We have a very small cafe (occupancy 40) in a rural area and are happily converting many folks in the area away from the local chains to our locally roasted coffees and espressos! Sadly- my latte art skills are somewhat limited although I am practicing! I'm wondering about adding the cute stencils to the lattes with the sprinkle of either cinnamon or fine cocoa. I have made a few including one with our cafe's initials BUT just because I think they are cute and add a nice flavor to the drink I am sure there are folks who don't.. so I do not add them to every latte/capp.
For those of you that own cafes- do you think your customers like the stencils? In our small area it would seem as if this is yet another (of many) creative marketing practices to emphasize our uniqueness...Any suggestions??

Hi bccbarista,

Just my 2 cents, don't do the stencils. I have a few reasons.

1. It add costs.
2. It adds time.
3. It is messy.
4. It would be better to focus on making the drinks better and more consistent by striving for better espresso shots, no idea how good your shots are but everyone can aim for continuous improvement.
5. Focus on your milk, are you steaming it as best as you possibly can, sweet, hot enough, creamy?
6. If you really want artistic lattes, stick with free pour latte art.

Simple free pour latte art hearts are very easy to learn and make consistently. A free pour heart is great for several reasons; it combines the espresso and milk, it is just as fast to pour as just pouring a circle of foam, it gives you something to practice on every drink and you will get better very fast. I say do a heart just to get you to pick one pattern, just make this one pattern all day everyday until it looks nice. Later you can try other patterns, don't overwhelm yourself trying to learn every pattern at the same time. You are lucky you can practice as you work, it gives you tons of time handling real milk and drinks instead of practicing with soap and water.

Once you get a little better you can even do the latte art pour in a way so that guests can watch you do the pour. The benefit is it showcases that you care about your drinks, you will show the drink is being hand crafted, you will get tons of free social media advertising from people snapping pictures to post in their FB and other apps while in the cafe.

Bottom line, if you get sidetracked off on using stencils you are missing a chance to practice practice practice your pour. Latte art is simple, it just requires tons of repetitive practice. You will be surprised how happy guests are to watch you do it, and they are even often happy with the art when you feel it is not as you good as you want it to be. Just use some showmanship and theatre in your pour, it is fun and a conversation starter.

Best of luck, and try to post some videos of your latte art pouring here, or some pics. There are many people here that could offer some pointers on how to get better faster.

Bak Ta Lo wrote: Simple free pour latte art hearts are very easy to learn and make consistently. A free pour heart is great for several reasons; it combines the espresso and milk, it is just as fast to pour as just pouring a circle of foam, it gives you something to practice on every drink and you will get better very fast. I say do a heart just to get you to pick one pattern, just make this one pattern all day everyday until it looks nice.

Or, you could do a cherry! I can do hearts and cherries. They're good enough to let me know my milk is steamed properly and the problem is my lack of artistry, not failure at steaming.

Agree with you, I also use the milk consistency when pouring latte art as a basis to judge my overall quality and consistency from jug to jug.

Just Google coffee stencils, lots of them around. You could use them for 'special' drinks but they may be a little messy/time consuming to use on every drink.

http://www.amazon.com/Aerolatte-Cappucc ... B004MXU5QU

So, no, I'm not a cafe owner. However, I am a customer!

If you are going to add stencil art to your drinks, I think you should make it optional or somehow let people know you put cocoa powder or cinnamon on top of your drinks. Otherwise, there's a good chance you'll lose customers who don't want any additives other than milk in their espresso. To me, that would ruin an otherwise good cappa. If I found your drinks otherwise worth it, I'd probably try to remember to tell your baristi not to stencil mine whenever I came in...but in truth, I'd find that task a real PIA and it would, at the very least, discourage me coming there.

On an even more personal note, I find stencils a crappy substitute for pouring art (yeah, I know, it's just my opinion), and would rather have no art than a stencil in my cup. Eh, maybe I'm a purist in that regard though? You may not be a good pouring artist, but there are probably classes in NYC (though maybe it isn't that feasible for you to go there - but it would be a business investment) you could take or send your employees to...or as mentioned above, you could just forego tulips and other fancier designs and just do hearts and rosettas. An alternative to sending all of your employees to NYC (or Philly, or wherever the nearest big city is) is to find a skilled barista willing to come to you.

bccbarista wrote:For those of you that own cafes- do you think your customers like the stencils? In our small area it would seem as if this is yet another (of many) creative marketing practices to emphasize our uniqueness...Any suggestions??

Adding unasked for flavorings to a drink is a no-no. Many roasters offer free barista training to their good customers. Have you asked them?

An espresso house in a rural area is about as unique as you can get. Focus on the best quality you can produce. That will go further than any gimmick. Make a presence at local events. In a small town, it's very likely you will have a chance to come in contact with most of the residents. The smell of freshly brewed coffee and espresso in a setting like that will draw a lot of people. Even try to help sponsoring events. In a small town giving back the community is even more important and much more effective than in larger cities. If you ever get into roasting your own beans, venting that aroma outside, drawing customers in just like many bakeries and restaurants do. Let the byproducts of what you are already doing, do the advertising for you, quality, taste and aroma.