How to make latte at home

wanted to practice your Latte art skills during CMCO?

wanted to enjoy big coffee chain’s Latte while working from home?

here’s how you make yourself a nice cup of latte without ordering food delivery or drive-thru

Lattes are one of the best-known coffee beverages and are nearly always available on every cafe menu. Just a quick introduction, a good latte consists of milk foam, steamed milk and espresso.

with the same ingredients, it also makes cappuccino, cafe au lait, flat white, macchiato and so on.

Quick guide

Prepare an espresso (single or double) directly into a latte glass
1/3 fill your milk jug — whole milk is recommended
Purge your steam arm prior to attempting to steam your milk
Foam your milk prior to brewing your espresso, paying attention to creating a nice smooth micro foam
After foaming/frothing your milk, gently tap the jug or bump on a table to remove any unwanted large air bubbles
Begin pouring the frothed milk to your espresso from a relatively high position
Continue to pour whilst lowering the milk and steepening your pouring angle
Ensure a small amount of stiff milk foam sits on top after pouring
Enjoy your Latte!

With a latte, it is important not to introduce too much milk foam to the drink. Instead, you should be aiming for a nice, thin layer of foam to top off the latte.

First, fill your filter basket with the correct level of coffee and set your espresso to brew into your latte glass. Whilst this is happening and the machine is working its magic, you should start to heat the milk.

Given that milk makes up about 2/3rds of a latte, it is vital to get this stage right.

Top tip: If you’re starting out, don’t be afraid to split the espresso making and milk frothing into two separate tasks.

Just as you would when creating a cappuccino and other specialty beverages, we suggest only 1/3 filling your milk jug.

This is because there needs to be enough space in the container for the milk to expand but, on the other hand, there needs to be enough present to achieve the required foaming motion.

Give the steam arm a quick purge and then place the arm just underneath the surface of the milk in order to introduce a little bit of air into the liquid.

After a few short, sharp ‘chirps’, raise the milk jug an inch or so and position the steam arm to the side which should initiate a nice swirling motion as the milk begins to evolve. Before the milk gets too hot and begins to lose its taste, turn off the steam arm and prepare to pour.

Pour the milk into your glass. Initially, start from a relatively high position – about an inch or two above the glass – and then gradually work your way down until the jug is almost resting on the glass, steepening the angle of the jug as you do so.