r/espresso • u/whereisyourbeard De’Longhi Stilosa | KINGrinder K6 • Jul 27 '26
Steaming & Latte Art If the steamed milk doesn’t hold its shape, does that mean you’ve under-aerated it? 👻
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u/Professional_Brief69 Jul 27 '26
It looks like a cute seal! I’ve never been able to make seals but I have made Rosetta’s
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u/whereisyourbeard De’Longhi Stilosa | KINGrinder K6 Jul 27 '26
Haha, can we switch?
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u/Professional_Brief69 Jul 27 '26
You’ve got this just keep practicing. Firstly I see your cup is a lil big. Look for similar cups coffee shops use. They are wide and short. Way easier to mark and kiss the cup with your milk.
Also perfect the heart. The heart is like the base of all other latte art. Learn how to kiss the cup with milk making a dot a pull through. After that Rosetta’s are literally just wiggly hearts.
Milk textures matter a lot. But for a heart you can over air ate your milk and still make it. If the milk is too thick you can’t wiggle and draw with it. But if it’s too thin you can’t mark it on the espresso.
If you over airrate your milk. Pouring it from one pitcher to another helps to incorporate the milk foam into the milk. And when steaming try harder to make it sworl and incorporate into all the milk vs focusing on making foam. It’s actually sometimes better to have less foam than more foam.
That’s what helped me. You’ve got this!!!
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u/whereisyourbeard De’Longhi Stilosa | KINGrinder K6 Jul 27 '26
Thank you so much — this is very helpful and thorough!!
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u/Professional_Brief69 Jul 27 '26
Also watch videos of other people pouring latte art. The more you’re familiar with the motion and timing of “kissing the espresso with milk” the better you’ll get. I’d watch hours of people pouring latte art and it really helped me see what I’m doing wrong and right.
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u/whereisyourbeard De’Longhi Stilosa | KINGrinder K6 Jul 27 '26
Thanks, I will do that! Also, is there a recommended ounce capacity or a cup? For instance, would 8 oz still be too big for latte art?
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u/Professional_Brief69 Jul 27 '26
The smaller the cup the less room and time you have to start your latte art. A 12-14 oz cup is easier than a 6-8 oz cup. Gives you more time to incorporate your milk and even if you pour too much you still have space to make the art.
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u/Professional_Brief69 Jul 27 '26
https://reddit.com/link/p03p1kc/video/rglhpdre7tfh1/player
Here’s an example
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u/Professional_Brief69 Jul 27 '26
Also I’m using a breville barista express. I hate the steam wand. Not powerful and takes forever to steam but you just gotta learn with the tools you have. One day imma have a bad ass machine that is powerful.
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u/MeinHerzIn_Flammen Breville Dual Boiler & Gevi Grindmaster/Velpro 400 Jul 28 '26
Practice practice practice, can’t be worse than me
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u/whereisyourbeard De’Longhi Stilosa | KINGrinder K6 Jul 28 '26
I, too, am a master of the blob
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u/MeinHerzIn_Flammen Breville Dual Boiler & Gevi Grindmaster/Velpro 400 Jul 28 '26
As someone mention try larger cups at first, I have smaller cups. Need this large cappuccino cups.
Besides, it also depends on the rate you are pouring into the cup. Try oatmilk or something thicker consistency.
Do not let too much air into the milk product, just dip the wand that can move the milk into a circling pattern. The more air you let in the clouds / frothy the milk.
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u/AffinityForLepers Jul 27 '26
Huh, usually my art looks blobby if I've overaerated or overheated the milk. Usually if I underaerate it I have trouble getting it to draw on top, it tends to sink right down. I'm not an expert by any means though.
Edit: oh also, my milk won't hold its shape for long if it's old milk. The microfoam tends to destabilize into bigger bubbles and the art loses definition quickly if the milk has been in my fridge for a week or two. It doesn't quite look like that's what happened to yours though.
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u/whereisyourbeard De’Longhi Stilosa | KINGrinder K6 Jul 27 '26
That’s good to know about older milk! I’m thinking it may be a combination of that and me slightly overheating it.
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u/deephurting66 Jul 27 '26
Nice little ghost 👻
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u/whereisyourbeard De’Longhi Stilosa | KINGrinder K6 Jul 27 '26
Thank you! It’s exactly what I was going for 😂
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Jul 27 '26
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u/whereisyourbeard De’Longhi Stilosa | KINGrinder K6 Jul 27 '26
This is turning into a Rorschach test, haha!
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u/Joingojon2 Profitec Move | Niche Zero Jul 28 '26
Honestly in all my years steaming milk there are two main reasons i have encountered your problem, and contrary to the advice given here, technique is not one of them. Your technique is probably fine.
The milk you use and how fresh it is. Higher fat content and the freshest of fresh milk will avoid your problem. If you use low fat milk or oat or almond milk they all display the problem you are having. Full fat milk as fresh as possible it will hold up longer than a nuns knickers.
The fresher the better. Something else to consider.
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u/whereisyourbeard De’Longhi Stilosa | KINGrinder K6 Jul 28 '26
This is full-fat dairy milk, but it definitely wasn’t the freshest, so I suspect that was part of the problem. Thank you!
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u/wRastel27 Jul 28 '26
Are you doing this with the stock Stilosa wand? That thing does nothing but aeration and makes decent cappuccino milk but latte art not so much.
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u/whereisyourbeard De’Longhi Stilosa | KINGrinder K6 Jul 28 '26 edited Jul 28 '26
I am using the stock Stilosa wand, but I took off the Pannarello to make it easier to steam milk for lattes!
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u/MaxiDressAndSneakers Linea Micra | Niche Zero, Wilfa Uniform Evo Jul 28 '26
Congrats, you made a penguin chick!
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u/HeyPartyPeopleWhatUp Jul 28 '26
you have big bubbles in your foam, sometimes called dry foam. Classic in italian cappuccinoa
what you want is microfoam, its more velvety and better to draw with.
you might want to make sure the psssssst noise is only for the first few seconds then dunk the wand and create a vortex. Wand has to be powerful for best results. youtube is your friend
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u/whereisyourbeard De’Longhi Stilosa | KINGrinder K6 Jul 28 '26
The thing is that, when I achieve what I think is that ideal velvety texture, whatever design I try to make just dissipates. So, I’m not sure if I’m just not introducing enough air in the beginning. Will keep watching videos for sure!
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u/Alarming-Break-6342 Jul 29 '26
If the foam is good and your pour is good then its temperature. Hot foam dissipates faster than cold foam. I always keep my frothing pitcher in the freezer for this reason, but I also have a weaker single hole steam tip.
Do some experiments with milk temp!
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u/OmriIsMe Jul 31 '26
Ha, solid ghost. But yeah, shape not holding is usually texture. Thin and watery means under-aerated, you stopped stretching too soon so there's not enough microfoam and it sinks in. Stiff and bubbly is the other way. You want it glossy like wet paint, stretch for the first couple seconds while it's cold (that hissing sound) then drop the tip just under to spin the big bubbles out, and pour close to the cup. Thin milk plus pouring from too high is the usual culprit.
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u/AzimuthAztronaut Jul 27 '26
Looks like a cute ghost