I have been having troubles with my pour. The milk starts swirling when it hit the espresso causing my zigzags for my rosetta to curve around the edge of the cup instead of staying in the centre, and I end up with the zigzag you do for a hanging tulip! I've tried pounding the pitcher after swirling the milk to stop it from spinning but it doesn't seem to help. Can someone please help! Thanks heaps!

Can you post a picture of what your problem is? I am kind of confused by what you're saying.

FWIW swirling and tapping can only help so much. You need to have some foam in order for it to thicken up nicely. If you're getting too much curving/fanning of your pattern when you pour, that's usually an indication that you didn't incorporate enough air into the milk. If it's too much to one side, or something along those lines, then you probably just need to concentrate on your pouring angle/positioning. It's hard to give better advice than that without a picture of your problem.

Thanks! I'll try what you've suggested and I'll take a picture if it happens again.

I think I know what you are describing...by the end of the pour, does the rosetta looks like it was bent in half? This happened to me a few times when I first learned how to pour rosettas. It took me a little while to realize that I was pouring the milk too fast from too high (which made the milk swirl in the bottom of the cup). I changed the result by starting out pouring an arc on one side, then an arc on the other (all UNDER the surface), then when the milk presents itself, the cup has been balanced, so you can form the rosetta perfectly in the middle of the crema. Perhaps you could think of it as prepping the surface...try to pour the milk steadily so you lift the crema to the top before "carving" it with the microfoam. Sorry to make it sound like a strange ballet move, but it's all I could come up with short of making a video.

Hope that helps.

Thank you so much for your suggestion! It happened to me again when I tried pouring a rosetta, the milk just swirl to the side and curl along the rim of the cup. Not that it looked ugly, it's just annoying when you are trying to do a perfect symetrical rosetta. I've seen people 'preparing' the cup in alot of youtube clips by circling the cup a few times until the white cloud appears. I have to say the swirling has been happening alot lately. Didn't use to get it when I first started pouring latte art. I find that by 'preparing' the cup, you tend to get a marbling effect around the rosetta, not ideal if you want a clear contrast between the crema and foam.