Pulled the Tin Man out of the basement this evening. I will give it a go tomorrow morning.

"cheaper than milk"

I only practice with one cappa a day anyway....I'll try practicing with water just before I use the milk. Maybe I could try using colored water...but that would probably dissipate as soon as it hit the water. Maybe I could add glycerin to the water in the cup first or the pouring water.

Other ideas on how to practice without milk and actually attempt to get a rosetta you can see?

Pulled the old girl out of mothballs last night. I need to adjust the grind, the morning shot was too easy. No latte art but a very nice and silky monk cap.

cannonfodder wrote:Pulled the Tin Man out of the basement this evening.

Don't be surprised if the first 10 shots or so are way sub-par. The Tin Man probably harbors a fair resentment for being cast aside in the basement.

That's OK, it has an Achille and two group Faema to keep it company.

Just to let you guys know I have yet to make much progress in producing rosettes etc. I can draw a cloud wind 'god', and I can probably draw Botticelli's Venus face with long curling tresses (by etching with the temp gauge point....but no successful rosette or leaves. Hey, maybe I'll post a Venus face if I do a particularly nice one.

The espresso itself tastes good to me. I seem to have my pulls down, and I think I am getting the best crema I can with my H's home roast which doesn't totally cover the cappa cups but the color is 'right'...I may try to tweak his mix a bit by adding a little bit of a robusta bean next time?

I am not the biggest, strongest woman around so when I pull sometimes I have to change hands or switch to a push before the pull is completed. I try not to stop the stream by much.

My husband has been away on business (a month now) so I am thinking of getting a Behmor...he's been using a hot air popper with a smoke stack on it...I am not willing to play with that.

I have been making progress. I know I still have a way to go.


I've learned that my bell shaped pitcher with a clearer beak performs the best. I have learned how to manipulate the swirl and where to best place the tip...as well as how shallow or deep to put it, and at what angle. I have learned it takes much less time to get the best consistency than I originally thought: I have to stop frothing long before I intuitively thought was the right time=it is counter intuitive. (I've not been using a thermometer)

I have actually produced a couple that were better than this but didn't have the camera handy. Hopefully, I will get a photo of a really great one sometime.

Still not a great example of a rosetta but I just thought I'd post a photo with my new Terra Keramik cup. I received a pair as a Christmas gift taken with my new camera.



I am still trying to get the frothing time down. I don't use a thermometer, though I have two, but I want to find the right number of seconds to froth. I am getting closer to finding that right stopping point. But biggest problem early on was way over frothing.

After 6 more months...more progress...this has been a long process for me:



The milk I used this time was raw goat milk which is naturally homogenized.