Latte Art?

Ever wondered how they make those fantastic images in the foam on top of your latte? I've seen some pretty impressive syrup drawings on top of cappuccino, too, don't get me wrong. But there's something incredibly impressive about the ability to create artistic imagery in the steamed milk foam that tops many of our favorite beverages.

According to Wikipedia: "Latte art is a style of pouring steamed milk into a shot of espresso that creates a pattern or design on the surface of the resulting latte. It can also be created or embellished by simply 'drawing' in the top layer of foam. Latte art is particularly difficult to create consistently, due to the demanding conditions required of both the espresso shot and milk."

Want to try your hand at a little coffee artistry? Here's some instructional links:

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Latte-Art

http://www.coffeeresearch.org/espresso/milktexture.htm

While it might not add to the overall flavor and deliciousness of your favorite coffee beverage, we all know that when something looks great, we tend to believe it's going to taste great. So fancy coffees that look like small works art have to be a good thing, right?

More General Info on Pairing Coffee & Dessert

When I'm not working on the latest Mornin' Grind segment, I help maintain the 13wmaz.com web site. I'm the multimedia interactive producer, and my time is spent finding unique extras to add to our site, as well as unique ways to get our site in front of web browsers. So, that means I spend a lot of time doing internet research and posting to social media sites. I use that skill set to find you Mornin' Grind followers some interesting coffee facts, fictions and other data.

When we were at Dolce Vita, Kelly Byrd gave us some examples on specific dessert and coffee pairings, but I thought you might like some more general options that would work at any local coffee and dessert joint.

According to coffee-illuminated.com and coffee.suite101.com, light and fruity desserts like tarts or meringue pies pair well with acidic, but light and sweet brews from Brazil, Jamaica, Guatemala or Columbia.

Cakes and tiramisu as well as more textured desserts work well with medium roast African selections that have an even balance between acidity and body.

Richer desserts like cheesecake are best with a heavier coffee, perhaps something from Yemen or Sumatra.

Finally, the richest of coffees...French and Italian roasts, are best paired with rich and chocolaty desserts.

Coffee Etiquette

As with most things in life, coffee and the coffee ordering experience can be improved upon with just a bit of proper etiquette between the person ordering and the barista or coffee connoisseur preparing the coffee.

Lines for coffee are often long and it takes a bit of time to make the varying coffee beverages for coffee enthusiasts in need of their fix. Knowing what you want by the time you hit the front of the line is going to make everybody happy. Hold off on questions about experimentation until you have a relatively slow line and a more relaxed server.

Going along with this, if you're going to alter your order from the norm, make sure you tell the barista immediately, not in the middle of the preparation process. Want an extra shot of espresso? Non-fat milk? No whip cream? Make sure you give them this key information before they get embroiled in your concoction.

Be a good customer...buy something when you're making use of the free wi-fi, newspapers and cozy atmosphere of a coffee shop or cafe.

Moving your phone from ring to vibrate is great, but it doesn't mean much to other patrons trying to unwind if you let it vibrate noisily across the tabletop. Put it in your purse or pocket, so it won't bother others.

Here's an etiquette question...would love to hear what you think. Is it okay to pile your stuff all over a table in a busy coffee shop before you even place an order...putting dibs on the table so to speak? Is this like cutting in line? Or is it just smart? Would love to know.

More fun coffee facts and some coffee history to come later this week. Hope you'll continue to come by and post your comments!

Mallie

Not Enough Coffee...

Sometimes, you just can't take in enough coffee to sort yourself out. I'm having that kind of Monday. After being plagued by random personal, vehicle and work issues this weekend, I'm just run ragged and the week hasn't even started.

Some days are one-cup days. Some days you need two, possibly three cups to take off the edge. Then there are the days where you can't ingest enough coffee to keep you going. I think today's going to be one of those days.

What kind of coffee day are you having today? I'm going to send out some good coffee thoughts and hope you're all having the perfect coffee day you deserve on a sunny and warm Monday!

Fast Facts: Some Things You Might Not Know About Coffee

• Coffee was first known in Europe as Arabian Wine.
• The most widely accepted legend associated to the discovery of coffee is of the goatherder named Kaldi of Ethiopia. Around the year 800-850 A.D., Kaldi was amazed as he noticed his goats behaving in a frisky manner after eating the leaves and berries of a coffee shrub. And, of course, he had to try them!
• Roasted coffee beans start to lose small amounts of flavor within two weeks. Ground coffee begins to lose its flavor in one hour. Brewed coffee and espresso begins to lose flavor within minutes.
  

• After the decaffeinating process, processing companies no longer throw the caffeine away; they sell it to pharmaceutical companies.
• Coffee beans are similar to grapes that produce wine in that they are affected by the temperature, soil conditions, altitude, rainfall, drainage and degree of ripeness when picked.
• Finely grinding coffee beans and boiling them in water is still known as "Turkish Coffee." It is still made this way today in Turkey and Greece or anywhere else Turkish Coffee is served.
• Frederick the great had his coffee made with champagne and a bit of mustard. (EDITORIAL NOTE: Yuck!)
• Coffee sacks are usually made of hemp and weigh approximately 132 pounds when they are full of green coffee beans. It takes over 600,000 beans to fill a coffee sack.
  

Check out more great coffee trivia. Click here...