I’m not a fan of serving half-hearted (no pun intended) latte art. That said, I am constantly frustrated by the idea of pouring straight non-fat milk lattes. Maybe it’s our non-fat, but I feel like it’s possibly the most challenging thing I’ve ever encountered in my experience with latte art. Worse, is the idea of serving a non-fat cappuccino. Of course, barista snobbery is not appreciated either. I’m wondering how many people actually care to use non-fat.
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IMO, if you have it, serve it, and make the best possible drink you can with it.
If it were up to me though, I wouldn’t allow skim milk anywhere near my shop. Last time I checked, milk isn’t blue.
And it’s not snobbery if it’s actually better.
Spike it. Always.
Anyone leaving a “other” answer want to elaborate? I’m curious as to how people out there handle this…
Here’s my other: I found a dairy that adds additional milk solids back into the non-fat. As long as you keep it about 10 degrees cooler than the whole milk, it is almost identical to pour. Of course, it is touchy if you are even slightly heavy-handed with the steam.
(raises hand for “other”)
We switched to a higher pressure, lower volume steam nozzle on the synessos and that has helped quite a bit. Also, you have to pour that non-fat skinny shit super fast before it separates!
Some of my best (looking) drinks have been skim. It still tastes like water to me, though.
Think that’s crazy? We have a couple of customers that really wanted lactose free milk, so we have some in the fridge. Try pouring a nice rosetta with THAT and then tell me about challenges! It’s ridiculous.
As a customer, I’ve limited my ordering of milk-involved coffee drinks to a minimum because it just doesn’t taste(or look) as good with anything but whole milk. Of course, this only applies to cafes that make worthwhile drinks to begin with-like Intelli.