Anniversary and wife wants espresso/latte machine

[908/930]

Originally Posted by berettafan

Is anyone able to explain to me why i sometimes get thinner drinks than others? Really prefer the thicker syrupy consistency but can't figure out why i sometimes miss. is the milk a bigger factor than the brew on this? Doing about 32g coffee and maybe 3oz milk (pre steam).

32g is a good shot. You are likely doing something different. I would say yes the thickness is from how the milk froths, are you always using same milk type and brand, give it a quick shake prior to pouring? Do you purge the water out of the wand? Consistent amount of air in during frothing keeping the wand just below surface and not over heating? Also try to make smaller bubbles in the foam bringing in too much air after the milk is warmed up does not work well.

[jyl]

Originally Posted by berettafan

Is anyone able to explain to me why i sometimes get thinner drinks than others? Really prefer the thicker syrupy consistency but can't figure out why i sometimes miss. is the milk a bigger factor than the brew on this? Doing about 32g coffee and maybe 3oz milk (pre steam).

The milk will be the difference between a “thick” (syrupy) and a “thin” (watery) milk drink.

How to get “thick”:
- blow lots and lots of air into the milk before you sink the wand deep into the jug and start rolling the milk to incorporate the bubbles into micro-foam
- use half and half as you discovered (in theory, fat reduces milk’s ability to hold micro-foam - maybe, but still the heavier the milk the thicker the steamed milk, I find)

How to get “thin”
- overheat the milk, when it gets too hot the micro-foam breaks down, and you can hear the wand “screaming” at the bottom of the jug, while normally the wand is pretty quiet down there, the noise muffled by the micro-foam

So milk as it’s being steamed gets thick as air gets incorporated, reaches peak thickness, then it thins out as it overheats.

I try to get sort of a medium thickness. Too thick and the milk doesn’t flow smoothly into the coffee surface, it just kind of blobs there, cappucino-like.

Also, after you steam the milk, it starts reorganizing itself into density gradients in the jug, with the lower density micro-foam moving up and the higher density liquid milk staying down. Okay, maybe it means you didn’t make “really” uniform micro-foam, but anyway it happens.

Swirling the milk in the jug before you pour helps mix up the density layers. Pouring the milk into a second jug really mixes it up. If the second jug is larger, it is easier to pour from too. If you are steaming a lot of milk at once, like for multiple lattes, pouring from jug to jug really helps.

[berettafan]

Thank you guys! I had been using 2% with a small bit of half and half to get a creamy flavor. Last nights was my first try with just whole milk. I’ll play with the steam timing.

Yes I do purge the wand prior. On a separate note I’ve been trying different brands of roasted beans with varying success. Got some lavazza super cream as it seems popular and can’t really get away from sour with it. My wife bought a bag of cast iron roasted beans from a guy in our neighborhood and those have proven to be pretty good. Never a sour note at least.

[greglepore]

Milk drinks are for sissies.
That said, good advice above-I'd just add that I keep the pitcher in the freezer, which allows for more air to be incorporated before the milk gets really hot.

[908/930]

Berettafan, One other thing, you said about 3oz milk? Will your frothing pitcher hold more, if so try about 5oz, should help lengthen the process time a little.

[berettafan]

I think it's a 14 or 16oz so holds plenty. Was trying not to be wasteful but i guess a couple ounces of milk into the sink isn't gonna break the budget.

[jyl]

Originally Posted by berettafan

I think it's a 14 or 16oz so holds plenty. Was trying not to be wasteful but i guess a couple ounces of milk into the sink isn't gonna break the budget.

Conventional wisdom is for the milk to reach the bottom of the pitcher spout (which is about halfway up the pitcher) before you start steaming. If there is too little milk for the pitcher size, then the milk is shallow, which makes steaming a little trickier. I guess it would be best to learn to steam any amount of milk, large or small, in the same pitcher, since then you only need one pitcher size and if you standardized on a larger pitcher there is lots of room to swirl the steamed and expanded milk and pouring is also easier. I confess I have not learned that, so have multiple pitchers for streaming different amounts of milk.

[berettafan]

ordering an 8oz pitcher.

nothing is simple with me it seems.

[908/930]

I think you will have better consistency with the 8oz. Surprised that you could make the 14oz one work at all with small amounts.

[72doug2,2S]

Just replaced one with a **** steal 90% off, came to $25.00 free shipping. Unreal

[pwd72s]

Make her work for it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY5Pt957RhE&ab_channel=Wacaco-PortableEspressoMachines

[berettafan]

I'm back baby!

Turns out i was following the youtube experts a bit too literally, i just needed to keep doing it like i had been before watching them! The 8oz mug came in and has helped with consistency. trying to do what the youtube guys said was getting me screeching so i adjusted till i got the tsch tsch tsch sound and next thing you know i'm getting a nice thick result. What i did find in the videos that helped was the statement that the 'tsch tsch tsch' phase is how you set the amount of foam you get. So shorter on that part for less, longer for more. Then you dip it a little further to get the milk to temp AND break the larger foam into smaller foam. That last part seems key as well. I got lost on the parts where the guys were saying 'spout has to contact the wand, go in this far, tilt this far' etc etc. That part was not helpful.

I don't know what 32g of espresso and 2-3oz of steamed milk is called but i'm getting pretty damned good at making it.

oh and for the wife this thing has been a hit-

https://baranbakery.com/tiramisu-latte/

[jyl]

Great!

University of Youtube is good but "work experience" complements "book learning" :-)

This reminds me, proper latte cups also help. My wife is always asking me to make her lattes in standard coffee mugs (straight sided and deep) and it is harder to pour into those. Baristas can pour into tall cups but they get way more practice than us.