What could be better than a hot, delicious latte on a warm winter day? A hot, delicious latte with impressive art woven into the foam, of course. After all, everything tastes better when it looks pretty.
If you’ve ever wished you could unleash some impressive latte art at home, you’re in luck. We’ve outlined the steps for you to whip up two classic latte art designs – the Rosetta and the heart – below. You may want to tell your friends to brace themselves before presenting them with your mind-blowing concoctions.
For those of you who are more interested in admiring latte designs than getting your own hands foamy, we’ve also compiled a gallery of some pretty amazing latte art – from the adorable to the downright devilish.
How to make a Rosetta leaf:
The Rosetta leaf is the most commonly seen latte art, primarily because it’s one of the simplest designs to execute. If you’re new to the latte arts, this is a great one to start out with.
1. Pour your espresso into a wide-mouthed cup and have a pitcher of hot, frothy milk ready to go.
2. Start pouring the milk slowly and evenly into the center of the cup. Angle the cup slightly towards you, and rest the pitcher on the side of the cup.
3. When your cup is just over halfway full, start rhythmically shaking the pitcher side to side as you continue to pour slowly into the center of the cup. CoffeeGeek likens this process to fly-fishing. At this point, you should start to see your leaves developing.
4. As the leaves develop, move the pitcher a bit further away from the cup and tighten up your shakes as you continue pouring into the center of the cup.
5. Enjoy your beautiful latte art!
How to make a heart:
Nothing says ‘I love you’ like heart-shaped latte art. This design is also relatively basic, so you don’t need to be a seasoned barista to pull it off.
1. Pour your espresso into a wide-mouthed cup and have a pitcher of hot, frothy milk ready to go.
2. Serious Eats recommends “sinking” some of your milk below the coffee to create a solid foundation to work with. You can do this by pouring from about two-to-three inches above your cup in a thin, slow stream.
3. When the cup is about a third of the way full, rest the pitcher on the side of the cup and increase the amount of milk you’re pouring into the center. You should start to see a little dot in the middle of your latte now.
4. Keep pouring into the center of the cup until your dot is the size you want your heart to be.
5. Drag the milk stream through your dot to create the divot at the top of the heart.
6. Pour a thin stream to the other side of the heart to form the point at the bottom.
7. Serve your loving latte to someone special, and soak up the praise.
Impressive Latte Art. Slideshow text follows for mobile readers.
Impressive Latte Art
The Rosetta
With a little bit of practice (ok, a lot of practice), your own Rosetta just might be as crisp as this one someday.
Heart
Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, so you’ll want to start working on your latte heart pronto if you’re going to impress your paramour. If you can pull it off, you’ll definitely score some major points.
Devil
The devil really is in the details in this well-crafted coffee homage to all things evil. You’ve gotta love that this devilish little guy is sticking his tongue out.
Ghost
If the cheeky devil didn’t do it for you, maybe this friendly ghost will. Notice the foam fades out towards the edges to create a phantom effect.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kidayasuo/4161838199/
Photo credit: Yasuo Kida from flickr.com
Bird
The level of detail on this adorable foam bird is nothing short of remarkable. You can practically see its wings fluttering in the mocha sky!
Bear
Winnie, is that you? This innocent looking bear bears a striking resemblance to the iconic Mr. Pooh. Maybe somewhere out there, there’s a latte Tigger, too.
Squirrel
You’d better watch out. This wide-eyed squirrel is clearly angling for a piece of your hazelnut biscotti.
Dinosaur
The evolution of latte art continues with this adorable dinosaur that's just the right size for his coffee cup. The spots are a nice finishing touch.
Bunny
Whoever crafted this charming latte is clearly a seasoned pro. The symmetrical bunny is perfectly proportioned (and perfectly cute!)
Giraffe
This latte artist has made excellent use of the coffee canvas, with the tall giraffe's legs stretching over the sides of the cup. Very impressive!
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