Milk is expensive. (...) Instead of milk, use very cold water, and drop a TINY drop of liquid soap into the pitcher. Do not stir it - start steaming immediately.

Now all we need to find is a substitute for coffee. How bout instant coffee for the latte art practice?

I just couldn't help myself: do you also have the tradition of jokes about stepmother? Like:
"How long one should stare at their stepmother with one eye? Until one matches the rearsight and foresight". These two quotes above (specially with the pics earlier in the thread) make a perfect joke: How one should prepare a capa for stepmother?

*I didn't mean to offend anyone*

Hi Matt,

Do you mean you practice by pouring the soapy water microfoam into plain hot water? My skills in this matter, frankly, suck; I can get quite good microfoam, but if there's a way to practice the pour that doesn't involve building a lot of shots I'd love to know about it. Or are you proposing practicing by pouring the soapy water into hot water with an extra concentrated instant coffee dose in it?

Best,
David

My latte art is definitely still in the abstract phase. I like the instant/soap idea.

I just finished the book a few days ago. It was excellent, in fact I plan on reading it again. Lots of practical tips that have improved my espresso and drip.

Scalla, I'm glad you liked the book.

David, there's three phases to the cheapskate latte art training:

1. learn to make microfoam by steaming cold water with a TINY drop of liquid dishsoap.
2. learn to pour by just pouring water into an empty cup. The idea is to pour with a constant, steady flow, and to learn to keep that exact flow even when rocking the pitcher side-to-side to create a rosetta
3. practice pouring latte art by pouring microfoamed soapy water into espresso (or perhaps instant coffee, now to be known as "matt's blend")

I hope to put together a short video this coming week showing how to learn to pour latte art in 20 minutes with no wasted milk.

Best,
Scott

Hi Scott,

Thanks for the tips. I'm greatly looking forward to the video, if and when.

Best,
David

P.S. I didn't know you ever got to Santa Cruz. Give me a shout next time.

bigabeano wrote:I hope to put together a short video this coming week showing how to learn to pour latte art in 20 minutes with no wasted milk.

Best,
Scott

Hi Scott,
Did you ever manage to put the video together?

The book is excellent, many thanks for writing it.

Regards
Eric

I helped Scott with the video, but still need to finish the edit. I had to go to Europe, and still here for at least another week, so when I return, I'll get it up, sorry for the delay.

That is great news, many thanks, and definitely no need to apologise.


Regards
Eric

Great job with the video! It makes it much clearer to visually see it being poured and should speed up the practice time on the way to latte art. I wish I had something like this after doing it "in the dark" with trial and error and wasting alot of milk and coffee in the process of finally getting it somewhat respectable. Thanks again for the time and effort you put into this video, it is appreciated. p.s. Did you find that the Ivory soap had a little hint of jasmine in the cup? Just wondering.

Wonderful video.
Thanks for the nice music touch at the end. I'm inspired to try!




Is there any good & reliable forum on cowhood??