I recently got hired at a local cafe, and I'm currently being trained on a La Marzocco Strada. Although I have no experience with a commercial machine, I've been making coffee on my Rancilio Silvia at home for about two years now. So I've grown really accustomed to the microfoam made on the Silvia.
I don't really know what I'm doing wrong with the Strada, 'cause the microfoam isn't as predictable when it reacts with the espresso.
For example, with the microfoam from my Silvia, I usually just pour high at the beginning, and as soon as I drop down the pitcher to start the latte art, the foam will sprawl out on the surface. This is very predictable for me, and it's consistent with all of my pours with foam from the Silvia.
In contrast with the Strada, the foam does not sprawl out or radiate outward at the speed I want it to... in fact, it's more like quicksand. I don't know if this attributable to the fact that I'm working with fresher crema on the LM or what...
It's really frustrating 'cause I'm used to doing some nifty stuff with a drastically inferior machine like the Silvia, yet on the Strada, it's like I'm learning how to do latte art all over again. If anything, I thought a commercial machine would make my life that much easier. Boy has this experience been humbling.
With the Silvia, I don't have to stretch much, but on the Strada, it seems like I have to stretch at least twice as long to get latte art foam. Yet when I go to pour, it comes out so thick, that I don't get the nice, glossy slender/hollow leaves on my rosetta. I want a lot of definition in my latte art, and I just keep getting mediocre, blurry rosettas.
Here's a video of my latte art at home on the Rancilio Silvia... notice the foam shoots out as soon as I get near the surface to start the art.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey8yutWdcuQ&list=UU19h3tn6I-3Vf1veeCLXViw&index=1&feature=plcp
Preferably I'd like to get consistency these guys are working with... it seems close to what I'm getting at home, in that the milk starts radiating out as soon as the pitcher spout nears the surface. But their microfoam is superior, 'cause it has thinner leaves for more definition.
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