Latte

A drink that is mostly milk

Typical range

Why a good latte tastes sweet without sugar

CoffeeHQ explanation

Milk tastes noticeably sweeter warm than cold, and steaming it to the right temperature brings that out. Taken too far, the same milk tastes flat and slightly cooked, which is why an overheated latte seems to need sugar and a well-steamed one usually does not.

Texture does the rest. Very fine foam carried through the milk gives the drink a soft, rounded feel that reads as richness. Milk that has only been heated, with no air folded in, makes a thin drink that tastes weaker than it is.

A reliable home method

CoffeeHQ explanation

1. Choose the cup, then the shot. For a cup up to about 250 ml a single shot gives a mild latte and a double a stronger one. Above that, a double is usually needed for the coffee to register at all.
2. Pull the espresso into the cup. Brew straight into the serving cup so the crema is intact when the milk arrives. This is what gives the surface its colour and makes a pattern possible.
3. Steam with a short burst of air. Let air in for about three to four seconds, then lower the tip and keep the milk spinning until the jug is hot to the touch. You want slightly more foam than for a flat white and far less than for a cappuccino.
4. Pour high, then low. Begin from a few centimetres above the cup so the milk dives under the crema, then bring the jug down close to the surface to let the foam flow out for the top layer.

What goes wrong, and what to change first

Tendency, not a guarantee

It tastes watery and thin

Usually because: The milk was heated but not textured, or a single shot is lost in too large a cup.

Change first: Let a little more air in at the start of steaming. If the texture is already good, move to a double shot.

Fix thin milk

It tastes flat, cooked or slightly eggy

Usually because: The milk was overheated. Past the point where the jug is uncomfortable to hold, sweetness falls away quickly.

Change first: Stop steaming earlier. Use a thermometer for a few drinks until your hand learns the stopping point.

Recognise overheated milk

A bitter edge comes through all that milk

Usually because: The espresso is over-extracted. Milk softens bitterness but does not remove it, and a long, slow shot shows through.

Change first: Fix the shot on its own first: grind a little coarser, or stop it a few grams earlier.

Work through bitter coffee

The pattern comes out as a white blob

Usually because: The foam is too thick to flow, or the pour started too close to the surface and too late in the cup.

Change first: Add less air, and begin the pattern when the cup is about half full rather than nearly full.

Fix blobby latte art

Versions you will meet

Tendency, not a guarantee

Iced latte

Espresso poured over ice and cold milk, with no steaming. It tastes weaker than the hot version for the same shot because cold dulls sweetness and the ice dilutes it as it melts.

Flavoured latte

A latte with a syrup such as vanilla or caramel added to the cup before the milk. The syrup adds sweetness as well as flavour, so the coffee underneath recedes further.

Latte macchiato

The order reversed: espresso poured through a glass of steamed milk and foam so it settles in a visible layer. It is milkier and usually served taller than a caffè latte.

Plant-milk latte

Made the same way, but the result depends heavily on the product. Versions formulated for baristas are built to foam and to resist splitting in hot, acidic coffee.

A note on the word

Widely documented

Latte is simply the Italian word for milk, and caffè latte means coffee with milk. In Italy it is traditionally a breakfast drink made at home, often with coffee from a moka pot, and asking a bar for a latte may well get you a glass of milk.

The espresso-bar latte, with steamed milk and poured patterns, is largely a development of cafés outside Italy during the late twentieth century. It is the version this page describes.

What to do next

• Steaming milk — milk is most of this drink, so this is where most of the improvement is.
• Milk drink builder — works out how much milk to steam for your cup, so you stop over-filling the jug and wasting it.
• Cappuccino vs. latte — shows what changes when the same ingredients are combined with more foam and less milk.
• Judging milk temperature — overheating is the most common reason a home latte tastes flat.
• Become a barista — A structured programme from dose and grind through milk, drinks and maintenance.