Latte drink was born in Italy. When people as a family went to the patisserie and ordered coffee there, the children wanted the same as adults. Then the barista came up with a drink in which there was a lot of milk and very little espresso.
Italians liked this delicacy with delicate foam so much that now it is customary for latte to be served for breakfast for both children and adults. The name of the drink is simply translated - “milk”.
Its composition is elementary. The drink consists of one part of espresso and three - milk. But how to mix these two ingredients? After all, we want to get a latte cocktail, and not regular coffee with milk.
When we see a professional barista making a drink, it seems to us that he is doing some tricky trick. A tall, delicate hat of milk foam is crowned with 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 no worse than a professional one. In this article, we will tell you how to make a latte at home without a coffee machine.
We will also accompany each step of the recipe with photographs. It is important to know some cooking tricks to keep the foam high and lush. And we will reveal them to you.
What are the drinks made from coffee with milk
Before making a latte at home, let's get to know his relatives. The Italian drink is just one of the types in a large family of such cocktails. Viennese coffee, French Café au lait, cappuccino, mocaccino - 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 plain latte only in that coffee is added to milk in it. 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 high transparent glass with a handle- "ring". So a person can enjoy not only the taste, but also the appearance of the drink.
Latte is also most often served in an irish glass, but in Italy - in large coffee cups. The difference between this drink and cappuccino is that the latter has a lower and more dense foam. It is served in small cups.
How to make latte at home. Step one
First, make some coffee. There is only one culinary trick here - no chemical mixtures, even if the packaging says that the soluble granules will give a taste of natural arabica.
Real coffee has a certain density, which is important when making cocktails. Italians use melange from Arabica and Robusta. So the drink will come out stronger and more fragrant.
We need to make espresso. If there is no coffee machine, this can be done in a regular cezve.
- We take a teaspoon with a hill of finely ground coffee, sprinkle into a Turk.
- Fill half a glass (100 milliliters) of cold water.
- We put the cezve on a small fire. Do not boil, but only bring to a state of rapidly rising foam.
- Fans of sweets who are used to making espresso with sugar should consider that such a drink is heavier. If you are preparing latte or, especially, macchiato, do not pour white powder into the coffee. It can be added to an already prepared cocktail.
Milk requirements
Now strain the coffee. This is necessary not only to leave the thicken out of the cup. The main thing is to know exactly how much espresso we got. If coffee comes out 50 milliliters, you need to take 150 ml of milk.
In a cafe, the process of making latte looks like this. Barista passes hot milk through the cappuccino maker (a special nozzle on the coffee machine), which is immediately whipped into a strong foam. He pours it into a stainless pitcher mug. There, the bartender has already added warm milk.
Hot foam does not mix with liquid due to different densities. Then the barista sews the contents of the pitcher into a cup of coffee. By the way, in Italy it is customary to make mocha-based latte. To the north of the Alps, the custom arose to make this espresso coffee cocktail.
How to make a latte at home without a cappuccino or pitcher on hand? You should take a certain type of milk. It must be a whole farm product.
You should not even try to whip skim milk, lactose-free or long-term storage. Only fresh and non-strained (whole) will give a stable and high foam.
Second step
This cocktail is different from plain coffee with high milk and a gentle cap of foam. You can draw a drawing on it or just sprinkle it with grated chocolate, cinnamon or brown sugar.
So, we reveal the secret of how to make foam latte at home. Pour milk into a saucepan and heat it. 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 the contact with the liquid does not leave a burn. Remove milk from the stove and whisk it quickly. All available tools are suitable: mixer, hand blender, whisk.
You can pour hot milk into a French press and actively work with the rod, moving it up and down. It is noticed that in the aluminum container the foam appears faster.
You will see that the milk is divided into two layers. From below there will be a dense creamy liquid, and from above - a white high foam.
Step three
We are approaching the final stage of how to make latte at home. We take a transparent irish glass and pour coffee into it. Introduce milk in a thin stream. Carefully so as not to damage the foam!
Some barista advise to pour milk on the wall of the glass. So both liquids hardly 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.
You are now free to decorate this foam if desired with cinnamon, grated chocolate, and cane sugar. If you are used to drinking coffee syrups, those containing citrus juice should be excluded in latte. After all, he immediately fermented milk.
Latte Macchiato
The name of the cocktail is translated from Italian as “stain”. Indeed, in this drink black coffee is located exactly between two layers of milk.
Let's look at how to make latte macchiato at home. The first two steps are no different from the previous recipe. We make coffee. Heat and whisk the milk. But the third stage is completely different.
- Pour milk into an irish glass.
- Coffee is placed in a container with a very narrow nose.
- Carefully, along the wall of the glass, pour the espresso into a glass of milk.
If you act carefully, the coffee will be placed over a denser milk, but under a gentle creamy foam. You can make the drink four-layer by pouring even heavier syrup on the bottom of the glass.
How to make latte tea at home
When the coffee cocktail gained popularity around the world, his English brother appeared. In the UK (as well as its former provinces), it has long been customary to drink tea with milk. We have already talked about how to make latte coffee at home. Now the turn has come to pay a little attention to tea. For this cocktail, you can use both black and green varieties. The recipe is as follows:
- In a small saucepan, mix your favorite spices (cloves, cardamom, cinnamon and necessarily ginger).
- Heat the spices and pour 200 milliliters of cold water. Bring to a boil and boil over low heat for 7 minutes.
- Pour tea - 2 spoons. Let’s sweat a few more minutes.
- Remove from heat, let it brew.
- Heat up to 60 degrees 200 milliliters of milk. Put it in the foam.
- Mugs fill the tea with two-thirds. Add milk.