dmaruz Senior Member Joined: 1 Jun 2009 Posts: 5 Location: philadelphia Expertise: I love coffee
Posted Tue Jun 9, 2009, 7:21pm Subject: Re: Starbucks Latte Art
i work at starbucks too, although not for much longer, this is a macchiato i poured a few days back. ive been messing with latte art at work for a few months.
Dunks Senior Member Joined: 13 Jun 2009 Posts: 2 Location: Kamloops, BC Expertise: I like coffee
Posted Sat Jun 13, 2009, 10:04pm Subject: Re: Starbucks Latte Art
My Shift Supervisor has got me hooked on getting the perfect latte art foam and when I achieve it without even trying on a drink that was with no foam I almost feel like telling the person it'll be a minute so I can set aside that great pitcher of milk. Everytime someone attempts latte art at my store I always see something so I don't see just another attempt because even a lousy cup can look like something.
Although you all have assumptions about Starbucks drilled into your heads, I'm happy to say that I work under someone who truly appreciates coffee and has been willing to teach me just about anything I have a question about. He takes his job seriously and I think every Barista, Shift and even some Managers should aspire to be just as knowledgeable as him. If there's a question about anything in the store, he's the guy to talk to. Everytime we work there will be an attempt at Latte art at some point during the day.
Have to remember to take some pics next time our little 'group' works together.
Unstopableforce Senior Member Joined: 17 Jan 2009 Posts: 66 Location: North Vancouver, BC Expertise: Pro Barista
Espresso: Via Venezia Grinder: Burr Grinder Roaster: Poppery II
Posted Wed Jun 24, 2009, 6:20pm Subject: Re: Starbucks Latte Art
I work at Starbucks too! A few of us at our store have competitions during the busy hours to do the best foam and art. Needless to say, I generally win since I practice at home.
Anyways, Im a shift and I really promote microfoam and putting some love into the drinks.
I'll try and upload a few pictures later on of the stuff we've done. it's realllllly hard to do a rosetta with the widemouth shit they give us. At one point we grabbed one of the more pointed pitchers we sell (Espresso Starter Kit one) to use but someone threw it out a few days later =/.
I remember one guy commented on the night sky I made on his Quad Venti Latte (I couldn't resist, I finally had some crema to work with). And one lady though I had put the japanese symbol for peace on her cup, but it was just a cool looking rosetta mess-up lol.
I work at a Starbucks in North Vancouver and have some of the most indepth knowledge of coffee and love for coffee that even my District Manager has seen in a long time... they don't want me to leave =/ But I want to work for Cafe Artigianno...
<3 you guys for giving me 50%+ of my coffee knowledge~!
Sounds like your local store doesn't have anyone that cares about the coffee but really why should they, the customers don't and more to the point it's just a job and the barista-ing trade isn't well paid because nobody wants to pay well for it[x]
I do have to say that that is the very reason that Starbucks sux. The employees should care because it is what they do. They make coffee. The customers don't care, because all the ones that would have gone elsewhere for their coffee. If the job doesn't pay well enough for an employee to do it well, then they ought to find a job that does, or skills to find a better paying job. My guess is that they'll do poorly in nearly any job if operating a super-auto is too much for them. If I *have* to, I'll get coffee from a Starbucks, but only if I can establish a rapport with the barista, and convince them that if they do it my way, it won't suck so bad. Usually I find that they are interested in making their coffee better, they just don't have anyone over them that is interested in anything more than how many microseconds they could have trimmed off that last transaction, and did they stick to the script... I tip my hat to the obvious exceptions to that wide brush I've also wielded, but stereotypes come from somewhere, you know. The majority of Starbuckses (at least in the US, it seems) just plain suck out loud. No, better yet, I salute you. And only wish that we had PBTC that had half the knowledge and enthusiasm that you few exceptions are showing.
Oh, and if you can get a heart, you can get a rosetta. With a heart, you push the wiggle, with a rosetta you pull. With a heart, you drag the stream through afterwards to pull through the art, with a rosetta, lift the tip away from the cup as you pour, not drag, back through. The higher the pour comes from, the less it pulls the art around as you pass back through.
I work for Starbucks and I always do art on top of the drinks that I make...my customers and fellow partners always comment and seem to appreciate the little extra personal touch. Oh and btw...my foam NEVER looks like soap bubbles...smooth velvety foam is the only way I will serve a drink! Also, I do care that about and take pride in my job with Starbucks.
Creativeguy Senior Member Joined: 4 Apr 2006 Posts: 1 Location: Longmont, CO Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Estro Profi, Nuova Simonelli... Grinder: Nuova MCF, Barista Vac Pot: Press Pot Drip: none Roaster: none
Posted Wed Jul 29, 2009, 4:08pm Subject: Re: Starbucks Latte Art Passion is Passion
I worked at Starbucks. I first saw latte art on a food channel program and launched into learning it. After hours of screaming in frustration but noticing my milk was so much better, I decided to play with what I had to play with and tinker the Verismo to get the best shot. No crema, no latte art.
First, our customers started asking us what we were doing differently because drinks tasted better (chai as well). Then, I started facilitating "milk" classes for district managers and trained perhaps a couple hundred. Our store manager flipped for new pitchers.
Once store managers went back to their stores, some of the momentum got lost. Again, passion is passion and if you care, make it happen.
Tips on the Verismo: make sure the espresso is callibrated! If the coffee is bad, the milk can't fix that.
The machine steams very aggressively. If possible (when practicing art) cool the pitcher. The longer the milk takes to reach 100°, the better the texture.
Most people start by introducing too much air into the milk. Start with the tip under the surface and gently break the surface only once or twice with that gentle "shhh" sound. Then bury the wand. A circular vortex is nice however you can also bury the wand (which minimizes stretch and thickness of foam) to texture it.
Many of the machines I worked on go the milk too hot especially for cap's so I shut if off manually. Once the milk gets over 160°, the sweetness cooks out. If customers like it that way, so be it but especially for cap's, keep the sweetness by stopping around 155° (145°) for cap's.
The pour...do your best! It's challenging on wide mouth pitchers especially with too much foam but it can be done.
Whatever, remember to put some of your love and passion into the drink.
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