Coffee Latte Art

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Latte Art aka Coffee Art is the amazing artistic expression of creating images in the crema and chocolate on top of a latte. Latte art is considered both a gustatory delight and an artistic vision of foamy futility. Cappuccino makes us realise that beauty and perfection can only last as long as bubbles contain air. Here are some of the more amazing examples.

Latte art is a method of preparing coffee created by pouring steamed milk into a shot of espresso and resulting in a pattern or design on the surface of the resulting latte. It can also be created or embellished by simply “drawing” in the top layer of foam. Latte art is particularly difficult to create consistently, due to the demanding conditions required of both the espresso shot and milk. This, in turn, is limited by the experience of the barista and quality of the espresso machine. The pour itself, then, becomes the last challenge for the latte artist.

The physics behind Latte Art is actually quite simply. Latte art is a mixture of two colloids: the crema, which is an emulsion (liquid-in-liquid) of coffee oil and brewed coffee (water); and the microfoam, which is a foam (air-in-liquid) of air in milk. (Milk itself is an emulsion of butterfat in water, while coffee is a solution of coffee solids in water.) Neither of these colloids are stable – crema dissipates from espresso, while microfoam separates into drier foam and (liquid) milk – both degrading significantly on the order of minutes, and thus latte art lasts only briefly.

You can learn more about Latte Art at http://www.ratemyrosetta.com/

Even Pokemon have spread to the world of coffee with this Pikachu Latte Art.