.

Peas (and beans) out!

-Naug

(p.s. - I rode about 21 miles if anyone is interested and I'm out of practice for sure.)

Still trying to work Miss Silvia's magic

When I look at this briefly, it reminds me of the Rebel insignia from Star Wars. In fact it is just a good pour finish with a bad start. The Silvia definitely has more steam power, but I have less time to control it than with the Saeco. This means I have to be careful not to pull too much air into the froth to get a good microfoam.

I also have to remember to keep the milk swirled while pulling the shot so that the foam doesn't form a thick layer on top of the milk and make for a difficult pour. I did finish well, but as a whole I give myself a 4 out of 10.

I should call this blog "Rate My Latte Art" but since no one visits, there would be no votes.

I have been using the free roasted beans that came with the Silvia package. They are decent but I miss my fresh roasted beans for their crema content. I hope to purchase some green beans soon and once more have my own fresh roast.

Anyway, happy tamping and visit soon!

-Naug

My competition...

Seems my brother has decided to try and oust me as reigning latte-art-newbie. You see, he just recently had a birthday and I sent him a Toroid pitcher and some nice new latte cups. So what does he do? He makes a pretty good pour. Since I'm all about the art (no matter the source) I figured I would display it for my many readers. Ha! Many readers... who am I kidding?!

Let the battle begin! (Iron Chef America - love that show)

-Naug

My problems with pour-centric art

So this may be my best pour since the inception of this blog. It's a bit off-center and still doesn't have the best white froth to truly show good contrast with the crema, but MAN did it taste good! My friend Mike is also trying to make some latte art and I'll include some of his pours should he send me pictures. (He has the Rancilio Silva machine I long for, so he should have no excuses making nice art.)

Happy cupping! -Naug