I thought I was making some decent progress... until lately, I'm experiencing the same issue over and over.

When I start pouring the milk, it just doesn't radiate outward on the surface of the espresso at an even flow rate.

For example, the right side will develop better than the left side of the cup, or vice versa... there's an issue of symmetry. But it's not necessarily because of my hand movement/wiggle motion, but moreso with the consistency of the milk.

I feel like maybe the milk just isn't homogenous.

Here's a few of my efforts. I'd greatly appreciate it if somebody can pinpoint what the heck is going on. The first effort on the video, is the best depiction of what happens 9 out of 10 times.

I can get some art to surface, but do you notice where the crema starts to lift off from the rest of the liquid? The crema just doesn't stay in place for smooth latte art. It starts shifting and moving around like continental drift... I cannot for the life of me figure out why it's doing this...

The only explanation I can come up with, is that the milk is not homogenous. Maybe I have enough foam to create latte art, but there's also some serious runny/watery liquid that's causing the surface to start doing the spinaroonie.

Here's the video...



UPDATED with the sequel... it's not much better.




UPDATED AGAIN - Here's a recent effort with my new technique of letting the milk sit for around 10 seconds (covered in pages 3 and 4). Notice the continental rifting is drastically reduced, if not nonexistent.



Here's another of me pouring a five heart tulip into a 5 oz cappuccino cup.

samuellaw178 wrote:What machine are you using?I assume it's not DB or HX where you immediately pour the milk after the shot is pulled right?Sometimes i find that if I left the shot for too long, that is what will happen. Try shaking to break the crema a lil bit before pouring.

I would say the milk looks very good. Keep it up!


Oh ya, you can try speeding up your pour speed. I am not sure if that makes a difference but your pace seems slow as compared to mine. Try pouring more aggressively in the initial part without making bubbles

Yeah, I'm using a Silvia.

As much as I'd like to increase the pour speed, the cup is 5 oz... and it seems like I have a very small opening to make something happen.

Thanks for the encouragement. I'll keep you posted.

genovese wrote:+1 for broad, shallow, round-bottom cups. Not only will the milk rebound be more symmetrical, but it will be easier to get the spout close to the coffee. With more real estate to practice in. To combat random lurches and sloshes, try keeping the cup in contact with the counter for now; you can still tilt one side up, but it won't wobble so much. Level the cup as it fills. Try to keep your pour rate more even. Swirl the milk to prevent it globbing. And it did look as if you had too much coffee in most of those.

Yeah, those lurches and sloshes are happening pretty randomly... I have to figure out how to avoid it. I'll try using the counter for more stability...

I feel I'm pouring the milk evenly and symmetrically, but the rifting usually happens on one side of the cup. You'll notice in my attempts, the crema starts separating itself from the rest of the liquid at the back end of the cup, and it just sends everything in a tailspin.

The amount of coffee is generally between 1.5 oz to 2.5 oz, depending on when I stopped the extraction. It does look like an awful lot of coffee when I'm using the 5 oz cup, though...

Thanks for all the feedback. I also wondered maybe I should stop the pour right before the latte art sequence and swirl the coffee so the milk and espresso get blended a bit better... maybe that'll prevent the drifting/separation. Bah...

clausbmortensen wrote:With the possible exception of the glass cup, to me it looks like you have too much espresso in the cups. Perhaps try to pull a ristretto and see if you get a better result. And I agree that the pour looks a bit slow.

C

Thanks, I'm gonna use all the feedback and make a new video soon. Hopefully, I'll make some progress, 'cause this stuff can drive a person pretty crazy.

Peppersass wrote:I'm no expert on this, but it looks to me like the problem is the shape of the cup you're using, especially the first one. I think when the milk hits that narrow cone at the bottom, it's setting up a swirling motion in the coffee that's carrying your art away. Try a cup with a round bottom. Also, keep the tip of the pitcher closer to the surface of the liquid, and bring the cup to level sooner.

Thanks, I'll try to bring the cup to level sooner, for sure, and yeah, definitely get closer to the surface with the pitcher spout. All very good advice.

And yes, you're probably the right track with the narrow cone at the bottom of the cup. I love everything about it, as far as its functionality for drinking a cappuccino, but my gosh, I've never worked with a more finicky cup when it comes to latte art.