Hi,

I've mostly been a straight shot guy, but recently I've been getting into milk drinks. I never resorted to getting 5 gallons of milk and practicing, but for about a month now I've been making a latte ever morning. Sometimes one for my wife, as well. I'm starting to get OK at it.

The techniques I've followed online never really resulted in what I was looking for. Was it the more powerful steaming? Was I not interpreting the sound? Am I just a spazz?

Anyway, I'm finally getting really decent microfoam, and an even, by mistake, making low rent rosettas and hearts. I don't think that the step by step tutorials work for everyone. We all have different equipment and environments, etc. Here are some things that helped me.

* practice
* finding the sweet spot for the wand and creating a whirlpool
* using very cold milk and a frozen steaming pitcher, particularly for smaller amounts.
* practice

I usually am making for one. My basic technique is as follows:
1. Fill pitcher
2. Prime steam wand
3. Drop steam wand into milk
4. Bring pitcher down to just below the top so it stops making big bubbles
5. Create the whirlpool and try to hold it in the sweet spot. Sometimes you'll get big bubbles, but they'll get lost in the whirlpool. Try to maintain.
6. When I can't continue holding the pitcher, stop steaming
7. Roll and bang the pitcher

For me getting the whirlpool going is the key, and is sometimes hard with my 4 hole wand. I'm still learning and still getting bad cups, but when it's working, you know it and it turns out great.

I had an old yoga teacher whose favorite saying was: "Practice, and all is coming." Particularly apt when it comes to frothing milk.

use water with just a drop of dish soap to practice. it's how I learned, and it really lets you find out how to effectively steam with your machine. you should be experimenting with how much volume/air you want to add to the liquid, and you've reached your goal when you can produce perfect glassy white foam on top every time.

All of the above.

What size jug are you using? Well into my learning curve I went from a 600 to a 300ml jug for single milk drinks. No waste and it really helped with the discipline of steaming small milk quantities.

hudsterboy wrote:making low rent rosettas and hearts.

This is about where I'm at now, after having an AP for about four months. Definitely all about practice, but I was surprised that on my set-up, I've not seen an appreciable difference between using whole milk and 2% in terms of the quality and consistency of my microfoam. I started out using 2% the first month or so, then switched to whole after reading all the recs here on HB, then returned to 2% just a few weeks ago...and no significant change in the quality of my microfoam; it continues to improve just a little each day. A slight difference in taste? Yes. But to your point about practice, I think that's been the key for me.