Upper Midwest Gourmet

“  Does your Milk Look & Taste Like” Dishwater?” ” ” ” ” 

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Have you ever experienced a Latte or Cappuccino were the milk blew your hair back? Not many of us probably have. In fact, many of us might not even know what properly frothed milk looks like. If done correctly, your finished milk will become like glass, so reflective that it will look like white chrome. Not only will it blind you, but the natural sweetness that has been brought forth from the milk will blend with the sweetness of the espresso crema and create a “sweet & tasty” drink like no other.

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It’s bad enough that most of us are exposed to over-roasted espresso beans, but add over heated or burnt milk and you’ll tend to ask yourself, why do I drink these things? Well look up, there is hope for us yet! As the industry has grown in rapid motion, we seem to have forgotten the importance of training our barista’s the proper techniques and procedures for their success of becoming a great barista. Due to this countries love affair with dairy and sugar, a very large percentage of drinks served in our coffee bars will be milk based with added sweet based ingredients (i.e. flavoring syrups or chocolate). So how important is proper milk frothing to the success and survival of your coffee shop? I’d say pretty important. It will do you no good to master the art of espresso shot extraction if you overpower or destroy your efforts with an inferior frothed milk product.

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So with this in mind, let’s take a look at what’s involved in proper Milk Texturing and Presentation. I have incorporated these steps from many training guides and web sites that we have studied and approved. They all seem to agree to the same basic techniques, which we have listed here. So dive in, don’t be afraid to try these, but remember, you may not get it the first time or two. Practice, practice, practice. It will come with time. And believe me, after your get that first positive complement from your customers, you will be hooked and inspired to continue to improve your skills. Heck, lattes today, “Latte Art” tomorrow! Good luck and do not hesitate to contact us for further training. We’d love to show you first hand these techniques.

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Milk Frothing Techniques

As you practice these procedures, keep in mind” the finished look you are going for. Whatever your espresso based drink may be, milk texturing featuring ultra-fine bubbles will enhance your coffee’s flavor, mouth-feel and appearance. It is the ONLY choice to perfect the drink! Ok, let’s get started.

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Start with the freshest, coldest milk & frothing pitcher as possible. This will give you more time for stretching. Purge the steam wand to remove any water and ensure proper temp. Make sure the thermometer is in a readable position. Plunge the steam wand deep into the milk to avoid blowing milk out as you open the steam wand.

Open your steam valve fully (don’t wimp around or you’ll not have enough steam pressure to stretch)

Immediately pull the steam wand back to the top so that just the tip is submerged around “½ inch into the milk. Be careful not to let the tip come out of the milk or you will blow hot milk out of the pitcher.

At the same time, move the tip to the side or off center of the frothing pitcher, but not touching it. This should cause your milk to start rotating within the pitcher. This helps create the thick froth that you are looking for and reduces the amount of large bubbles introduced into the milk.

You should hear a slight hissing sound, NOT a high pitch screaming. This indicates that some air is being drawn into the milk properly.

You MUST monitor this process during the stretching period of frothing because you are dealing with limited time and temp.

Continue to drop or lower the pitcher as the milk expands to keep the tip position just below the surface of the milk around “½ inch.

Be careful to not let the steam tip come out of the milk. This will create “dish soap” style bubbles and add too much air.

LARGE BUBBLES ARE BAD. Not only are they ugly to see, but they prevent the coffee flavor from saturating your taste buds.

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“ ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” (Bad Froth) (Good Froth)
Keep this method going until your milk has reached around 100 degrees. The sugars and proteins in milk will only respond up to 100 degrees. If you leave the steam tip at the “½ deep position beyond this temp, you will stop producing the desired small, thick cream type bubbles and will create the larger tasteless ones and potentially burn or scorch your milk. This is why I suggest using a thermometer during frothing. Trying to use the “feel” method is too risky.

