Latte Macchiato
Latte Macchiato
A playful artisanal twist on the macchiato. Rather than having a stained espresso, your now giving your steamed milk a playful shock of coffee, do it right and you’ll get a very admirable, multi-layered choreography of colour and smell.
With complete emphasis on the milk, a Latte Macchiato is essentially a reverse macchiato where you make the finely textured micro foam as rich and dense as possible and then find a sweet spot to engorge your decadent coffee brew most preferably a doppio or Ristretto.
The main aim of a Latte Macchiato is to stain the milk with charisma and the romantic qualities of your espresso to form a frothy head, a middle chocolate toned coffee layer that slowly sinks to the white bottom.
Equipment Recommended
Espresso Machine
Nespresso Machine
Best Cup For The Win
Although technically speaking you can use any cup, it’s best to keep it authentic and pour your brew into a nice tall 10-12 ounce latte cup.
The Latte Macchiato pour is self automated in most cases and it is important to consider the following, we’re still going to utilise a 14g dose of medium to finely ground espresso with a total volume of 40ml slowly poured into a premade steamed milk of which you need about 250ml of steamed frothy goodness.
Machine Espresso
Equipment & Things Needed
step by step Guide
Step 1
For this demonstration, we will be using our Delonghi EC260.
Ensure there’s enough water in the water tank. Switch on your espresso machine and wait for confirmation your espresso machine is ready.
Grab your coffee portafilter (handle with coffee basket), place the double espresso basket instead of the single espresso basket and unseal your deliciously fresh coffee bag of La Bella Figura, and slowly place 24g of coffee into the coffee basket.
Using either the shaft of your coffee scoop or the shaft of a spoon. Slide it across the top of the coffee heap (start at the rim of your portafilter, to ensure that your coffee is aligned and uniform.
Then tamp down the coffee grinds held in the portafilter with minimal down-force pressure.
Lastly, place your portafilter into the locking chamber of your espresso machine, tighten it by turning the handle counter clockwise until it locks fully.
Now begin the preparation for the steamy textured milk
Purge your steam wand by releasing some steam.
Pour cold milk of your choice into the milk jug, up to the bottom of the spout.
Place the steam wand about a ½ inch/1.5cm into the milk.
Open the steam valve and lower the jug to introduce air to the surface of the milk.
Aim for a temperature of around 60-65°C. For non-dairy, try not to go over 55°C, as the milk can start to separate or curdle.
Look for a velvety, silky-smooth texture.
Step 2
Position your latte cup directly underneath the spout of your locked portafilter. Sometimes depending on how cold it is, we like to warm up our cups with some warm water or steam before commencing with the espresso pour.
Press the double espresso button or turn the dial to a double-shot depending on your espresso machine.
Once your espresso machine has finished extraction, remove your espresso cup.
Begin by pouring your steamed milk into a fresh lungo cup slowly and start high and as the milk jug empties bring it closer to the cup.
Then the final step is to pour your espresso gently over the frothy steamed milk, leaving a golden brown stained milk effect.
