Barista’s steamy secrets
Caleb Cha is World Latte Art Champion 2015. He shares his top tips for texturing milk.
The jug
Cha is a jug-half-full kinda guy, filling his milk jug ‘‘a bit less than half-full’’. The size of the milk jug should match the size of your cup.
‘‘The main difference is the smaller jug is good for simple patterns such as symmetrical patterns or tulip designs, and a larger jug is [better suited] for more complex patterns [in a bigger cup].’’
‘Hissing’
Cha refers to the process of adding air to the milk as ‘‘hissing’’ – a ‘‘tsk tsk tsk’’, like the sound the steam wand makes when it isn’t fully submerged in the milk. You may need to ‘‘hiss more’’ (add more air) to skim milk to help it stretch, and hiss less for soy, compared to full cream or almond milks.
Whirlpool
Once you’ve aerated the milk to increase the volume, it’s time to create microfoam using a whirlpool.
‘‘Lift the jug [under the steam wand] until it’s completely silent, [and the wand creates] a whirlpool effect.
‘‘The whirlpool effect is really important. Once you put the air into the milk [by hissing], you need to pop all the [big] air bubbles, and reduce the size of the bubbles by the whirlpool effect. So that becomes microfoam.’’
Be patient
Be mindful that home espresso machines do not have the barpressure of commercial machines. ‘‘At home, basically, it takes longer. Much longer ‘hissing’, much longer whirlpool effect.’’
Natural thermostat
When it comes to temperature control, train yourself to judge the milk’s temperature by touch. Place your palm underneath the jug, not the sides, for greater accuracy. Cha says: ‘‘The perfect temperature is when it’s too hot to hold [the jug]. You can hold it, but not too long – maybe one second or 1.5 – that should be the perfect temperature for consuming.’’
His perfect temperature for consuming immediately is between 60 and 65 degrees Celsius. ‘‘No less than 40C because the fat is not dissolved in the milk liquid, and that gives you the wrong taste.’’
When to pour
‘‘Once it’s stretched, you make sure the surface of the milk is nice and shiny, that’s the first indicator. You need to check first your milk is shiny, or glossy,’’ Cha says.
‘‘That’s the point you should pour into the coffee. It means the foam and the liquid of the milk is mixed perfectly.’’
White paint
Cha aims for a texture akin to ‘‘white paint’’ when he’s texturing milk. ‘‘While you swirl the milk jug, if you see the velvety, shiny surface that means you have perfectly stretched milk.’’
Double tap
Don’t be tempted to bang the base of the jug on the bench to pop bubbles, or you risk losing the delicate microfoam you’ve created.
‘‘Gently tap once, give it a nice swirl, and if you [still] see bubbles on the surface, maybe give it another gentle tap and it should be fine.’’
Avoid overflow
If you fill the jug halfway, it shouldn’t overflow, but keep an eye on the volume as you are ‘‘hissing’’ and aerating the milk.
Alternative ‘mylks’
Cha says it’s possible to texture nut and soy milks, it just takes practice. He says almond milk can be difficult to stretch, and suggests adding more air to the milk before raising the jug and moving onto the whirlpool effect. – Goodfood.com.au