Hi there,

I keep seeing this problems with my milk pour. To me the milk looks well stretch and spun and there is very little visible bubbles when polishing it. But after pouring the milk and waiting for a while, I can see a lot of big bubbles surfacing. How should I improve on this?

Please see the photos below, first one with the espresso and the steamed milk. The second after a while, sorry, I drank it before taking the photo!



I am talking about the big bubbles you see at the sides. I don't see them during the pour or immediately after, but they appear after letting the coffee sit awhile

Isn't it normal???

The foam is not a permanent emulsion...

It looks as if the milk is reacting with the acidity of the coffee. Some single origin, lightly roasted coffee are too acidic to "support" foam.

Try pouring a little milk in with the shot and swirling until they're mostly combined. Then, continue your pour as usual.

Thanks cafe21 for the reply. You are correct, this is a single origin espresso and I started seeing bubbles with this particular beans.

Also thanks Dpablo for the suggestion, I will try that.

That is common. You can try pouring 1/4 of the milk in, then give it a swirl/tap to break them up then finish the pour, or drink faster.

There remained a minor amount of CO2 in the bean because it still has life in it. It is still a cherry after all.

The more bubbles generally will lower your extraction yield % and increase chance of uneven extraction.

A reasonable amount of this bubbling will not affect shot quality. Other things become much more important. Significant bubbles means the coffee is not fully rested.