Latte art

To me, latte art is stupid. Mostly because I am completely inept at it. For those who are scratching their head, latte art is that wiggly pattern that comes on your fancy cafe coffee (as opposed to chocolate dust on a cappuccino). It relies on perfectly steamed milk, in both quantity and texture. Then comes the pour. I'm not so bad at the milk steaming - these days I rarely spill it everywhere. It's the pour that gets me. Too fast, too slow, too much wrist - it's a complicated business. I also have no patience for the past time which means I'll never get better. Someone who values the art highly and loves to practice is Timon. And he's pretty damn good. I hear all these tales of double rosettas and hearts and whatever else you can create with crema and foam. I also get to see them because whenever he's up at my store he's wasting my milk on lattes (he also takes photos if for some reason I miss one). I think I possess just the right amount of disdain for something cool that I am rubbish at.

There are a whole lot of people that take latte art seriously. For that matter there are people who compete at National Barista competitions. Last Thursday night Timon and I found ourselves in the East Village, coming off a round of dumplings, looking for entertainment. Timon's friend and workmate Tim texted that there was a latte art comp going down near Union Square - and that he'd be competing. So off we went to Joe's, a regular coffee shop that had closed down for the event. There were free beers and lots of people and a big screen on the wall so we could all see what was going on. The draw was big and many would play off the the championship. The prize? A grinder. And some coffee I think. I could see that Timon was itching to sign up but ultimately found the crowd a little too intimidating. Tim's friend was first up and he went down in a great ball of flame. Tim's other friend went up (he's a National competitor) and trounced his opponent. Finally, Tim's go. The shot was prepared and ready, the milk was steamed. And.......fail. He knew it was over before it began.

That excitement was about all I could bear and I left the boys to their commiserations and beer. I hear the competition was tight and that Tim's other friend dropped out in the penultimate round. It was a fairly ridiculous experience, but all in the name of charity. I can't begrudge that.

Here is a pic of Timon's best efforts: