It’s time to take your latte game to the next level.
Follow this guide to steam, froth and pour your way to latte art that’s worthy of your favorite café drink. Once you’ve mastered how to make latte art at home, try creating different shapes like hearts, flowers or any other beautiful patterns you feel inspired to make.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED
INGREDIENTS
- Whole milk or your milk of choice
- Whole Bean Starbucks® Espresso Roast or Veranda Blend®
TOOLS
- Espresso maker with a steam wand
- Metal steaming pitcher with a pointed spout
- Wide, shallow coffee cup
How to Make
STEP ONE
Make espresso shots.
• We recommend brewing Starbucks® Espresso Roast Whole Bean Coffee via an espresso machine. If you don’t have an espresso machine, you can use a stove-top moka pot to make espresso-like coffee. To learn more, read our stove-pot moka pot guide here.
• You can also brew Starbucks® Espresso Roast by Nespresso® capsules for authentic café-style espresso.
STEP TWO
Fill pitcher with cold milk to the bottom of pour spout dent.
STEP THREE
Aerate milk for about 3 seconds by keeping the tip of the wand near the surface of the milk. You should hear a paper-tearing sound.
STEP FOUR
Submerge wand toward bottom of pitcher to get milk to spin in a whirlpool motion. Make sure the wand is in the middle of the pitcher to help swirl the milk completely.
STEP FIVE
Heat milk to 150°F. Use a thermometer, or stop when you can’t touch the pitcher for more than an instant.
STEP SIX
"Groom" the milk by tapping pitcher on counter and swirling gently by hand. This will pop any big bubbles and maintain micro-foam.
STEP SEVEN
Pour high to start. Tilt coffee cup as you pour a pencil-thin stream of milk into the center of the espresso.
STEP EIGHT
Pour low when your cup is half full, and pour just a little faster to help guide the foam out of the pitcher.
STEP NINE
Focus on the middle of the mug then when the foam begins to fall, and continue to focus on the middle until a dot begins to form.
STEP TEN
To make a heart, slowly tilt the pitcher back and pull stream through the center. For a rosette, once the dot starts to form, continue to gently rock the pitcher side to side while increasing the volume of the pour. The side to side motion will create the rosette design. Once you reach the far end of the mug and the top of the rosette, start pouring a little less milk and pull the stream through the center.
STEP ELEVEN
Finish. Slowly tilt pitcher back and draw the stream back through center of the design. Snap a picture of your hard work and enjoy.
Did You Know?
Latte art is made possible only with correctly steamed and textured milk. Milk is made up of a complex mix of three components: sugars, fats and proteins. Each of these plays an important role in milk steaming, contributing to the milk’s ability to froth and foam. Whole milk is the best to use for latte art since it creates a smoother, more luscious foam.
