Laura Ostendorff recalls her first latte art.
“I remember attempting and shaking so badly,” she says. “I couldn’t get anything discernible.” The heart she was trying to pour with steamed milk into an espresso shot ended up looking a bit like Simba from The Lion King.
Now a full-time educator with local coffee roaster Methodical Coffee, Ostendorff’s skills have significantly improved, and she enjoys training new baristas in both the chemistry and the aesthetics of creating artistic designs in coffee. “Latte art is an artistic skill set,” she says. “You use milk to create different designs on top of espresso.”
And while these designs are not necessary to enjoy a latte or cappuccino, it’s an extension of hospitality, showing an intentionality in the details and presenting a beautiful drink to a guest, she explains. “It’s a really fun part of coffee. It’s one of the few very visual things we have that offers immediate gratification.”
But once you master the skill, even for coffee service at home, it’s that little something extra that makes drinking coffee even more enjoyable. “A lot of it is trial and error to a degree,” she admits. “It’s kind of like riding a bike. Until you do it, you won’t really know.”
The Foundation of Latte Art
Understanding the chemistry of the milk is foundational to successfully creating latte art. That means learning what happens to milk when it’s heated, how temperature impacts milk, and how to create milk foam. Steaming the milk is the first critical step, and that requires specific equipment that is readily accessible for aspiring home baristas.
“The only way is to have a steam wand,” Ostendorff says. “The best advice I can give is to steam on cold milk. Warm milk will steam unevenly.” Cold milk will provide a better texture and micro foam. Using the steam wand, aerate the milk first with the wand close to the surface of the milk, and then insert further. Otherwise, you’ll risk introducing big bubbles that won’t allow for art.
After that, it’s just pouring the milk into the base of espresso.
“We always start with something simple like a heart and then move on to a tulip,” she says. “Learning each step helps build something more complicated. If you know how to do the movement for a heart, you know how to make a tulip.”
The term “stacks” refers to pouring one heart on top of another to create more intricate looks. Ostendorff enjoys designs with multiple stacks, and she trains Methodical baristas to do the same.
“When I want to challenge myself, I like doing rosettas,” she says. “It’s a different movement than hearts or tulips. I really love doing a 10-stack tulip because it’s difficult to fit 10 in one design.”
Home baristas, she notes, should feel free to experiment with their skills, regardless of the outcome.
“Latte art is whatever you want it to be,” she says. “If you enjoy it, that’s the most important thing.”
Methodical has three Greenville locations: downtown, The Commons, and Stones Point. Find them at methodicalcoffeee.com.
Also look for top-notch latte art at:
- Coffee Coffee inside Sum Bar
- Junto Coffee
- Bridge City Coffee
- The Village Grind
- Leopard Forest Coffee Company
- Canvas
Did You Know?
In the US, latte art first became popular in Seattle in the 1980s, when David Schomer began using heart designs at his shop, Espresso Vivace. He later developed the rosette pattern (based on Italian techniques) and began teaching a course on latte art.
