Coffee Art Pic by Serendigity

Coffee art, also known as Latte art, is a trend that’s been showing in bars and coffee houses in many cities around the world. This particular art form –which is without a doubt ephemeral-, consists in creating a pattern or design when pouring steamed milk into a shot of espresso. The surface of the resulting latte appears with a curious –sometimes beautiful, sometimes funny- look… that lasts until someone takes the first zip.

Apparently, there are two main techniques among coffee artists. What we described first is called free pouring: you create the design as strategically pouring the steamed milk into the cup. But there is another technique called etching, in which you can also design a coffee art by drawing in the top layer of foam. Sometimes instant coffee, cinnamon or chocolate are used as part of a design. Of course, it’s no piece of cake! If you can hardly prepare a decent cup of coffee, then you shouldn’t attempt this at home… coffee art is so difficult to create because you can only achieve a good pattern with specific conditions of both the milk and the espresso shot. Therefore, a good barista that can offer a beautiful design will be considered valuable for the coffee house who hires him or her. And also, coffee art reflects the quality of the espresso machine implied in the preparation and pouring of each up.

What exactly is coffee art for?

While this discipline gains adepts in coffee houses all around the world, one may wonder if it is worth the effort (and the money) invested. Would you pay twice as much for your cup of coffee only to take a glance at its cute design, and then let it slip between your lips? Somehow, it reminds me of sand art, although coffee art lasts even less, since you have to drink it before it cools down! According to coffee house owners, coffee art provides a touch of sophistication, and proves the high quality of the coffee they provide, since coffee art is not possible without the perfect espresso and steamed milk.

In order to recall the memories of that good coffee art design they had once the privilege to drink, many fans of this drink/art form have begun to collect pictures of the patterns they have run into. Both here in Europe as in America, bartenders are attending courses that teach how to perfect an already great cup of coffee with a unique and transitory design. However, experts claim that this is an art, as any other, that takes years to fully master, and that is not just for anyone!

Coffee Art: What about the designs?

From flowers to butterflies, from teddy bears to a smiling moon surrounded by starts, there is no limit to coffee art designs. Hey, there are even cartoon characters, such as Winnie the Pooh, Tim Burton’s Jack, or the Grinch; and portraits of celebrities such as Obama, John Lennon or Mao! And if you haven’t tried coffee art yet, and you don’t believe us, here you can check some amazing coffee art designs!

Which is the origin of coffee art? Italians claim it was them who first invented this technique, few years after inventing the first espresso machine. Well, that’s no such a big shock to me: Renaissance begun in Italy too. They have Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael, Modigliani… now they have created coffee art. It makes perfect sense, if you ask me. However, American claim that coffee art begun in their land, in a small coffee shop from Seattle –and, hey! That makes perfect sense too, being Seattle the home land of my beloved Starbucks [LINK].

No matter its origins, coffee art has spread as an acknowledge discipline: they even have their World Championship. It is a competition in which the baristas are challenged in an on-demand performance. Their task is to present to identical designs for three different drinks: latte, macchiato, and a signature beverage. In order to prove that the resulting art is what they intended to do, baristas give judges a picture of the design before actually having it done on the surface of the drink. The winner will be determined based on different criteria, such as visual attributes, accuracy (how similar are the two patterns in the pairs), creativity, etc. The winner is declared the World Latte Art Champion.

As for myself, so far I’ve never tried an espresso with coffee art on its surface, although I’ve seen a few friends drink it (after smiling and having a few photographs taken). I’m not sure I would be too thrilled to ruin such a beautiful little piece of art with my zips, but if coffee art is here to stay, I guess I’ll have to give it a shot!