Coffee Knowledge | About the Fusion and Infusion of Coffee Latte Art

There is actually no clear documentation on the origin of coffee latte art. We only know that in Europe and the United States, coffee latte art was a highly difficult professional technique displayed during coffee performances. Such innovative skills and high-difficulty techniques greatly shocked the coffee industry at the time and attracted public attention from the beginning. Everyone was deeply attracted by the magical and gorgeous skills of coffee latte art.

There are many professional coffee books in Europe, America and Japan that introduce the basic techniques of "Latte Art". There are also many coffee-related books that use coffee latte art as a professional symbol on the cover, and coffee latte art has become a must-have technique for various competitions today.

There are three basic patterns in coffee latte art, namely heart, leaf and tulip. These three flower shapes represent three techniques.

I think the process of making a cup of latte art is divided into two stages: the first stage is "fusion", and the second stage is "injection molding", which is what we call latte art.

Here, the teacher of Chongqing Bairuiste Coffee and Pastry Academy divides latte art into two stages to introduce and explain, and then refines each stage into each step and key points and precautions to make it easier for everyone to understand.

First of all, let’s talk about the key point: “Fusion”

1. Cup height: refers to the distance between the milk jug and the coffee cup. Normally, the distance between the milk jug and the coffee cup is about 5-10 cm (for reference). To be exact, it should be the distance between the jug mouth and the coffee liquid surface. Every latte art maker has a different approach to this. There is no completely identical height and distance, nor a fixed height. However, the only purpose is to fully blend the milk foam with the coffee. Since the milk foam is less dense and lighter, we often choose to raise the distance between the milk jug and the coffee liquid surface to avoid damaging the cleanliness and color of the oil. So we must understand that the thicker the milk foam, the higher the distance (impact force), and on the contrary, the thinner the milk foam, the lower the distance.

2. Milk flow size: refers to the thickness of the milk flow when pouring the milk from the milk tank into the coffee cup. The normal reference value is: the milk flow is a little thinner without being continuous. The purpose of the milk flow size is to ensure that the milk foam and coffee are fully blended without destroying the cleanliness and color of the oil. A too thick milk flow will have a greater impact and there is a certain probability that it will hit the bottom of the cup and cause turbulence, so generally a thinner milk flow will be chosen for blending. If you are more flexible, the size of the milk flow should be coordinated with the quality of the milk foam. For example: if the milk foam is thicker, we need a higher distance and a thinner milk flow. On the contrary, if the milk foam is thinner, we can choose a slightly thicker milk flow and a closer distance for blending.

3. Fusion Techniques: Fusion techniques can be roughly divided into three types: straight fusion method, circle fusion method, and fixed-point fusion. These techniques do not have a very large impact on the fluidity of latte art. Let's first talk about the differences between the three methods. The straight fusion method is to blend by swinging left and right on a line. This method greatly reduces the area of ​​​​damage to the oil and achieves the purpose of fusion. The circle fusion method is to blend in circles. This fusion method moves on the surface of the oil to a greater extent to achieve the purpose of fusion. The fixed-point fusion method is to blend at one point. This method hardly destroys the surface cleanliness of the oil and achieves the purpose of fusion. The three fusion methods have their own advantages and disadvantages. In terms of the state and uniformity of fusion, the best effect is definitely the circle fusion method (that is, large-area fusion). The reason is simple. The larger the fusion area, the easier it is to fully blend the milk foam and coffee. Fixed-point fusion and straight fusion require super good oil and very good milk foam. So it is recommended to blend in a large area by drawing circles.

4. Fusion amount: refers to how much milk foam is fused into the cup. The amount of fusion liquid mainly affects the fluidity of the liquid surface when drawing (the following examples assume that the fat, milk foam, and fusion techniques are the same).

The fusion process is actually the process of pouring milk foam into Espresso:

The amount of fused liquid = the amount of milk foam poured in = the fluidity of the liquid surface;

There is less fusion liquid (i.e. less milk foam is poured in), and the liquid surface contains fewer bubbles and less resistance, so the fluidity is high;

The more fusion liquid (i.e. the more milk foam is poured in), the more bubbles there are on the liquid surface, the greater the resistance, so the fluidity is low;

Therefore, the amount of fusion liquid is different, and the fluidity of the liquid surface is also different.

There are also several schools of thought in latte art. Let's compare the fusion of Japanese and Korean patterns:

The main feature of Japanese-style patterns is that they cover a large area. As you can imagine, a large area pattern requires a liquid surface with high fluidity, so usually Japanese-style patterns are fused in smaller quantities.

The main feature of Korean style patterns is that they are neat and symmetrical. Neat and symmetrical patterns require a liquid surface with low fluidity. Therefore, Korean style patterns usually have more fusion.

So when making latte art, we choose the appropriate amount of blending (fluidity) according to the latte art effect we want. My favorite saying about blending is: think of blending as laying the foundation for a building. The more blending, the more stable the foundation, and the less blending, the more fluid the foundation.

Conclusion:

When blending, pay attention to the flow of milk foam, the height of the latte art cylinder, and the speed of swinging. The flow of milk foam should be stable and continuous, and not intermittent. After the blending is completed, the coffee surface should be clean and of uniform color. No white milk foam should appear, otherwise it will affect the subsequent latte art pattern. When blending, let the coffee surface rotate in the cup to make it more fluid. Remember to try not to rush it to the edge of the cup. If there is white milk foam, continue to inject milk foam into that place to blend it, so that the white milk foam can be washed below the coffee surface.