when preparing a latte, capp, or americano, who goes into the cup first? I'm curious if this comes down to personal preference/habit, or if there is an established precedent. Which came first? Milk or espresso? Or water?

Caffe Latte, Cappuccino - espresso first.
Americano - water first.

malachi wrote:Caffe Latte, Cappuccino - espresso first.
Americano - water first.

That's the way I do it

malachi wrote:Caffe Latte, Cappuccino - espresso first.
Americano - water first.

This is how it should be done. For an Americano, you want to float the shot & especially the crema on top. For milk based drinks, the milk should be on top with the art or microfoam uppermost.

Wait, but on an Americano, aren't you trying to mix the espresso? So it should go on bottom, right?

-Ben

I don't know that it matters from a "mixing" viewpoint which goes first, but I think the crema layer on an Americano is more visually appealing if the water is already in the cup. Dumping water through the crema leaves an unsightly mark. Hmm-m, I wonder if an Americano would look and taste better if the water was introduced from the bottom? Anyone got a large glass syringe want to try filling from the bottom up?

I agree with Dan regarding Americanos. I put water in the cup first, then the crema. It gives it more "nose" and looks more enticing. Sometimes I mark this with a little milk or cream.

Lattes, well...espresso first and then the milk. That way I can pretend I know how to produce latte art....





Rich

One of the members asked me about the cup in my previous posting. It is Deruta stoneware from Deruta Italy, where artisans for a long long time have shown the world the incredible beauty of italian majollica techniques in stoneware. I have alot of Deruta stoneware around the house, but only one of these latte cups. This one is smaller than my previous (broken) one and it holds right at 10 oz. vs the 12 oz. size of my many other cups. I like this size best, as when it comes to lattes, I don't dig drinking high volumes of milk. In a smaller cup (as many of you know very well) a fine ristretto's nuances really come through when it isn't drowned out in 10 ozs of milk.

Anyway, I tracked down and purchased one of the La Forza tampers when I spied a photo of it here, or one of the other sites. The handle is made and painted in Deruta Italy in the traditional method, by the same artisans creating all the other majollica in Deruta. The dragon is the Raffaellesco dragon and if memory serves, had something to do with well wishing and good fortune to the sea going. Then La Forza makes the tampers in various styles. I have the convex because I find it produces much better consistency of even extraction.

I use one Deruta saucer for the cup it came with, and the other, larger one to hold tampers.



You can also check this website for Deruta as a start- http://www.firenzegifts.com/italian_gifts.html

Rich