How to Make an American Latte
Selection of materials
- Coffee beans: Choose dark roasted coffee beans to emphasize their rich taste and aroma.
- Milk: Prepare fresh, pure milk for the milk froth portion of your latte.
- Other tools: espresso machine, bean grinder, milk frother (if the coffee maker doesn't have this function built-in), coffee cups, measuring cups, coffee spoons, etc.
Grinding coffee beans
Use a grinder to grind the coffee beans to a fine grind suitable for an espresso machine. In general, espresso requires a finer grind to extract the rich coffee oils under high pressure.
Load powder with cloth powder
- Fill the powder bowl of the espresso machine with ground coffee powder, usually the amount of a double portion is between 14g-22g, depending on your personal taste and the model of your coffee machine.
- Use a powder clother or your fingers to gently tap the edge of the bowl to evenly distribute the coffee powder in the bowl and form a flat powder surface.
Pressing Powder
Use a powder press to compact the coffee powder into a powder cake. Use a moderate amount of pressure to ensure that the powder is firm and free of gaps, but avoid over-compacting the powder, which may result in poor extraction.
Extraction of espresso
Snap the handle into the coffee maker and tighten it, start the coffee maker for extraction. The extraction time is generally controlled between 20-30 seconds to extract about 30ml of espresso liquid, which can be adjusted according to your personal taste and coffee machine model.
Warm up the milk
Pour the milk into a milk jug and place it in the microwave to heat it to the right temperature (usually around 65°C or so), or if the coffee maker has a steam heating function, heat the milk directly using that function.
Froth milk
- Pour the heated milk into the milk frother, turn on the steam switch and insert the steam nozzle about 1cm below the milk level.
- Adjust the size and angle of the steam to make the milk rotate and produce fine milk foam under the action of the steam. Pay attention to control the thickness of the milk foam to avoid producing too many large bubbles.
Organize milk froth
Use a spoon or spatula to gently scrape away any coarse air bubbles from the surface of the milk froth to make it creamier and smoother.
Pour in the espresso
Pour the extracted espresso liquid into a coffee cup as a base for your latte.
Add milk foam
Slowly pour the whipped milk froth into the coffee cup, taking care to control the speed and angle of pouring to avoid damaging the flatness of the coffee liquid. The amount of milk froth can be adjusted according to personal taste, generally about 1/3 to 1/2 of the cup.
Decoration and enjoyment
- Finally, you can sprinkle some cocoa powder, cinnamon or caramel sauce on the surface of the milk froth as decoration to increase the visual effect and taste level of the coffee.
- Use a coffee scoop to gently stir the junction of the coffee and milk froth to better blend the two. Then you can enjoy a cup of rich and flavorful Americano latte.