The rise to prominence of coffee specialities has prompted steep rises in milk consumption in the catering sector. Coffee bars increasingly offer a choice of milks in their coffee and cocoa specialities. McCafé outlets, for instance, offer their customers 3.5 % whole milk, low-fat milk and soya milk, while Starbucks also provides a choice of milks, with its soya and lactose-free milk growing in popularity. No doubt about it: the lifestyle coffee market is booming, driven by retailers responding to customer preferences and professionalising their services.


What milk froths best?

Milk can be fickle, and getting it to froth properly is something of an art. So how exactly do you achieve that fine-pored, viscous foam demanded by devotees of latte and the rest? “It’s the proteins in the milk that create the foam,” explains Jörg Kranke, a barista at German coffee specialist Chicco di caffè and a master in the art phenomenon known as latte art. The frothing process injects air into the milk, creating protein and fat structures that wrap themselves around the air bubbles. Whole milk bubbles are larger than those of low-fat milk, and the latter’s foam is more stable. Jörg Kranke
swears by 1.5 % ultra heat-treated (UHT) milk: “Our customers also like it as it has a low calorie count.” As a specialist in latte art, Kranke knows his foam inside out. Latte art involves creating designs in the foam, such as a heart or a petal. The success of the end product depends as much on the quality of the foam as mastering the pouring technique – something that calls for plenty of practice. There are essentially two
approaches to the creation of motifs. Either the barista uses a special technique to inject the milk under the crema, and draws motifs in the foam with a well-practised series of hand movements, or he pours liquid chocolate onto the foam and uses special utensils to create the design.