Learning latte art with steamed soapy water [video]

[Abe Carmeli]

Jamming with Scott Rao

Scott Rao is the author of the much praised The Professional Barista's Handbook, and last week, I had the pleasure of spending a morning with him, in my kitchen, playing with coffee. We started with drip and went through a few coffees, some fresh, some frozen, and a batch that was sitting in Scott's car for three days baking in 100 degrees heat.

We tried a few parameters on the Technovorm, modifying the soaking time, using a spoon to stir the wet coffee bed, and modifying the grind settings from one extreme to the other to see its effect on taste. The flavors ranged from chicken broth (the baked beans) to a watered down Yemen (Stumptown's Yemen Hariri).

Scott mentioned in passing the other day that he can teach anyone how to pour latte art in 15 minutes. I made a mental note of it, and when we met again in my kitchen, I challenged him to take me as a subject. I make maybe 10 cappas a year, as I do not enjoy milk, and I managed to wean my guests of milk drinks altogether when they come for a visit. So, pouring latte art was never something I tried to master. My steaming is almost as bad as my latte art, for the same reasons.

So off we went with our quick steaming and latte challenge.

Learn how to steam without using milk

UPDATE: New video demonstration, thanks Scott and John!


Milk is expensive. The following method, as taught by Scott, does not use milk and yet is an excellent way to learn how to steam: Instead of milk, use very cold water, and drop a TINY drop of liquid soap into the pitcher. Do not stir it - start steaming immediately. The following picture is the result. Could you guess from the picture that it isn't milk?


Soap Steaming

Scott's book covers beautifully steaming techniques, and there is enough written about it on this site. The tip that stuck in my head from our session was the importance of creating a vortex in the 2nd stage of steaming (after stretching is completed). It is important that the vortex sucks in all the residual bubbles on the milk surface. If it doesn't, move the pitcher slightly until it does.

Latte Pouring

After mastering soap dish steaming, we moved to milk and latte pouring. In the first latte pour session, I was loosely holding the pitcher handle while Scott was doing the pouring. I then moved to using water to practice the motions of pouring a few times on my own. After that was done, I was ready for milk. A quick steaming session, a nervous pour, and the result is below. A pathetic Rosetta by all counts, but Rosetta it is. And the time? From a Philistine to a nervous latte artist wannabe in less than 15 minutes. I am keeping my day job, but I'm mighty proud of that little leaf, an achievement worthy of Charlie Brown.


My first try at a Rosetta - Could Charlie Brown do a Better Job?

[cai42]

Abe,

I think every post deserves at least one response and considering 17 days have past I feel it is my responsibility to break this silence. I'm impressed with your artwork. But don't get too excited by this comment since I never tried it and probably never will. All that time and effort spent for something that lasts but a few seconds and then is swallowed. Charlie Brown would indeed be in awe of your first effort.

Cliff Isackson

[matthyx]

Hi Abe, the tip to use soapy water instead of milk to practice steaming is awesome ! Please thank Scott for this advice

[HB]

I think every post deserves at least one response and considering 17 days have past I feel it is my responsibility to break this silence.

I've wanted to say something. Really, after seeing Abe's photo, it seemed just too easy. But could not think of a witty retort to Abe's earlier barb in the Buyer's Guide to the Expobar Brewtus.

Please humor me by not asking if it was supposed to be a rosetta or a heart.

Dan, that's one hell of an onion.

[cannonfodder]

I never thought of using soap. When I was working on getting temperature by touch and sound I would use water. When I do my steaming time tests for bench reviews I will also use properly chilled water and frozen pitchers. Like you say, milk is expensive. I would love to get a 15 minute latte art lesson.

[Chert]

The tip that stuck in my head from our session was the importance of creating a vortex in the 2nd stage of steaming (after stretching is completed). It is important that the vortex sucks in all the residual bubbles on the milk surface. If it doesn't, move the pitcher slightly until it does.

I shall see if this will enable me to get some consistent microfoam for the daily cappuccino. But if I actually manage a lovely heart or - and I can't imagine this - a rosetta that I intend then I may lose the skill of pouring random Rorschach cappas. ( I don't think anyone would post such, but there are some interesting randomness in crema/milk mixtures.)

