The video below might be worth viewing; he breaks down practicing with water to develop feel for pour rate, wiggle, etc.

csepulv wrote:The video below might be worth viewing; he breaks down practicing with water to develop feel for pour rate, wiggle, etc.

This is a good video, the only part I find moot is the part where he talks about holding the pitcher.. he says some something about controlling the flow with your thumb, as I said - I find it moot, I think it's best to hold the pitcher the way that's most comfortable for you, hell, some people don't even use the handle. He is spot on about body position, I think that when you are starting out it helps to place the cup on the table and title rather than trying to balance two things at once.. remember these guys have been doing it 100s of times a day for years.

Good tips thus far. Start simple and work your way up to more complex designs. I know it's boring, but before attempting 'latte art' start with a good milk texture, and a full centered monk top (it is a cappuccino after all). Move up to hearts, rippled hearts, and so on. I can't say much for the howcast format, but here's a good set of videos from Ryan Soeder of Counter Culture. http://www.howcast.com/guides/1067-How-to-Do-Latte-Art

He's great, too bad he works at Intelly now - but I suppose I can see why.

Thank you all for your tips! Appreciated!

So if I sums up :
- Use cup instead of mug
- Work on the milk (some says I need to add bit more air, some says I got too much, but I understand it must look like latex paint without bubbles)
- Pour closer to the espresso (using cup shoud improve that)
- work on the my timing.

I will try to combine every piece of info above and practice some more

Thanks

Dan

One other thing I noticed on second look is that you're not rolling the milk stream into the cup along a uniform line. Watch all the videos of pros doing it and you'll realize that they (and hopefully we) move the stream consistently perpendicular to the long axis of whatever design is being created as the design spreads out forward of the entry point. The stream crosses back and forth over the midline of the pour, which pushes the milk forward and away from entry in symmetric waves.

You seem to be moving the pitcher in several directions, even straight along the midline. This is probably why the design never fans out. Watching this again, I suspect that your foam is probably OK. If you get the hang of the cross-wise pour and your designs start to develop as they should, you'll know more about the foam. Too much air will make it harder to get fine definition because the foam's too thick and stiff.

All very good tips...I'll add mine:

Since steaming on your machine is better suited to less milk volume:

Get yourself at least a cappuccino cup (~6oz)...better yet a "competition" ~5oz cappuccino cup: Less is more, relative to everything you're trying to accomplish with your respective machine. You should get your milk ready in 1/3 or less the time...the crema will be thicker and more conducive for easier latte art. A cup with a round bottom bowl will help. Inker, Ancap (WholeLatteLove), etc.

All good video references...nothing to add except pay attention to the details. This particular video helped me: http://youtu.be/yZ6WpVEQITU

I'm learning how to pour latte art for the last 8 months. Try to reduce the number of variables and maximize forgiveness to prevent yourself from going crazy:

- Use a cold pitcher and cold milk. It will buy you more forgiveness to get the milk exactly right because the "perfect consistency" window lasts just a little longer.

- Use whole milk (4% fat). The fat helps keep bubbles small and in solution longer. The micro foam is more uniform and easier to work with than lower fat milk.

- Avoid espressos with super thick heavy crema. A big head of dry "fuzzy" crema makes it more difficult for the milk to float up to the top and spread out into a pattern. You can reduce the thickness of the crema by: using a spouted portafilter; stirring or swirling the espresso before pouring the milk; spooning out some of the crema; adding a teaspoon of the milk to the espresso and then swirling it around to create a uniform "canvas", then continue to pour the rest of the milk.
- Don't move the pitcher around so much. Anchor the spout to the lip of the cup and use a combination of tilting the cup and the pitcher to control the flow. Do not use a high pour yet.
- The teacup shape is probably the easiest to work with. Don't make it harder by using tall, straight sided cups yet.
- Name your latte art only after you have finished pouring it e.g. apple, onion, carrot, cloud, butt

SmackMonkey wrote: - Avoid espressos with super thick heavy crema. A big head of dry "fuzzy" crema makes it more difficult for the milk to float up to the top and spread out into a pattern.

Thanks a lot, I think this is a problem I get on my side. The shot looks awesome (but with lots of crema); the milk I think I got right (no bubbles, shiny wet paint-like surface); but when I pour, the milk doesn't expand like in the videos, it stays in place and is not pushed away when I pour more.

At first I thought perhaps my cups were too small (I use 5-oz "flat white"-style cups) or too narrow (tried in larger mugs) but I've seen videos where latte art is poured in about any container. So I think you're right: too much / too thick a crema just stops the milk from spreading correctly.

I'll try your tips out as soon as I can

*** UPDATE ***

I think that with all your good advices and tips I'm getting somewhere.

The main reasons it wasn't working are :
- My milk was too thick
- I wasn't getting close enough to the coffee at the end to let milk stay on top of the crema

Still need some practice (and buy cups instead of mugs) but here what I'm able to do almost every time :