What if pouring a beautiful design on the top of a milky beverage actually reduced the quality of flavour? I know my answer, but I’d like you to find out for yourself.Latte Art has become sacrosanct in the vast majority of Specialty Coffee venues. It’s non-negotiable.

1. Latte Art Design Names
2. Latte Art Course Near Me

You almost never see a specialty milk coffee set down on your table without a tulip, fern, heart or monk’s head on top. I’m mostly ok with this. Art betrays a certain amount of skill, attention to detail and commitment to quality that few other visual clues can.This isn’t a post against or even about Latte Art (for the record I rather enjoy it). It’s an exploration of critical thinking and blind experimentation to help you understand the effects of Latte Art on taste.The three most common commandments of Latte Art are contrast, symmetry and central placement in the cup. This trio, by their nature, result in a bold ring of crema around the edges of the drink.

Whether this ring is made of pure crema, brown coloured milk, or a mix of the two is up to your coffee and technique. What’s certain is that this ring is intensely flavoured and definitely impacts your perception of the drink.The first sip you take of a coffee plays an important role in your overall perception of the drink. This is common theory and practice, and is what I have always been taught. The argument goes that if you first experience a pungent punch of coffee flavour, you’ll think the drink is stronger; if your first sip is milky and soft, your view of the drink will lean towards weakness. “The ring of crema is vital for the customer to enjoy the drink and perceive it as satisfying”Some recent experiments have left me thinking otherwise.Crema is really different to espresso.

On its own, crema tastes kind of terrible (really, try it.). Mixed with milk, it adds welcome depth. What if all that crema sitting on top of the milk is more valuable when mixed evenly throughout the whole drink?We’re going to remove the psychological effects of aesthetics and just focus on flavour with a simple experiment. It’s super quick, and a little fun.You’ll need:– an espresso set up– a willing assistant– a blindfold1.

Make two identical espressos. They can be split by portafilter spouts, or made one after the other if you use naked portafilters.2. Steam two identical jugs of milk. Or steam a larger jug and split it into two jugs with equal amounts of foam.Whatever’s more consistent for you. Make sure to steam 100ml more than you need.3. Pour two cappuccinos /lattes/flat whites/cortados with delightfully perfect Latte Art. (Thanks Ben Morrow!)4.

Defile one of them with a spoon, mixing the whole drink top-to-bottom. Make sure every speck of crema is equally distributed.5. Pour a third cup of steamed milk only.6. Don a blindfold.7. Get someone else to randomise the two cups and serve them to you simultaneously. Place the cup of milk in the middle.8. Drink each beverage a few sips at a time.

Make sure to taste the foam, milk, and both together. Take your time and voice your opinion as you go. Your assistant should record your thoughts as they happen. This will prevent mind-changing later.9. When switching cups, take a few sips of plain milk to reset your palate.Questions to ask yourself:– Which cup has the best first impression?– Which cup has the best foam flavour?– Which cup has the best liquid flavour?– Which would I prefer to drink?You might be surprised!The effect of beauty on taste is well documented: a human’s objectivity is crippled by visual prejudice. By removing vision from the equation, we’re eliminating Latte Art’s trump card!The ring of crema creates an intense first mouthful. It’s pungent, bitter and most definitely “coffee”.

This has two effects on the rest of the drink. First, there’s not much crema mixed into the drink, it’s all on top.

Second, your palate is shocked from the experience which will reduce its sensitivity. This combination will make the rest of the drink seem much less flavoursome. It’ll also leave you with a bitter, unpleasant finish.If this is your preference, then Latte Art is on your side!Mixing the crema into the drink will soften it’s impact on your first sip. It will also spread that intense flavour throughout the rest of the drink, making the milk/espresso mixture that little bit stronger and richer. The start is more mellow and the finish is cleaner.If this was your preference, then perhaps Latte Art is working against you!It’s important to understand that there’s no right or wrong here.

