What am I doing wrong

[marcstolk]

Re: What am I doing wrong

Have your pitcher "closer/\/deeper" in the cup as you wobble the pitcher.... and a more aggressive wobble is needed?

[Thundergod]

Re: What am I doing wrong

Are you shaking all the way to the sides?
Maybe longer leaves wont draw in so much.

[gregpullman]

Re: What am I doing wrong

I think Im going crazy... [smiley=sad.gif] [smiley=angry.gif] [smiley=cry.gif] [smiley=undecided.gif]

Beautiful crema and microfoam, did a slow shake, leaves appeared before my eyes, lifted jug to wipe, heart!

[Thundergod]

Re: What am I doing wrong

All those suggestions above sound like theyll get you there Greg.
Not that Im any expert.
But today Hazel made me texture the milk and practice a couple of rosettas for out coffee this afternoon when I dropped in to stock up on beans for my birthday gathering this weekend.

In a nutshell, she said all those things (and I still stuffed up the first one severely).

Heres her one:


Heres my second attempt:


An interesting observation by Hazel is that everyone has their own style and at competitions, they can tell which rosetta belongs to who.

She says she can see my style now after having seen some photos and todays attempts.

[gregpullman]

Re: What am I doing wrong

Thanks will give that a go on the next latte taker!

[pie_in_ear]

Re: What am I doing wrong

Greg, it looks as if you pulling through too fast. As you pull through try to lift and flatten the pitch of the jug so that you are pouring the thinner milk. Remember to keep the pour slow but steady, this will draw the leaves to the centre instead of the bottom.

[gregpullman]

Re: What am I doing wrong

Takeaway lattes are great for that sort of thing; no matter what sort of a mess you make a takeaway lid fixes all! Except Im not working until I get back from Adelaide late next week!

Dont like to waste good milk and coffee either, especially when the milks bought by the in laws! And I dont really want 6 lattes in one afternoon. Ah well I must learn patience.

[Wushoes]

Re: What am I doing wrong

Yep thinking about it thats what I reckon it is. Ive checked a few latte art vids and they all seem to lift the jug for the stem so its not thick foam making it, except when theyre doing a heart! Now I just need someone to want a latte! Kinda frustrating "Anyone want a coffee?" No thanks, nah, not for me. What am I supposed to do, make a latte and pour it down the sink???

Wushoes: Thanks for the diagram. Thats basically what Im doing so it reinforces its the way to go. Once I get this stem business sussed hopefully Ill be back in business. Thanks!

Yep why not? Or why not just drink it yourself? After all...it is practice....or you can do it at work.

[gregpullman]

Re: What am I doing wrong

What i do is lift the jug quite high and let only a tiny amount of milk going in, its like a 3mm in diameter(not that i know its that but guessing). What your probably doing is letting the foam make the stem, then the foam pushs everything downwards.

Yep thinking about it thats what I reckon it is. Ive checked a few latte art vids and they all seem to lift the jug for the stem so its not thick foam making it, except when theyre doing a heart! Now I just need someone to want a latte! Kinda frustrating "Anyone want a coffee?" No thanks, nah, not for me. What am I supposed to do, make a latte and pour it down the sink???

Wushoes: Thanks for the diagram. Thats basically what Im doing so it reinforces its the way to go. Once I get this stem business sussed hopefully Ill be back in business. Thanks!

[Wushoes]

Re: What am I doing wrong

Hi Greg,

I have made a little picture of what the stems should look like before the final draw-through.

If you can achieve this pattern before the draw-through, youre pretty much 99% there. The rosetta pattern then depends on how fast you pull through the stem. You want to do it quite slowly as to not skew your leaves as per your photo in this thread....making it look like a love heart.

That said, I never start jiggling/swaying the jug side to side until Ive almost filled the cup....I always start the rosetta towards the last 1/3rd of the pour.

I hope that helps you understand a little bit more of the mechanics

[Coffee_Kid]

Re: What am I doing wrong

What i do is lift the jug quite high and let only a tiny amount of milk going in, its like a 3mm in diameter(not that i know its that but guessing). What your probably doing is letting the foam make the stem, then the foam pushs everything downwards.

[gregpullman]

Re: What am I doing wrong

Thanks for the advice and for making me jealous!

I just had a go again and got the same results (actually tried twice and got same results both times). Im getting the leaves fine during the shake stage, they fan out nicely and it all looks good. But the final wipe for the stem just wrecks it; the top leaves get absorbed by the stem and the rest get sucked strongly towards it as though its an evil vortex! Final result is a leafy heart???

The only thing I wondered is if perhaps Im keeping the jug as close to the milk for the stem as I do for the leaves; I always drop the jug close to get the leaves to sit on the surface rather than falling through, so perhaps Im not elevating it once the leaves are done, meaning the stem sits on the surface too much. Just a thought?

Perhaps next time Ill video it so I can analyze it frame by frame and work out whats going on.

[Coffee_Kid]

Re: What am I doing wrong

Greg,

As Paul said before dont jiggle, try to get more of a side-side movement. If you have thick foam and pouring into a mug just swing about 5times because the mug has a small opening. If you dont pull pack towards you, it would end up like a heart because all the leafs are squashed together. If you have thinner milk you can make more leafs. If i was pouring into a mug i only make the rosseta when im close to the top, i just find it easier.

This is a pic of a mug art i did a while ago.

Hope it helps

[Wushoes]

Re: What am I doing wrong

lol i was joking mate....=]

[gregpullman]

Re: What am I doing wrong

No no, its a rosetta Im wanting to make, not dissimilar to your avatar.