I am really new to latte art. I only have a Nespresso machine and a milk frother. Sometimes I can pour a so-so latte art but for most times I failed. I watched a lot of videos on youtube and it seems that they can very easily pour a latte art. I am wondering whether I should upgrade my equipment or not. I suspect both the espresso and the milk foam quality are not good by using Nespresso and milk frother... Anyone with the same equipment and has successful experiences? Or any suggestions of equipment that is not that expensive (say below $200)? Thanks. Followings are some of the best ones among a lot of failures...

Quite good for a frother I'd say. There are stovetop steamers and I think there is a console style steamer that only steams I have seen but a little to pricey even on the used market for me.

Better than I've managed with a commercial machine....

I've been trying for about two years. Since I only make three lattes each day, I've had about two hours of practice. I bought a Nespresso frother early on and gave up on it rather quickly. The key is to froth the exact amount of air into the milk to get the consistency of latex paint. The Nespresso always put in too much air. The combination that worked for me was an old Gaggia Syncrony that I got free but had to fix (thank you YouTube) and an old $40 Braun that didn't make espresso, but put out a lot of steam.

I used the Gaggia to make the espresso and steamed the milk on the Braun. I can see from your pictures that you have the wrist action down pat, but your milk is too thin. when the milk is the right consistency, the art just seems to pop out on the surface of the creama.

Once you have something that produces a decent amount of steam;

Look for consistency. If you steam differently each time, it will be hard to find your errors and improve. Try to use the same instertion point and swirling pattern each time.

Try to inject the air at the same time each time you froth. Cold milk holds more air than warm or hot milk. Injecting the air at different times/temperatures makes it impossible to inject a consistent amount of air.

Keep a good swirl going but don't let it spash around. Splashing adds air and creates large bubbles. Large bubbles are your enemy.

Twice now I've had bad milk. I don't mean spoiled milk, I mean I've just gotten a gallon that won't froth. I had family over for Easter and everyone wanted lattes. After I failed six or eight times, I got a gallon that had an expiration date that was farther down the road and everything started working again. The "bad" gallon tasted ok, and it had a "sell by" date that was still three days away. Every YouTube video I've watched has always said "Use fresh milk." They mean it; USE FRESH MILK!

Good luck,
Dave

ilovecp3 wrote:I am really new to latte art. I only have a Nespresso machine and a milk frother.

If by "milk frother" you mean a Nespresso Aeroccino, what you've accomplished is nothing short of amazing. They stir the milk, but they don't aerate it enough to make true microfoam. I have the one that came in a package sale with my Essenza years ago. I used it for a few days but could only get foam that resembled meringue, although it tasted great. As I don't drink latte (for which it's apparently excellent if you don't need the art), it's been in a drawer ever since.

I wouldn't call those fails, they are better than what I produce!

If you want a laugh, look at this "fail" video:
http://m.imgur.com/gallery/Dvobyxo