After reaching this temp, submerge the steam wand to the bottom of the frothing pitcher (not touching the bottom) to continue heating the milk to the desired temp (usually around 140-160 degrees).

Several experts suggest moving the plunged steam wand to one side to continue a rotation or swirling of the milk. This helps to break up any large bubbles and continues to mix and thicken the milk.

Be careful not to over heat the milk. A good stopping temp is around 150 degrees. After you turn off the steam, the milk temp will continue to rise another 10-15 degrees.

After turning off your steam, set the frothing pitcher on the counter.

At this point, I suggest you take the time to purge and wipe of your steam wand.

After you’ve taken care of the steam wand, go back to your frothed milk and tap the pitcher slightly on the counter a few times. This will break down any air bubbles or pockets that may remain in the milk.

After tapping, you should swirl your pitcher causing the milk to rotate within. This will again take care of any bubbles and mix and thicken your milk, making it more desirable to the eye as well as the mouth.

At some point during the frothing phase of your drink preperation, you will want to extract (or brew) your espresso shot. I recommend having your tamped coffee and porta filter in place ready to extract before you start to froth. When you reach the 100 degee mark of frothing, start the extraction of your espresso so that both the espresso and milk should be complete at the same time. If you extract your espresso too soon before your milk is done, you will lose precious temp and flavor as the espresso cools. Some barista’s will finish the milk process and” then proceed to extract the espresso. This method is acceptable because your milk will not cool down any during this time elapse. The point is, mainting a consistant temp for both the milk and espresso is crucial to the taste and look of the finished product.

Now you’re ready for the pour. At this point I like to pour my milk into the cup by starting at the cup brim and slowing raising my pitcher causing a “high pour”. I believe that this method not only looks good, but it creates a rotating movement of the espresso and milk, blending your drink that NO spoon need ever touch. Why destroy all your beautiful crema with a spoon?

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Some additional tips;
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-” ” ” ” ” ” ” ”  I like to push my finished drink across the counter to the customer before a lid is put on to show them how beautiful the drink looks. Don’t be afraid to be prideful of your creativity.

-” ” ” ” ” ” ” ”  Re-steamed milk will not respond to this technique because you must start with fresh, cold milk to have the proper time to stretch. You can not re-stretch steamed milk. Re-steamed milk will not be as sweet tasting or have the thick, silky texture as fresh milk will have. You will serve a very inconsistent product if you are constantly re-steaming milk. Your customers will notice the difference.

-” ” ” ” ” ” ” ”  To avoid this practice and the wasting of milk, I suggest that you determine the proper amount of milk needed (remember that milk will expand when frothed) for each drink and make a mark on all of your steaming pitchers for the various size drinks to be made. This will allow the barista to froth the right amount for the individual drink they are to make. This is also crucial for the purpose of having the right amount of milk-to-heat ratio for achieving the proper frothing action within your pitcher.

-” ” ” ” ” ” ” ”  Improperly frothed milk will tend to taste hot, boiled, burnt, flat, or just plain boring leaving your customer with an unpleasant experience and bad representation of a good frothed milk based drink.

-” ” ” ” ” ” ” ”  If properly frothed, you should always have enough frothed milk to create either a Latte or Cappuccino drink with out changing your technique.

-” ” ” ” ” ” ” ”  You will NOT be able to do Latte Art with out properly frothed milk.

-” ” ” ” ” ” ” ”  If keeping your steam pitchers cold is an issue, try getting more in stock, or run them under cold water if you need to use them immediately again.

As with so many of life’s little pleasures, there is no absolute right and wrong method of doing things. Rather there are techniques for achieving what you like. These techniques are merely a reflection of collected information from some of the industries experts. They have however stood the test of time. Don’t be afraid to test these techniques out on your customers. Ask if they can tell the difference. I think you will be pleasantly pleased with their answers!

Now it’s your turn. Get back to the bar and froth some milk. Next thing you know, you will be sending little heart topped drinks across the counter!

May your milk be heavenly!

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