As wholesale coffee distributors, we have been surprised at the way Latte Art has expanded over recent years in the coffee industry.

These days you very rarely see a milky coffee put down on your table without a heart, fern or other pattern on top. It takes a certain amount of attention to detail, dedication to quality and skill, to offer a coffee like this.

Sensational new coffee drinks are appearing on the menu boards at coffee shops with Baristas vying in competitions to create the most impressive art decorations for their customers. This is not only because it is a creative and enjoyable task, but it often results in bigger tips from their customers.

First impressions count

During taste trials given to coffee shop customers, it has been proven that Latte Art is able to transform even the plainest coffee into a speciality drink. When asked to compare a plain coffee drink against a cup presented with Latte Art, the majority of consumers said they identified the latter as more “fresh and appealing” and much more “luxurious” than the normal coffee drink.

The ability to create an amazing work of art, has recently been compared to the skill of fly-fishing; the pace, the patience, the flick of the wrist.

How to create Latte Art

With the earliest creations, latte art involved pouring milk foam onto an expresso coffee drink, then creating a pattern with the white foam and the brown coffee crema. Some designs are quite simple, but other motifs are extremely skill-intensive and ornate. The designs may be quite decorative, using sauces such as chocolate and caramel. Why not try some of these simple art designs on your latte coffee at home?

Fern Leaf Pattern

This is a relatively simple yet elegant design to recreate. While pouring the milk into the coffee crema, keep moving the jug from side to side of the cup until the foam appears on the surface. Next, begin to move the jug backwards, slowly. Keep moving it from side to side until you reach the end of the mug, and now add a straight line up through the leaf pattern.

Heart Pattern

When pouring the milk, take the jug from side to side in one position in the mug. Continue creating this pattern until you have a large circle of coffee crema. Now move the jug forward slightly and keep pouring the milk onto this position until the mug is just about full. Give a quick flick of the jug in a forward straight line direction to complete your heart pattern.

Watch this video for more instructions from a professional barista:

3D Latte Art

The coffee world has gone a little crazy in recent years with Kazuki Yamamoto, a barista who began to create even more extravagant artwork with his 3D latte designs of an octopus, snoopy, giraffes and even cats.  Even though latte art isn’t just about the coffee, there is no limit to how seriously you can take it.

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