Coffee Experiment with Latte Art

We love our coffees with beautiful latte art. It also allows barista to showcase their breathtaking skills to craft and curate our Cortados, Flat Whites, Cappuccinos & Lattes.

Purpose of the experiment

To understand the relevance of latte art for the taste of the milk-based espresso drinks

Hypothesis

Latte art would improve the flavor of the milk-based espresso coffee

Materials

• Coffee Beans & Whole Milk

• Espresso Machine & Coffee-beans grinder

• Milk Pitcher

• 3 cups of equal size

• Skilled Barista

• Same or different Barista or any coffee enthusiast with non-biased objective on latte art :)

Procedure

• Pull Double-shot Espresso (36gm) & split it 3-ways

• Steam Whole Milk (210ml) for (3) Cortado-size drinks

• Split the milk with equal foam in 3-parts

• Pour the first with latte art

• Pour the second straight into the cup

• Pour the third with latte art & mix

• Blind taste the three drinks & record observations

End Result Analysis

Here are some observations,

1. Cortado with latte art mixed with a spoon tasted more rounded with good coffee flavor and balance of sweetness offered by the milk.

2. Cortado with milk poured straight through without any art tasted the sweetest due to our wholesome Cow’s milk delivered from a dairy in Surrey and a skilled barista who can texture milk properly for different milk based coffees. However it had the weakest flavor of the coffee in the first sip.

3. Cortado with latte art created a perception that it will taste great and it didn’t disappoint as it had immense coffee flavor mixed with sweetness of the milk.

   TAKEAWAYs

   Cortado with latte art mixed with a spoon tasted fine as it had flavors coming from both the espresso and well textured milk. There was nothing special as all the flavors were very muted compared to what we began to taste with the other two cups of Cortados.

   The surprising outcome was the straight pour Cortado with no latte art. We never expected it to taste anything good but it was surprising that it tasted very sweet probably due to the proper texturing of the milk. However it had the weakest coffee flavor and only when it was mixed with a spoon, the Cortado began to taste like a good cup of coffee with both sweetness from the milk and coffee-ness from the espresso

   Being a coffee lover, we expected the most from the cup with non-disturbed latte art. It definitely gave the instant gratification of the coffee flavor from the first sip with perfect harmony of sweetness, bitterness and acidity. But was it the best cup? We encourage other baristas to do their own experiment and share their experience to keep making wonderful coffees for our awesome coffee lovers.