Thanks guys, I’ll take your advice on board and see how it goes.

I’m not too bad at getting the milk expanded, I can get it maybe a 25% increase in volume with no bubbles, from just below the spout in the jug to maybe ⅓ way up the spout.

Can we extend “Latte art” to “Coffee art” or “Unintentional interesting pattern on the underside of the puck screen”?

    Trying to get a Christmas tree …. Sometimes I wish I worked in a coffee shop so I could practice on 200 coffees a day

      H1udd Very impressive indeed! I doubt coffee shops do these impressions. We don’t even remember! 👏

        Good effort. As for doing 200 a day - guess the novelty would wear off pretty quick.

        15 days later

        So it’s been a pretty slow journey, as I tend to only do one milky coffee a day, but I think my latte art is finally making some progress.

        A year ago this is what I was proud of, a faint outline in the milk:

        This is what I poured this morning to go with breakfast:

        It’s not perfect, with some marking I didn’t want at the very bottom, but overall I think it’s respectable. Goes to show that if you just keep practicing you’ll get there eventually. These are both with oat milk as well, which I think makes it a bit trickier.

        Full marks for sticking at it.

        15 days later
        DavecUK unstickied the discussion .

        I’ve been trying for a year to improve my latte hearts but like others here only make a handful each week. Some of the great ones above make me want me to give up !

        Perhaps I’ll just stick to caps and claim it as art

          Mutepost Try pouring the designer faster. That’s what I was missing. It helps the design spread

            Not the best by any means, but I tend to get very good looking pours and milk texture by just resting the jug on the drip tray, put the tip of the steam wand on the surface of the milk and just let it do its thing.

            Made a video a while back:

            I steam my milk like that too, but with the wand a bit closer to the edge so that it spins round more.

            I was going to say that while I am sure this has resulted in good results for @MediumRoastSteam it appear to violate two “rules” of steaming: 1) having the tip close to the edge for “spinning” to create microfoam and 2) varying the tip depth to not over-aerate at high temps.

            So interesting!

              limelight varying the tip depth to not over-aerate at high temps

              Don’t forget as you aerate the milk, the level rises in the pitcher and it can often cover the steam tip holes sufficiently to stop aeration.

                Drank four lattes this morining one after the other in trying to improve my latte art…which it didn’t! Well, at least that’s what the big pink elephant wearing a tutu standing in the corner of my kitchen told me.

                  Elcarajillo Did you check your blood pressure afterwards ?😂

                  Funny you should say that, as this week I received my yearly MOT letter from my GP, which means I have to check my blood pressure for a week and send the results off. Also, have a blood test, which I think is for spotting any possible signs of diabetes. So, maybe I should have a coffee sabatical for a week whilst I do it. If not, I can see her booking me a table at the morgue.

                  As Eric Idle once sang…

                  “Always look on the bright side if life!”