Latte Art "Ghosting"
So here is a problem that I run into on most of my pours . . . ghosting. It's when, right before the white white starts to show up, the espresso/milk starts to lighten up significantly. Then as I continue the pour, this "ghosting" effects my contrast on the rest of the pour and it comes out as a much lighter cup than I would like.
How do you get the crazy awesome contrast I see in some videos and Millrock finalists? I know this doesn't significantly effect the flavor, aside from getting a more subdued flavor from the espresso when you sip the drinks. Bottom line, how do I improve my contrast? I just want the drink to be pretty!!
How do you get the crazy awesome contrast I see in some videos and Millrock finalists? I know this doesn't significantly effect the flavor, aside from getting a more subdued flavor from the espresso when you sip the drinks. Bottom line, how do I improve my contrast? I just want the drink to be pretty!!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Paul Yates on
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What brand and fat-content milk do you tend to use?
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Permalink Reply by Lorenzo Perkins on
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We use oak farms whole milk, 4% I bekieve is the fat content, as our default milk. What kind of difference would that make? I am intrigued. You can view my profile pictures to see what I am ending up with.
Paul Yates said:What brand and fat-content milk do you tend to use?
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Permalink Reply by The Coffee Institute on
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Hi Lorenzo,
I would pour as normal but stop the pour early right before you would see the normal "Ghosting". Back the pitcher up one inch and then pour again,close to the surface while pushing forward. This "double" push motion allows the milk you pour in the beginning to form a barrier between the milk you pour a second later...this is why Tulips often do not show any "ghosting"...but have crisp whit borders.
Timing is key as you will need to do this rather quickly in order to prevent your milk from drying up too much.
Hope that helps a bit.
-Chris Deferio
The Coffee Institute
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Permalink Reply by Jason Shipley on
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Assuming that you have good correctly textured milk, a problem I see in lots of baristas is that the change the speed of their poor. You get to a point where things are starting to develop and then you start obsessing about every little detail. You get to this point where you just have to stop thinking about it and trust your skills and just kind of watch it happen.
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Permalink Reply by Gabe Windham on
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Your milk has a whole lot to do with it. I use only organic milks and I try to be very attentive to the fat content. I tend to pour hearts better with a heavier milk. I pour rossetta's best with whole milk or 2% milk. Nonfat is my unicorn. I cant get it down most of the time but when I do get a good pour from nonfat milk, it comes out so crisp. Most of my experience was learned through a very arduous practice. Months and months and months of trial and error.
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Permalink Reply by Jason Haeger on
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One factor I haven't seen mentioned is the question of how much foam you are producing during frothing.
This is pretty obvious, but more foam means more chance of this "ghosting".
It can be avoided by controlling your pour, even with a lot of air in the mix. Just keep the dark surface floating upward without mixing.
Chris offered one solution of sorts. I slow the pour as the "canvas" starts to develop so the stream is smaller and "cuts through" without mixing as much.
But really, when push comes to shove, ghosting tastes better, or at least blending the milk and crema a bit more thoroughly. A bit sip of crema off the top isn't necessarily a pleasant experience for the customer.
While good presentation is a nice touch, it's secondary to taste. But I trust you are already fully aware of this, so consider this a general statement just so it's out there.
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Jason:
I agree. Mixing does taste better. All about balance of priorities. Heaviest emphasis is always taste!
Defenition is all about knowing how fast the milk dries.
-Chris Deferio
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The Coffee Institute said:Jason:
Defenition is all about knowing how fast the milk dries.
-Chris Deferio
What do you mean by milk drying? Is that the separation of milk and foam due to time, or is there another factor that I'm missing completely?
By the way, tried the stop and start method on bar this morning. It worked sometimes, mostly when i didn't stop the pour, but slowed it down moved back and sped up again.
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Permalink Reply by Jonathan Aldrich on
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had the pleasure of working with chris when i was visiting jon meadows in indiana back in march... i believe what he means by drying would be settling- taking about a second to let what is already in the cup to solidify so that it is not drowned out by the continuation of the pour.
Lorenzo Perkins said:The Coffee Institute said:Jason:
Defenition is all about knowing how fast the milk dries.
-Chris Deferio
What do you mean by milk drying? Is that the separation of milk and foam due to time, or is there another factor that I'm missing completely?
By the way, tried the stop and start method on bar this morning. It worked sometimes, mostly when i didn't stop the pour, but slowed it down moved back and sped up again.
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Permalink Reply by Jesse -D-> on
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I'm not 100% sure I know what you mean, but if I understand correctly, the location of your original white dot seems to have quite a bit to do with "ghosting". This is tied in with the push that Chris mentioned, if your dot appears to near to the edge of the cup then the flow of the milk will create chaos causing you to loose the beautiful contrast that you are looking for. I try to star my designs near to the "pticher side" of the cup and then use the pitcher to "push" the design where I need it to be.
Good luck, your profile pics look great, so I'm not sure what you are worried about ;-)
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Permalink Reply by Matthew Gasaway on
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Contrast can also be created using the darker extraction of the espresso.
Some achieve this by burning shots.
It compromises taste though. Don't do it for customers.
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if taste is not a concearn you can also pull a longer shot. Some really thick shots tend to fight back and push your milk in ways that are not art friendly.
Matthew Gasaway said:Contrast can also be created using the darker extraction of the espresso.
Some achieve this by burning shots.
It compromises taste though. Don't do it for customers.
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