The Art of Latte Art
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
Written by Ava Brennan
A local barista gives insight on the mastery of latte art and her personal experience in winning her first latte art throwdown.
Autumn has arrived – the leaves are changing, the air is crisp and the cozy season is officially here. For many of us, it's the moment our coffee orders transition from iced to hot. What’s better than a warm latte on a cool day? One topped with a beautiful design.
Latte art is achieved by pouring steamed milk in a specific manner over espresso, creating shapes and patterns with the milk foam. Baristas, specifically trained in specialty coffee shops, are often taught the basics of latte art for presentation purposes.
Joelle Kristoff, a barista at Heartwood Coffee Roasters and winner of a latte art throwdown this past summer, shared her experience with mastering this niche skill. Kristoff, who previously worked at coffee shops in New York, has worked at Heartwood for a little over two years. Once she started at Heartwood, Kristoff began to hone in on her latte art skills.
“I would say that (latte art) always came naturally,” Kristoff said.
After participating in a prior latte art competition, Kristoff decided to enter Heartwood's summer latte art throwdown, hosted at the cafe’s Pinecrest location.
“I was gonna have fun and I wasn't gonna stress myself out about it, because I am very competitive,” Kristoff admitted.
The throwdown hosted baristas from Lekko Coffee Roasters, Porchlight Coffee Co., Bent Tree Coffee Roasters and a home barista. Three judges blindly chose the winners for each round.
When asked about her experience pouring latte art at the competition, Kristoff shared she was continually nervous she would mess up. Throughout the rounds of pouring, Kristoff's confidence increased.
“I think the support from friends (helped). I was just having fun!” Kristoff said.
After several rounds of brackets, Kristoff was in the final two. Then, was declared the winner.
Kristoff, shared that the most important part of a good pour is the milk aeration process. Milk is aerated with a steam wand from the espresso machine to create a certain milk to foam ratio.
“You have to find the perfect level of aeration to get the air equally distributed throughout the milk,” Kristoff explained.
With over a decade of barista experience, Gavin Sterkle, manager at Duck Rabbit Coffee in Ohio City, explained his personal experience with pouring, what makes a good latte pour and how it influences the overall experience of specialty coffee shops.
“You have to have both components of fresh-dark espresso and properly steamed milk in order to pour really good latte art.” Sterkle said.
Sterkle shared the most popular latte art designs baristas are known to pour: hearts, rossettas, tulips, and swans. Each design consists of different milk pitcher movements and velocity, which is the rate at which steamed milk pours out of the pitcher.
Pouring art did not necessarily come naturally to Sterkle, yet he continued to practice his skills to become consistent.
“I only poured hearts for a year and a half,” which he explained is the basis of the majority of latte designs.
Sterkle suggested mastering the milk steaming process for anyone learning to pour latte art.
Different types of milk – whole, oat and skim – are steamed and aerated differently, so focusing on perfecting the aeration process is crucial. Sterkle also recommends watching latte art videos and practicing consistently to get a feel for proper aeration process and pitcher movement.
“It’s so much trial and error,” Sterkle said. “Don’t get discouraged. Try one design at a time until you get better at it, then move onto something else.”
Not every specialty coffee shop teaches latte art or expects baristas to know how to pour it. This makes receiving a carefully, beautifully poured latte just that much more special. Sterkle, with his experience in pouring art, encourages his employees to develop the skills for the craft.
“I think latte art is important, just in terms of hospitality. If you are gonna make a latte anyway, you may as well make latte art,” Sterkle said.
Sterkle believes that the effort to create something beautiful for customers is worth it, just to bring a smile to their face and appreciate the art, even for a moment.
Sterkle continued, “It costs nothing to give that extra value to a customer. Why not give a customer that extra beauty just to make it that much better?”
