This is not a question on how to make froth for cappuccino. This is a question on how to make a completely great froth for cappuccino.
I can make froth. The froth is what you would expect by reading the instruction manuals, usenet, and various internet sites. It’s hot milk on the bottom, and froth on the top. At one point, this was good froth. Then, I went to a good cafe, and learned what good cappuccino froth is all about.
Specifically, I went to Steps of Rome in San Francisco. They know their cappuccino’s there. They can pour their froth in such a way that it forms a heart. Nice trick. But I noticed something about their froth. Instead of being two distinct layers - milk and froth - it was apparently all froth. When I pour, the milk comes out first, then the froth slides down the metal steaming container. Plenty of froth, but still, you can tell where one begins and one ends. Plain as day. This one, though, it was all one thick substance. Not too frothy, not too milky. But the cappuccino it made was niiice.
On subsequent visits, I noticed one part of their technique. They bang the cup on the counter and swish it around. I’ve tried it and it makes the froth a little smoother. But it doesn’t make it like theirs.
Other things I’ve noticed: It’s just normal milk they are frothing, I forget if it’s low-fat or not, but nothing special about it. Secondly, they don’t seem to move the cup around or up and down on the frothing wand. They don’t pay much attention to it at all. Third, they pour the froth, but there is always more in the metal cup they froth it in. THey then leave it sitting out and pour more milk and refroth it when the next customer orders a cappuccino. There are the clues I have. How they fit together, I don’t know.
So, what’s their secret?