The teacher had invited an old Japanese carpenter, who worked only with hand tools he had crafted himself, to speak to us about craft vs art. He sat, cross-legged, on a table at the front of the room, describing how we went about his task, and carving a dovetail joint in a piece of wood. As he spoke, and finished the dove-tail, he handed it to the first person with the suggestion that they pass it around and inspect the work. He continued to speak, and picked up another piece of wood to work on. He measures with a fingernail, the width of a thumb, the first knuckle to the second, the span of a hand, etcetera. When the first piece of wood was returned from it's trip around the room, he married it to the second, and the two were a perfect match.

Some folk have it, some folk don't. Some folk need a thermometer in their milk, others can do it by hand.
If we were all exactly the same, there would always be a line.

For years and years I drank only espresso, as did my wife. Now I drink as many lattes and cappuccinos as I do short espressos. The reasons that I started down this impure road over the last six months are two: guests wanted lats and caps; so I figured I should learn how to make them. Secondly, having a big breakfast on Sunday morning with a lot of maple syrup - well, an espresso just doesn't do the meal justice. More often than not I would break out the moka pot. (I'm just getting into pour-over, for guests).

Having said all this, I only got really interested in lattes when I discovered, by accident, the beautiful sweetness of milk. I know I've done good when a friend asks if I put sugar in their drink. I like a sugary latte without adding any sugar. Of course, I also enjoy that great shot of espresso in there (I never add sugar to my shots).

Back to the original post, I go by the hand method. However, having read the SCAA -Schomer bit on steaming milk, I bought a temperature gauge from Orphan Espresso last night. I'm curious to know how my burning hand measures against theory; I'm also curious to be a bit more textbook and try out the Schomer guides to milk texturing http://www.espressovivace.com/archives/9512scr.html