Many of us like relaxing in the morning with a cup of coffee and delicious breakfast.
Some like drinking classic black coffee, others prefer cappuccino, machiatto or espresso.
The concept of creative coffee is something we can enjoy everyday by following inspiring Instagram feeds or finding them in our local cafe bars and coffee shops.
Why we love latte art?
It’s just not only about showing the artistic talent of the baristas, but making the latte more visually appealing, sexy, and apparently more delicious.
An example of a “tulip”- a common type of latte art invented by Luigi Lupi 2004 in Greece. Source: Wikipedia
Who started the latte art trend?
Since 1980s, the art form created by pouring steamed milk into a shot of espresso, or so called latte art, has been widely welcomed within the modern society, which thirsts for elegance and beauty.
Although milk and coffee have been consumed together in Europe for centuries, legend has it that David Schomer started the US latte art craze in the mid 1980s. However, a guy in Italy named Luigi Lupi was doing the same thing around the same time.
Schomer credits the development of microfoam (“velvet foam” or “milk texturing”) to Jack Kelly of Uptown espresso in 1986, and by 1989 the heart pattern was established and a signature at Schomer’s Espresso Vivace. The rosette pattern was then developed by Schomer in 1992, recreating the technique based on a photograph he saw from Cafe Mateki in Italy.
What is the chemistry behind latte art?
Latte art is a mixture of two colloids: the crema, which is an emulsion of coffee oil and brewed coffee; and the microfoam, which is a foam of air in milk. Milk itself is an emulsion of butterfat in water, while coffee is a mixture of coffee solids in water.
Neither of these colloids are stable – crema dissipates from espresso, while microfoam separates into drier foam and liquid milk – both degrading significantly in a matter of seconds, and thus latte art lasts only briefly.
