If, upon pouring, you see that the mass of the milk is getting instantly mixed with the mass of the coffee, to produce a liquid that is uniform in colour, and if this only changes (or doesn't change at all) as you continue pouring to the middle point of the cup (or later), where you suddently are able to "make the art happen", then what this mean is that you may be steaming well, but the steaming is not thorough (i.e. not all the mass of the milk is being steamed equally, or not steamed at all).

Note that the milk can still get mixed instantly with the coffee but still be steamed, that is, but still be qualitatively different from "hot liquid milk". This happens when the milk is under-stretched (i.e. too thin).

Hi guys,

normally latte art problems are caused by incorrect milk consistency, either too watery or too thick to pour. If you can froth well you can experiment with pouring latte art at different stages after the milk is done, for example straight after frothing, after 1min, 2min and so on. Just remember to always spin the milk in the jug before pouring. I know that some people say that tulip shaped cups are hard to work with, but to me they pretty much (if not easier!) the same as bowl shaped ones (it's easier to pour the milk under the crema as the cup is slimmer near the bottom).

Oh and remember you can pour good latte art even when the milk is less foamed, so you don't necessarily need a thick, yoghurt-like consistency every time.

Have a look at this clip I made recently, maybe it will help a bit (you can see me 'pushing' the milk into the cup at the last stage of the pour, before doing the rosetta):
Regards,
dsc.

Very nice pour/rosetta, Tom. I can only hope to achieve that someday. Such smooth work!

Amazing how long it can take to learn and perfect this stuff.

Indeed... Especially if you want to perfect that stuff on a tool that is as difficult as the La Pavoni Professional

You are right about that, Orwa...but I have been improving!.....It has just been taking me nearly a year...well...I started out just using chocolate syrup designs because I was way over frothing.

I am sure you have, myself it only took me 15 months, but frothing on that thing is "way too impossible" .

I still say it isn't impossible. At first I thought it was, but once I got my technique down I realized that was the problem. The single hole tip I got from the guy in Brooklyn, NY had too big a hole so it frothed way too fast (for me)...and only produce little bubbles or thick dry stuff. I do fine with the one hole plugged and I do get microfoamed milk. You need to get the swirling motion down so that any larger bubbles disappear into the whirlpool.

I usually use the ACF 6oz bowl shaped cup for capps. I just got a pair of Terra Keramik cups for Christmas. Those being tulip shaped 5 oz cups have a smaller surface area for latte art. I feel a bit apprehensive using those for daily use because they seem less stable under the portafilter of the La Pavoni. The La Pavoni tends to lift up a bit when I pull some shots and those cups are too expensive to risk. At 120#'s, it takes all I have to pull some shots.

orwa wrote:Indeed... Especially if you want to perfect that stuff on a tool that is as difficult as the La Pavoni Professional

You can do it; I used one for quite some time. It is actually a rather good steamer. Some of the machines have the steam wand at a relatively long angle, say 45 degrees in relation to the base. If you loosen the nut that hold the wand onto the valve, you can position the wand at a steeper angle, say 60 degrees. That will put the tip holes at more of a downward position and make frothing easier but you will not have a lot of clearance between the pitcher and boiler so watch your hands. That third hole in the steam tip (the one pointing toward you) was always my demon. Because of the angle of the wand, that hole was venting much more horizontal then the rest and had a tendency to break the surface and blast big bubbles into my milk, until I adjusted the wand.

I also froth with the wand brought more up/forward to nearly the full angle, definitely not kept straight down.

HB wrote:Reminds me of another thread...

Psyd wrote:
In pouring the 'Post-Dinner Fish' the technique requires that the foam be a bit fluffier than usual. Start an aggressive pour, from the near side of the cup to the far, and, with a very quick waggy motion, set the 'bones' of the fish on the return. Make sure that the swipe (the 'spine') is a bit off center to give it the proper 'belly/top-fin' ratio.

Oh no! You HAD to post that?!

Although I'd say that my "one take pours" are far better than they were at that time I am the opposite of everyone else on cup shape I think... or maybe it's just these particular cups. I can never seem to get good pours with my 6oz bowl-shaped cups. I get much better pours on my 4.5oz cups that have a more dramatic angle from side to bottom. Because of the shorter cup though I usually run out of room before I can finish a rosetta so I end up pouring a heart instead.

brad