Hi guys,

First post for me, have been reading the articles and forum for a while and it's been very informative.
I'm fairly new to coffee making, I bought myself a Silvia V3 about 6 months ago and have been trying to make a perfect cup of coffee ever since.
Milk frothing has been a challenge so far,, I'm fairly happy with my lattes, i do believe i get microfoam as I sometimes fluke some latte are twith it's very close to what i drink in coffee shops if not better at times.
I do struggle with frothing milk for a cappuccino.
If try to create 3rd of foam for a cappuccino I either get the 3rd froth but the froth is not nice and dense, or I get less foam and it's dense.
From what i've read, the idea is to keep the wand on the surface a bit longer than for lattes , but when I do this I do get more froth, but it's more bubbly and foam is not dense enough. When I don't keep the wand on the surface for long I just can't get the milk to stretch enough to give me that froth to milk ration for a cappuccino.
One thing I do is I make milk for each coffee separately, I use a 400ml jug for that. Does anyone think this is a problem?
Can anyone give me tips as to how milk is frothed differently for cappuccinos when compared to lattes?
Also, am I trying to achieve the impossible? I'm hoping someone with commercial machines can answer this: Can I expect to achieve the density and volume of froth from the Silvia that i get in a good coffee shop?

Thanks

I just upgraded from a Silvia V3 to an Alex Duetto but I remember foaming with the Silvia. I would recommend that you try using a thermometer while getting used to getting the right foam. It will help you become more consistent overall with your foam. I would typically recommend decrease your stretching time for Lattes and extend it (going to a slightly higher temp) for cappuccinos. The Silvia is challenging but capable of producing good microfoam. practice is the key!

On my Alex, after about 2 months of getting OK microfoam with the included 2 and 4 hole tips, I ended up getting a 2 hole tip with smaller holes and that made a huge difference on my machine! Now I get wet paint microfoam for latte art consistently!