Latte is a kind of coffee that many people enjoy drinking in their daily lives. Although most people tend to buy their latte at the café, it is actually easy to make a latte at home. There are three steps to make a latte: making the espresso, steaming the milk, and mixing them with latte art.

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        To make the espresso, we should select appropriate coffee beans first. Although almost all kinds of beans can be used to make espresso, latte is a different case because it has a large amount of milk which enormously changes the flavor. It is better to choose beans with bold and rich flavors so that the natural taste of coffee wouldn’t be overpowered by milk. Then we need to grind the beans into grounds. Using automatic machines or tools like mortar and pestle are both feasible. Next, we use the coffee maker or other brewing equipment to make espresso. Fill the portafilter with coffee grounds (see Photo 1), smooth the grounds to the same level, and tamp the grounds evenly. Afterwards, insert the portafilter to the group head (see Photo 2) and start to brew coffee. Finally, a cup of espresso is finished.

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        Milk plays an important role in latte, so we need to choose the milk properly. Whole milk is the best choice because it tastes sweet and soothing, and it can foam well and create gorgeous latte art. Others like non-fat milk, 2% milk, organic milk, and lactose free milk are suitable for making latte, too. To steam the milk well, stretching and texturing are two vital phases. Stretching is the process of pushing air to milk. It increases the milk’s volume and produces the micro-foam to make latte art (see Photo 3). As for texturing, we make it by creating a fast rotating motion of the milk foam. After these two steps, the steamed milk is prepared.

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        The final step is to mix the espresso and the milk foam together. We should pour the milk foam into the espresso, and make latte art on the top. Begin to pour the frothed milk to the espresso from a relatively high position. Continue to pour at the same time as lowering the milk and steepening the pouring angle (see Photo 4). Make sure a small amount of stiff milk foam stays on the top after pouring. We can add latte art on the top of the latte or just start to taste it. Latte art contains numerous patterns, and it is really amazing to create that kind of art on the coffee.

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        With only three steps, a perfect latte can be simply done by your own. The first step is to make the espresso. We select appropriate coffee beans, grind them into grounds, and brew them through the equipment. The second step is to choose the ideal milk, and steam the milk by two phases called stretching and texturing. The last step is to pour down the milk to the espresso, and then make latte art. Latte art is an excellent way to add a memorable touch to the appearance of the coffee. Although making a latte needs some time and preparations, it is really happy and enjoyable to taste a cup of latte made by ourselves.