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Permalink Reply by Phil Roberts on May 5, 2012 at 6:01am

I'm not quite sure there is a consensus on a standard for the industry, butaybe I'm wrong:) we usually adjust temp for each drink that we make, smaller drinks being the coolest, larger drinks being warmer. Here's what that looks like:

Macchiato: 130, it's a small drink, meant to be drank rather quickly. If you steam it too hot, it can have a very negative effect on the espresso.
Cappuccino (5oz): 140, again, small drink, too hot ruins the experience.
Latte (12&16oz): 150-160, it can handle warmer temps and needs to stay warm longer.

If a customer asks for extra hot in a ceramic, we just preheat the hell out of the cup, so they practically burn themselves on the lip (not really, but you get the idea) this gives them the illusion of x hot without compromising the quality of the drink.

Of course that's just how we do it, now you'll see all the other options out there;)

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Permalink Reply by Emily Wiersma on May 5, 2012 at 6:29am

We do 120˚ for kids drinks

140 for our traditional Italian Capp. (6 oz drink)

150-160 for normal lattes/flavored lattes, etc.

170 is extra hot. If they want it hotter, we kindly let them know that if we go hotter it will scald.

That's our norms. Good luck!

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Permalink Reply by lance battenfield on July 16, 2012 at 10:53am

I think 150 would be the standard. At 150 the milk naturally releases sugars making you milk slightly sweeter than it started. I always go to 150 unless its kids temp or someone tells me to go hotter.

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Permalink Reply by Evan Joseph-Pinero on August 1, 2012 at 9:09pm

At the shop which I work, we steam to 130-135 for a macchiato, 140-145 for everything else, as milk starts to noticeably lose sweetness at and after that point.

(The owner would tell you we steam everything 135-140, but in practice it varies based on drink size)

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Permalink Reply by Brady on August 2, 2012 at 3:45am

+1

I think its also worth mentioning that you should pair this with a regular thermometer calibration program. If your baristas steam without thermometers, calibrate them regularly as well.

Emily Wiersma said:

We do 120˚ for kids drinks

140 for our traditional Italian Capp. (6 oz drink)

150-160 for normal lattes/flavored lattes, etc.

170 is extra hot. If they want it hotter, we kindly let them know that if we go hotter it will scald.

That's our norms. Good luck!

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