This experiment isn’t designed to paint Latte Art as a hero or villain. Whatever your preference, you’ll now know wether Latte Art is helping or hindering your goals.Thanks to Ben Morrow for pouring deliciously pretty chinos. If you like the look of those, you’ll love his Instagram:In unrelated news, Instagram’s share price just went down a little.If you have found this useful and want to enjoy delicious coffee with the rest of the community – register for our monthly. Or if you just want to keep up with every thing Barista Hustle –. I understand what this is trying to test, but most of our customers don’t drink without looking at the drink. What about the psychological effects?

Latte Art Design Names

Does seeing a pretty drink dispose someone to like the taste of it more than otherwise? I used to have a friend that would tell customers “this is going to be the best drink you’ve ever had” (he had a charismatic way of pulling that statement off, I would feel like a heel saying that). I am convinced that it predisposed a lot of folks into believing the drink was better, regardless of objective taste. Wondering about how you feel about the “Kiwi” trick that Rao mentions in the PBH, where the barista pours an ounce or two of the heavier milk from the bottom of the steaming pitcher (while holding back the microfoam) into the espresso shot and stirs it around mixing the shot and milk completely and then finishing with whatever kind of pour the barista is feeling at the time. I try to do it in shop as often as I can and people can totally taste the difference, it seems to soften the first sips and allows the milk pouring machinist Read more ». My self esteem is completely dependent on my latte art. Don’t take it away from me!

Haha.My intention is to get my customers to pay attention to how their coffee tastes, something they might never do if their attention isn’t grabbed by latte art. Also, my tips are generally better when my art is good. Try this experiment: take two identical bottles of wine with a fancy looking label, and put one in a brown paper bag which covers the label. Then pour them out for a friend and ask which one tastes better.

Last week, the 2014 pit champion baristas from 32 nations against each other to see who could create the most beautiful, engaging latte art creations, using both free pour and etching techniques. From those 32 competitors, six finalists advanced to compete in the finals at the 2014 The final field had an impressive array of competitors from both established latte-art contender countries and surprising newcomers, all competing with an incredible level of talent on the world stage.We at Sprudge had already gotten to know four of the six finalists while attending Dalla Corte’s DC Campus event,. This year our friends and partners at Dalla Corte are having their DC Campus event in Sumatra, with a free ticket going to 2014 World Latte Art Champion Christian Ullrich of Germany. Ullrich also won a grinder and a trip to China courtesy of. 2014 WLAC Winner Christian Ullrich’s Turtle latte, shown chilling back home by the beach after its winning run.Each competitor was required to pour a free-pour (using the pitcher only) macchiato-sized drink, a standard sized free-pour drink, and a “designer” drink that could incorporate the use of etching tools and other ingredients.

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In their routine the competitors were asked to pour two sets of each drink, trying to exactly reproduce the reference designs that had been photographed during the somewhat more relaxed “Art Bar” pouring session that opened the weekend.Read on for our recap of the World Latte Art Championships final pours. If you want even more latte-art in your life, you can see more of our 2014 WLAC coverage Sixth Place: Ryan Tan, Singapore. All latte-art composite photos were taken 3 minutes after the drinks had been evaluated by judges.Mr. Ullrich took top prize at this year’s World Latte Art Championships with these pours–all of which display an impressively high level of contrast and consistency. His macchiato (top) was a well proportioned multi-direction tulip pour, which was expanded on in his free pour drink (middle) with carefully placed ornaments on each side. His designer drink, “The Turtle” (bottom) was a complicated series of carefully executed pours with an adorable smiley-face etched in. Ullrich called time at 8:06 for a -2 point penalty.Sprudge.com’s coverage of the is made possible by direct support from our friends and partners at, who provide the espresso machines for the 2014 World Latte Art Championship and 2014.

Our coverage is produced in partnership with, the international organization that stages these competitions each year.Check out for much more from the opening rounds at WLAC.