Hi everyone!

New to the world of home espresso, most of my coffee journey has been in the pour over world. I have a GCP and a Eureka Mignon grinder, for starters.

I'm having a real hard time getting any sort of form to my cappuccino art (lattes are a bit too much milk for me). My milk, to my untrained eye, looks decent. It certainly has that "wet paint" look. It might be a bit over aerated, or at least "under combined" sometimes, but it's hard to tell what "perfect" looks like from videos.

I finally filmed myself earlier https://imgur.com/a/CNzLd0M, and I see that after I make my base pour, my first close / art pour sinks right to the bottom. You can see that I can sometimes get a really small, uncontrolled design, but the milk in general just seems to sink below the surface and not sit on it.

Do you think this is a milk texture thing, a proximity thing, a flow rate thing? I certainly understand this takes practice, but I want to make sure I know what to improve and focus on.


Thanks!

To my eye, it looks like you're starting a little higher than I would and pouring quite fast. Easy experiment: Try starting closer to the surface and pouring more slowly, and see if things improve.

Yes, if you pour too high, the milk will sink to the bottom. You're pretty high at the beginning, but by the end it looks like you got low enough. However, your orientation looks backwards for most basic latte art I've seen and done.

Typically, you tilt the cup toward you, then begin the pour around 4-6 inches above the cup. Swirl the stream of milk around the cup as you do this initial pour. This will create a more uniform surface for the design. As you do this, move the pitcher slowly toward the surface of the coffee. Then, depending on the design, move the pitcher to the far end (away from you) or the middle, drop the pitcher close to the surface of the coffee -- say, 1" or less -- and start the design. For most designs, you wiggle the pitcher and move the stream toward you as you slowly tilt the cup to level. Once you reach the near edge, you lift the pitcher an inch or two and use the stream to cut a stroke through the design (making ferns, hearts, tulips, etc.)

There are tons of latte art videos on the web that show a similar sequence.

If you try a sequence that works in one of the videos, but not for you, try stretching just a little more or use milk with a higher fat content.

On a very positive note, your microfoam looks just fine.

Also, you might want to start out with a relatively simple "Monk's Head" design till you get it perfect, then move to more complex (requiring more movements to produce) designs.

Trust me, I'm not trying to do anything complex lol. I've watched so many YouTube videos, and it seems like it's such a simple pour to get a monks head/heart shape. I even tried on less volume in a "modern" macchiato. My milk just sinks like a rock.

Incorporation within the milk jug should be considered. You can over foam/stretch slightly and then pour the jug into a measuring cup and back immediately before pouring to see if that helps.

Also, think of gliding the milk across the surface of the coffee once you lower the jug. The less downward force, the better.

It looks like your milk steaming technique needs improvement. Milk steaming may look easy, but getting latte art quality microfoam can be a challenge with a certain class of home machine. How long did the drink sit after the pour in your second picture? There are noticeably large bubbles on the surface of the drink. This can happen if you've injected too much air/bubbles at the start or not integrated/mixed the milk adequately after. Steaming milk is a significant part of getting good latte art pours and better mouthfeel in drinks. It might take awhile, but consistent practice will get you there.

I'll link Lance Hendrick's steaming milk video and Emilee Bryant's as well who steams on a Silvia which is similar to a GCP. Both are professional baristas.