CoffeeGeek on Nostr: To be honest about #latteart; I'm extremely, heavily biased against it. Here's why. ...

To be honest about #latteart; I'm extremely, heavily biased against it. Here's why.

When latte art started, I learned the skill early (from the first guy in Canada to do it, Vince Piccolo), and got pretty freakin' good at it (see the photo below of my pours from 2002-2004).

By 2005, I could see new and emerging baristas were placing 100% of their importance and "worth" in pouring latte art, and were losing any real interest in how the drink tasted or how the balance was.

By 2007, the transformation was pretty much complete. I started asking then "but how did it taste", and if I got a response it was "like a latte" or "like a cappuccino, duh".

So I did two things. First, for at least 10 years, I pretty much stopped showing my own latte art pours online. I stopped writing about latte art. I stopped covering the technique. I refused to judge latte art competitions (prior, I judged about 2 dozen). I stopped promoting latte art.

And by around 2013, I stopped any real effort at pouring latte art. I was more concerned with getting my milk and foam ratios correct, ensuring the espresso underneath was as close to perfect as I could get it, and my milk and foam temperatures were spot on (pro tip: you want the foam cooler than the steamed milk below and there's a way to get there).

Like any practiced skill, if you don't do something every day, every time, you'll lose the ability. And over 10+ years, my ability to pour latte art has greatly reduced.

And I'm fine with that.

Because the cappuccinos, macchiatos and lattes I do make and build, I can almost guarantee, taste better than any of the ones you see with super fancy and intricate latte art in top in popular instagram videos and stills. I'll bet my La Marzocco GS3 on that.

And yes, to this day, I'll still ask occasionally: "but how does it taste". Because that's supposed to be the most important thing.

cc espresso group (npub1m5z…mdw7)