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So you’ve mastered the home barista basics.
Your barista skills are better than anyone you know, but still not at a professional level.
What coffee skills come next?
Leveling up your barista skills is actually easier than you think.
You don’tneedfancy equipment or to spend thousands on the newest coffee tech.
This is the espresso machine I have at home.
The La Specialista Opera also pulls a mean shot and steams a mean milk.
But why is it so niche?
This scale has an OLED screen, accuracy up to 0.1g, and trademarked ‘BrewAssist’ technology.
Why do you need a coffee scale?
Here’swhy you need a coffee scale.
In short, the reasons are threefold: accuracy, consistency, and troubleshooting.
A coffee scale basically ensures you’re putting enough stuff in to get enough stuff out.
Think of it like this: you wouldn’t eyeball baking a cake, would you?
So why would you eyeball crafting espresso drinks?
It’s latte art time, baby!
Don’t fret I’m not going to make you draw swans in your drinks.
That would actually be very hypocritical of me, because I can’t even do swans.
Latte art is easiest in shallower, wider mugs, like the one pictured above.
Latte
Logically, we’ll start with the perceived ‘basic’ beverage.
Latte is espresso with milk, and you all know how to make that now.
It’s as easy as an americano, right?
A latte is a single or double shot of espresso, topped off with steamed milk.
There’s nothing else to it, unless you’ve got a bastion of syrups at home.
Add your milk to a single or double shot and see what you think.
Mocha
Simply put, a mocha is a latte with chocolate.
you could either use hot chocolate powder from the store or melt your own chocolate into the espresso.
I like to use dark chocolate in a mocha as it elevates the flavor of the coffee.
Flat White
In my opinion, this is the S tier of coffee drinks.
My go-to order in any cafe is an oat milk flat white, preferably with a light-roast citrussy bean.
To me, a flat white has maximum 6-7oz of milk and 1oz of a ristretto shot.
What is a ristretto shot, I hear you ask?
A ristretto is stronger, sweeter, and in my view, tastier.
If you only have an automatic machine, achieving a ristretto might be tricky.
Using your coffee scale will be of utmost importance here.
A cortado is commonly thought to be a smaller, stronger version of the flat white.
Instead of 6oz milk, you want a 1:1 ratio with espresso.
So if you have a 1oz espresso shot, you’ll want 1oz of steamed milk.
To serve, pour the espresso and milk into a small glass.
If you’re feeling really confident, try and get that heart we talked about earlier in your milk.
hey, take this newfound knowledge and go forth into the world ready to impress your loved ones.
You’ll be entering the World Barista Championships in no time.
