The secret to creating successful latte art?

It’s all in the milk. Whole milk, that is. Full fat.

Although you can create latte art with lower-fat or non-fat milk or an alternative like oat milk, it takes more skill. Coffee shops offering alternative milk use a barista series with higher fat content.

“The key factor is getting the milk just right,” said Jacob Ainsworth, retail director at Novo Coffee, who has taught the company’s latte art classes for the past year. “It’s less about the coffee temperature. It’s more about the milk texture.”

Ainsworth said you can create art on espresso, latte, mocha, or cortado but not plain coffee because the physics of plain coffee are different. Learning to position the steam wand to heat the milk and create foam takes practice. Heating the milk too quickly or too long can produce foam with large bubbles, creating a dry foam with less liquid. Larger bubbles make the milk taste flat and hollow. Ideal foam has tiny bubbles and is thick and fluffy, like marshmallow cream. The tiny bubbles better transfer the milk’s fats and sugars and improve its flavor.

Ainsworth said that when steaming milk, don’t rely on your eyes. “You need to learn to use your ears and listen to the audible cues,” he said, noting that properly steaming milk sounds like tearing paper.

Most of Ainsworth’s latte art students work in coffee shops that are Novo Coffee’s wholesale clients. A few home baristas sign up for fun, typically to prepare for parties or special occasions. He keeps his classes small so everyone has time for hands-on experience steaming milk and pouring designs.

A recent Tuesday afternoon class at Novo Coffee’s roastery on Larimer Street drew four students.

Matthew Brundridge, owner of Chocolaterie Stam in Lafayette, took the class seven years ago and came for a refresher. He sends his staff, like Enrique Hernandez, to learn the skill.

“People come to my store expecting something great-tasting,” Brundridge said. “The latte art is the cherry on top.”

Eliza Modisette, who is preparing to open Eliza’s Lattes and Literature, a coffee truck in Parker and Elbert County, has primarily focused on getting her truck ready and meeting county rules. Now that she’s getting closer to starting the operation, she’s ready to perfect her latte art skills, so she and her father, Tim Savoy, who’s helping her launch the business, attended the class.

On Tuesday, Ainsworth taught his students how to steam the milk, focusing on cleaning the steam wand before and after using it for each drink. He showed his students how to pour the form to create the designs. He encouraged them to hold the cups in their palms rather than from the top (to avoid touching their fingertips where a customer will drink) or use the handle (to make it easier to hand off).

Ainsworth had them practice with water for both the espresso and the milk and then switch to “faux spro,” made with coffee grounds and water to mimic espresso and steamed milk.

He showed the students how to tip the cup to create a deeper pool of espresso and pour the heated milk slowly in a thin, tight stream. That holds the foam back and pours the milk in first so it punctures the espresso and sinks below the surface.

You finish by touching the lip of the pitcher to the cup and pouring quickly to force the foam onto the surface to paint the design.

He also showed them how to make the four basic latte art designs:

• Monk’s head — a foundational design of a circle with a dot on the side
• Heart — a monk’s head with a line through the middle
• Tulip — a stack of monk’s heads to form the leaves with a heart of top
• Rosette — also known as a leaf or fan

“Properly poured latte art should have an unbroken ring of brown espresso bordering the milk foam, framing the art in the cup,” Ainsworth said. “Aim for symmetry from left to right or top to bottom.”

When you’re finished, the beverage should fill the cup to the brim without going over, and the cup’s handle should sit perpendicular to the design so that when you take a drink, the design faces you.

Creating latte art is a skill, and while practitioners like Ainsworth take pride in their artistry, ultimately, they care more about the quality of the coffee drink they brew.

Ainsworth still ruefully shakes his head while telling the tale of the influencer who asked for a fancy latte design so she could post it on Instagram. She quickly shared the photos but only took a few sips, missing the point of his efforts.

“The skillful preparation and excellent quality of the coffee are what truly make a coffee drink special,” Ainsworth said.

Want to learn how?

You can take latte art classes at several coffee businesses in the Denver area.

Novo Coffee: novocoffee.com/classes-events/

Ozo Coffee: ozocoffee.com/classes/

Copper Door Coffee Roasters: copperdoorcoffee.com/pages/upcoming-events

Counter Culture Coffee: eventbrite.com/cc/training-center-classes-58189