With my new iPhone arriving just in time — higher-quality camera, better response time — I have finally poured a few picture-worthy rosettas. It’s all thanks to a guy named E.J. Holmes, the guy we call the Espresso Ninja. He’s like the batting coach for baristas, and within minutes of my visit to him this morning in Nashville, he was able to diagnose my two major problems. First, I’m trying to do the whole thing too fast. After much prodding, I slowed it down. Second, it turns out that during the “art” portion of the pour, one has to be pouring with the pitcher at a certain angle. (This is about the only variable I didn’t think about during my weeks of experimentation.)

“But enough!” you cry. “Show us the beef!” And beef ye shall have, beef in the form of delicious espresso drinks whose appearance matches their stellar taste. The following photos, taken on my new iPhone (did I mention that I got a new iPhone?), were taken just a couple hours ago behind the counter at Spencer’s. These are four in a row… none of them “perfect,” per se, but all pretty good and the last one definitely the best I have ever poured.

This little guy is indicative of a problem I am still having: My rosettas don’t generally fill up the cup. I think it has something to do with my holding back too much in the beginning of the pour; however, this is all I know to do, since my previous problem was going too “balls out” (E.J.’s term) with the pour. This foam is a little bubbly, which lessens the contrast.

This one fills up more of the cup, which is an improvement from the previous. But there’s not much definition in the leaves, which is a letdown.

Once again, this one’s shoved up in the middle of the cup. And why do the leaves on the right side look great, while the ones on the left are fat and ugly? I have no idea.

And heeeeeeeeeere she is — the best rosetta I have poured! Foam is still a little bubbly, and the leaves could have better tips on them. But the form is almost perfect, and it’s definitely among the best lattes that have ever been poured in Bowling Green. Which isn’t saying much, but I’ll take what I can get.

Tags: latte art, rosetta

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010 at 4.47 pm and is filed under coffee. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.