For the past couple months, I've made aggressive efforts to create latte art, but have failed miserably on my Rancilio Silvia. I've tried different milk (whole, skim, 2%), and I've also tried different espresso blends (Lavazza, Intelligentsia Black Cat, Novo Amaro, Metropolis Redline).

Here's my problem. I start the pour high up so the milk will pierce through the crema and leave it dark and unaltered for the "marking process." About a third way into the pour, I get very close and start wiggling the pitcher. The art will begin to appear, but the Rosetta will just spread about the radius of an inch or two, before it just settles. Meanwhile, I've still got about a fifth of the steamed milk left in the pitcher, which pierces straight through the art, no matter how close I am to the surface of the crema. And then the last couple drops will stain the surface, because it's leftover froth.

I find my problem unique, because most people report creating latte art in the last 1-2 seconds and not having enough milk to finish the art. I can start the art just about any time, but I can't get it to form for more than 2 seconds.

I've seen and read countless latte art tutorials. One thing I've noticed is that the latte artists who create fancy designs like double rosettas and wave tulips, have extremely thin-looking "wet paint" type milk. When these guys finish the art, the surface is still moving and almost threatening to spill.

With my failed results however, I notice the surface is very thick and frothy. It barely moves and the real liquid is tucked away under what seems like an inch of crema/froth.

I could tell, because I'm using a 14 oz heat-proof glass latte mug from Bodum. I've also tried two pitchers - 16 oz standard model from Rattleware and 20 oz Espro Toroid.

My theory is that perhaps my milk is just too frothy. I usually stretch it until 100 degrees, and then sink the steam wand tip an inch beneath the surface to create the whirlpool/toroid until 150-160. When I'm done, the milk has expanded by 50-75%. It looks very top heavy with froth. There are no visible bubbles, and the milk looks very velvety/silky/marshmallowy. It even has the pearl-like sheen. But I concede it does not look like the "wet paint" that all the elite latte artists seem to work with.

I always thought that if the milk pierced through the crema, the milk probably wasn't thick enough, but lately I've got to thinking that perhaps my milk is so thick, that by the time I get to marking the surface, the crema/froth that has concentrated on top is so thick and heavy, the latter part of my pour is not budging it and thus starts penetrating through the surface that has now condensed with an inch-worth of froth.

Keep in mind I'm using a 14 oz mug, which kinda helps to support this theory, since most folks use a cup in the 5-8 oz range. That said, I've seen people with big latte mugs like mine, who've successfully made latte art. Also, when I tried to keep stretching/texturing to a minimum, creating more of that sought-after, thin "wet paint" effect, the milk didn't even mark the surface, period.

I would love to receive some expert advice on my experience. I'm even willing to upload a video of my craptastic efforts, if there's anyone analytical enough to critique it.

I think your problem may come from the milk and possibly from the over-stretching. A video would be the best way to diagnose your problem as latte art and milk froth is very visual.

Your first explanation may come from an under mixing of the milk after the stretch. This is an important part if you want to create the art, or when you pour, a big sludge of foam will drop from your pitcher at one time.

If you milk is too frothy you won't be able to pour awesome latte art, like in a cappuccino latte art is difficult so we keep it simple.

This is definatily not a Silvia issue. It's the foaming technique. Most likely you suck in too much air, go with the following steps:

Put the end of the steam-wand deep into the milk, turn on steam wand.

Move the milk-jug down, so that you hear a slurping sound, keep this slurping sound consistent, you are now stretching the milk, you control how much air you put into it.

Now pick a moment when to stop stretching, either by temperature (milk jug gets warm -not hot!-) or by volume ('ah, it's 30% higher') which is a personal choice and somewhat depends on how aggressive you stretch and what your experiences are.

After you stop stretching, move the steam wand again deep into the milk, make sure it doesn't suck air into the milk and keeps all of the milk flowing around.

The following arts are made with my Silvia:

A personal tip, so that you're not spending billions on coffee and milk and time (cleaning, grinding, pulling, cleaning) while practising:

Buy soy-sauce (1 eur for a liter here), buy dishwashing soap.

Soy-sauce = espresso equivalent (if you get a very thick soy-sauce, thin it with water)

Fill the milk jug with some water, put a drop or 2 of dishwashing soap into the water... steam it just like you would steam milk! If you do it right it will create microfoam which allows for good latte art in the soy-sauce.

When I was still practising I'd do this 10-15 times in a row...

Soy-sauce and microfoam soap latte:


Surely, you can do 2 of these in 30 seconds, refill, steam more in another 30 seconds and do another 2!

I'd second what the other posters have said. Also, you might want to use a smaller cup and pitcher. I find that a 12 ounce, straight sided pitcher with a spout is best for pouring art on most consumer/prosumer machines. Fill it halfway for best results. A machine like Silvia will have trouble steaming more than 6 to 8 ounces at a time.

Also, trying to pour art in a big 16 ounce mug is a challenge under the best of circumstances. You'd be better off with a smaller 5 - 8 ounce round bottom cup. I like the ACF cappuccino cups for pouring art.

Beezer wrote:I like the ACF cappuccino cups for pouring art.

Yeah (see picture ) they're awesome.

Training video: http://www.metropoliscoffee.com/univers...g-standard

And some barista also using soap for training http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxAvYoymUbM

The soy sauce part is genius, thanks for sharing!

I have been practicing with soapy water, and I tried with various combinations of food colorings. But never to my satisfaction (the end results are too far away from the real thing)

I can't wait to get home and try the soy sauce trick

Thanks guys, for all your feedback and advice.

I've decided to upload my efforts. Feel free to laugh at my pathetic attempts.

Also keep in mind, the milk in the video will look rather thin. This is not the same "thick/frothy/velvety/marshmallowy" steamed milk I've been producing in my prior attempts.

I listened to what you guys had to say, and I decided to cut back on the stretching. Usually, I stretch to 100 degrees. In these videos, I stopped stretching at 80 degrees, and I spun/textured the milk until 150-160.

As you can see, the first one came out much better, as far as milk consistency goes, but the pour was awful. The second attempt was probably the worst result in recent memory. But in the end, both were an abomination.

I'm thinking of perhaps increasing my "stretch time" to 90 degrees on my next go-around. I think the milk was way too thin, this time, due to my lack of stretching.

Let me know what you think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjjM8afLV9g

Marc wrote:I think your problem may come from the milk and possibly from the over-stretching. A video would be the best way to diagnose your problem as latte art and milk froth is very visual.

Your first explanation may come from an under mixing of the milk after the stretch. This is an important part if you want to create the art, or when you pour, a big sludge of foam will drop from your pitcher at one time.

If you milk is too frothy you won't be able to pour awesome latte art, like in a cappuccino latte art is difficult so we keep it simple.

Yeah, I think my milk was too frothy, so I cut back on the stretching... but I think I cut back a little too much. Usually after the pour, I could see about an inch-worth of crema/froth condensed at the surface of the latte, but this time, it was only around half an inch, and the milk did a poor job of really staining the crema with any definition.