[pauljolly65]

Abe, you should be proud. That's far better than the creeping white ivy I've planted in several cappas. And to learn it in only 15 minutes! Well done!

[bigabeano]

I'm at Verve in Santa Cruz today (instantly made my top-10 list of U.S. coffee shops) and Matt, one of the baristi here, was commenting on the soapy water trick. Turns out he read it as pouring latte art with soapy water, which somehow I tried only once, unsuccessfully. But Matt is right: it works. So that's yet another way to practice latte art and save a lot of milk and money.
Scott

[Abe Carmeli]

I'm at Verve in Santa Cruz today (instantly made my top-10 list of U.S. coffee shops) and Matt, one of the baristi here, was commenting on the soapy water trick. Turns out he read it as pouring latte art with soapy water, which somehow I tried only once, unsuccessfully. But Matt is right: it works. So that's yet another way to practice latte art and save a lot of milk and money.
Scott

Nice! Apparently, misreading is underrated. Now all we need to find is a substitute for coffee. How bout instant coffee for the latte art practice?

[cpl593h]

Hm, instant might work - it does foam up a little (don't ask me how I know), so at a high concentration it should do the trick. For folks with a single boiler, instant coffee and soap foam could be a tremendous time saver, sparing the downtime between steam and extract.

-Matt from Verve

[CoffeeOwl]

Milk is expensive. (...) Instead of milk, use very cold water, and drop a TINY drop of liquid soap into the pitcher. Do not stir it - start steaming immediately.

Now all we need to find is a substitute for coffee. How bout instant coffee for the latte art practice?

I just couldn't help myself: do you also have the tradition of jokes about stepmother? Like:
"How long one should stare at their stepmother with one eye? Until one matches the rearsight and foresight". These two quotes above (specially with the pics earlier in the thread) make a perfect joke: How one should prepare a capa for stepmother?

*I didn't mean to offend anyone*

[DavidMLewis]

Hi Matt,

Do you mean you practice by pouring the soapy water microfoam into plain hot water? My skills in this matter, frankly, suck; I can get quite good microfoam, but if there's a way to practice the pour that doesn't involve building a lot of shots I'd love to know about it. Or are you proposing practicing by pouring the soapy water into hot water with an extra concentrated instant coffee dose in it?

Best,
David

[scalla]

My latte art is definitely still in the abstract phase. I like the instant/soap idea.

I just finished the book a few days ago. It was excellent, in fact I plan on reading it again. Lots of practical tips that have improved my espresso and drip.

[bigabeano]

Scalla, I'm glad you liked the book.

David, there's three phases to the cheapskate latte art training:

1. learn to make microfoam by steaming cold water with a TINY drop of liquid dishsoap.
2. learn to pour by just pouring water into an empty cup. The idea is to pour with a constant, steady flow, and to learn to keep that exact flow even when rocking the pitcher side-to-side to create a rosetta
3. practice pouring latte art by pouring microfoamed soapy water into espresso (or perhaps instant coffee, now to be known as "matt's blend")

I hope to put together a short video this coming week showing how to learn to pour latte art in 20 minutes with no wasted milk.

Best,
Scott

[DavidMLewis]

Hi Scott,

Thanks for the tips. I'm greatly looking forward to the video, if and when.

Best,
David

P.S. I didn't know you ever got to Santa Cruz. Give me a shout next time.

[EricC]

I hope to put together a short video this coming week showing how to learn to pour latte art in 20 minutes with no wasted milk.

Best,
Scott

Hi Scott,
Did you ever manage to put the video together?

The book is excellent, many thanks for writing it.

Regards
Eric

[Jepy]

I helped Scott with the video, but still need to finish the edit. I had to go to Europe, and still here for at least another week, so when I return, I'll get it up, sorry for the delay.

[EricC]

That is great news, many thanks, and definitely no need to apologise.


Regards
Eric

[Jepy]

Here's a link to the latte art soap and water how to with Scott.

[ccfore]

Great job with the video! It makes it much clearer to visually see it being poured and should speed up the practice time on the way to latte art. I wish I had something like this after doing it "in the dark" with trial and error and wasting alot of milk and coffee in the process of finally getting it somewhat respectable. Thanks again for the time and effort you put into this video, it is appreciated. p.s. Did you find that the Ivory soap had a little hint of jasmine in the cup? Just wondering.