Latte Art is Bitter-Sweet

Tulip and Heart Latte Art, by Kak Vandy

It has been a week since I started working at Gudang Rottie as a waitress. Other than the fact that I serve people food and drinks, and recommend buns and bread to customers, I finally able to learn about Latte Art. There are three Baristas, a person who makes drinks, at Gudang Rottie. Kak Ichsan, Kak Vandy, and Kak Rizky are very handy in making latte art, that's why I decided to learn to make latte art from them. 

Latte Art is a method of preparing coffee by pouring some steamed-milk into a shot of espresso. The texture of the steamed-milk and the espresso have to be perfect for drawings to be made. It takes practice to make the simplest design in Latte Art, which is the heart shape. Gudang Rottie's Baristas are very skillful in terms of making Latte Art they mastered making the heart shape, and they can even improvise by making a failed heart shape into a cute fluffy whale. 

Bunny Latte Art, by Kak Rizky

I have been watching those three Baristas do their magic with espresso and steamed milk, and boy can they draw. The technique of making latte art looked very simple to me, but then I decided to give it a shot.

I flunked at my first proper latte art making. I was doing good during the first few second of my first attempt at making Rosetta Latte Art, but then came the wiggly movement I made with my hand. It turned out, Latte Art is not as easy as it looks. "If you're making latte art, you have to let go of your ego," said Kak Rizky, "I even hold my breath when I make latte art." 

Rosetta Latte Art, by Kak Vandy

One time, during my night shift at Gudang Rottie, I decided to practice making latte art with Kak Ichsan. We waited until customers order drinks that we can use to practice our drawing. It seemed like Lady Fortuna was on our side as papers with "Hot Chocolate", "Cafe Latte", and "Cappuccino" written on them kept on arriving at the Baristas' bar. 

At first, I was going to make a heart latte art, but I failed and it turned out sharing the same shape as Teru Teru Bozu (a traditional Japanese rain-caller doll made out of white paper cloth). Then, I was going to make another heart latte art, but the steamed-milk destroyed the texture of the hot chocolate, which made my heart-shaped steamed-milk look like meteorite-dragon-ball. 

Marble Latte Art, by Kak Rizky

The more often I fail at making latte art, the more I want to succeed. Either it be a heart shaped latte art, or a fancy Indian in a cup, I want to be able to draw on espresso with steamed milk. Practice makes prefect, and that is exactly what I intended to do. So, come on down to Gudang Rottie and order yourself a glass of Cafe Latte, for the sake of me pursuing my dream of being able to make latte art!