How to make latte at home: recipes and tips

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Latte was born in Italy. When people with the whole family went to the candy store and ordered coffee there, the children wanted the same thing as the adults. Then the baristas came up with a drink that had a lot of milk and just a little bit of espresso.

Italians liked this delicacy with a delicate foam so much that now it is customary to serve latte for breakfast for both children and adults. The name of the drink is translated simply - "milk".

Its composition is elementary. The drink consists of one part of espresso and three parts of milk. But how do you mix these two ingredients? After all, we want to get a latte cocktail, not a regular coffee with milk.

When we see how a professional barista prepares a drink, it seems to us that he is performing some kind of tricky trick. A tall, soft head of milk foam tops the dark beige liquid.

But even if you are not a master of latte art (that is, the art of drawing patterns in a cup), you can make a cocktail that tastes just as goodprofessional. In this article, we will show you how to make a latte at home without a coffee machine.

We will also accompany each step of the recipe with photos. It is important to know some cooking tricks so that the foam remains high and fluffy. And we will reveal them to you.

What are coffee drinks with milk

Before we make latte at home, let's get to know his relatives. The Italian drink is just one type in a large family of similar cocktails. Viennese coffee, French Café au lait, cappuccino, mochaccino - this is not a complete list of what can be prepared with Arabica and milk (or cream) on hand.

The hero of our article also has a very close relative - latte macchiato. The composition and proportions of the ingredients remain identical. Macchiato differs from a simple latte only in that in it coffee is added to milk. This allows you to create a three-layer cocktail.

Espresso is placed exactly between heavy milk and light foam. Therefore, latte macchiato is served in a tall transparent glass with a “ring” handle. So a person can enjoy not only the taste, but also the appearance of the drink.

Lattes are also most often served in an Irish glass, but in Italy they are served in large coffee cups. The difference between this drink and cappuccino is that the latter has a lower and denser foam. It is served in small cups.

How to make latte at home. Step One

First, let's make some coffee. There is only one culinary trick -no chemical mixtures, even if the package says that the instant granules will give the taste of natural Arabica.

Real coffee has a certain density, which is important when making cocktails. Italians use a melange of Arabica and Robusta. So the drink will come out stronger and more aromatic.

We need to make espresso. If there is no coffee machine, this can be done in a regular cezve.

1. We take a teaspoon with a slide of coffee of the finest grinding, pour into a cezve.
2. Pour half a glass (100 milliliters) of cold water.
3. Put the cezve on a small fire. Do not boil, but only bring to a state of rapidly rising foam.
4. Sweet lovers who are used to preparing espresso with sugar should take into account that such a drink is heavier. If you're making a latte, or even more so a macchiato, don't put the white powder in your coffee. It can be added to an already prepared cocktail.

Milk requirements

Now strain the coffee. This is necessary not only to leave the thick outside the cup. The main thing is to know exactly how much espresso we got. If the coffee came out 50 milliliters, you need to take 150 ml of milk.

In a cafe, the process of making a latte looks like this. The barista passes hot milk through the cappuccino machine (a special nozzle on the coffee machine), which is immediately whipped into a strong foam. He pours it into a stainless pitcher mug. The bartender has already added warm milk.

Hot foam does not mix with liquid due to differentdensity. The barista then sews the contents of the pitcher into the coffee cup. By the way, in Italy it is customary to make latte based on mocha. North of the Alps, the custom of preparing this coffee cocktail with espresso originated.

How do you make a latte at home with no cappuccinatore or pitcher on hand? You should take a certain type of milk. It must be a whole farm product.

Don't even try to froth skimmed, lactose-free or shelf-stable milk. Only fresh and unstrained (whole) will give a stable and high foam.

Step two

This cocktail differs from a simple coffee with milk with a high and gentle head of foam. You can draw on it or just sprinkle it with grated chocolate, cinnamon or brown sugar.

So, let's reveal the secret of how to make foam latte at home. Pour the milk into a saucepan and heat it up. We do not bring to a boil. It will be enough if the milk is heated to 60 degrees.

This is the temperature when the finger is hot, but contact with the liquid does not burn. Take the milk off the stove and whisk it quickly. All improvised means will do: mixer, submersible blender, whisk.

You can pour hot milk into a French press and actively work with the rod, moving it up and down. It has been noticed that foam appears faster in an aluminum container.

You will see that the milk will separate into two layers. From below there will be a dense creamy liquid, and from above - a white high foam.

Step three

We are approachingthe final step on how to make a latte at home. We take a transparent Irish glass and pour coffee into it. Add milk in a thin stream. Be careful not to damage the foam!

Some baristas advise pouring milk down the side of the glass. So both liquids almost do not mix. But you can pour milk right in the center of the glass, getting beautiful coffee stains.

Lighter foam will lie on top of the cocktail. If she lingered in a saucepan, we shift it with a spoon into a glass.

This foam is now free to decorate at will with cinnamon, grated chocolate, cane sugar. If you are used to drinking coffee syrups, you should exclude those containing citrus juice in lattes. After all, he will immediately ferment the milk.

Latte macchiato

The name of the cocktail is translated from Italian as "spot". Indeed, in this drink, black coffee is located exactly between two layers of milk.

Let's look at how to make a latte macchiato at home. The first two steps are no different from the previous recipe. We make coffee. Heat up and whisk milk. But the third stage is completely different.

1. Pour milk into an Irish glass.
2. Coffee is placed in a container with a very narrow spout.
3. Carefully, along the wall of the glass, pour the espresso into the glass with milk.

If you act carefully, the coffee will sit above the denser milk, but under the gentle creamy foam. You can make the drink four layers by pouring an even heavier syrup into the bottom of the glass.

How to make chai latte at home

When the coffee cocktail became popular all over the world, its English counterpart appeared. In Great Britain (as well as its former provinces) it has long been customary to drink tea with milk. We have already talked about how to make coffee latte at home. Now it's time to pay a little attention to tea. For this cocktail, you can use both black and green varieties. The recipe is:

1. In a small saucepan, mix your favorite spices (cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and, of course, ginger).
2. Heat the spices and pour 200 milliliters of cold water. Bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for 7 minutes.
3. Pour tea - 2 spoons. Let's wait a few more minutes.
4. Let's take it off the fire, let it brew.
5. Heat up to 60 degrees 200 milliliters of milk. Whip it up.
6. Mugs fill two-thirds with tea. Let's add some milk.