Extremely cool looking espresso drink

[Fat Guy]

On page 42 of the April 2004 issue of Food Arts magazine there's a photo of a really cool looking "layered espresso" created by some guy named Alan Miguel Kaplan. It's in a tall clear glass, and it appears that the drink has milk on the bottom, espresso in the middle, and foam on the top. All it says about how it's made is "By expertly and delicately adding the steamed milk with certain precision, we created the illusion of three different layers."

[phaelon56]

Appearances can be deceiving. Check out this cappuccino I had at Coffeelia's, a small cafe on the island of Cozumel Mexico. It has the exact layering you describe and they weren't going to great lengths to achieve it. Most of the places on the island that offer lattes or cappas use Parmalat milk at room temperature and don't know how to create microfoam (which requires good cold milk of a decent fat content. The result is milk that separates into liquid and dry foam - it then sinks rather than emulsifies with the espresso. The extra foam is added to the top by spooning it on.

Of the many coffee drinks I've photographed and subsequently consumed, this was by far the best looking and worst tasting. An extra shot of espresso didn't help. I was there again recently and tried a mocha, thinking that the chocolate would help, but it made little difference. The good news is that the food is tasty - fresh squeezed OJ, great egg dishes, excellent Belgian style breakfast crepes and when you request hot sauce they bring a small bowl of habanero's dripping with homemade sauce. It is worth a visit. The latte shown in my current avatar was the absolute best that I had on the island - at Cafe Manati.

I think this layering is worth exploring. Vanilla syrup will stay in a completely separate layer from espresso and might serve to separate it from another ingredient. I think it's time to develop an eGullet signature coffee drink. We can't let the boozehounds.... uhhh... I mean beverage aficionados over in the Fine Spirits and Cocktails Forum hog all the glory.

[Fat Guy]

Yes! That photo is almost exactly the same as the one in Food Arts. The only difference is that in Food Arts the glass is taller, narrower, and straight-sided, so the effect is even more dramatic.

[phaelon56]

Here's how to do it:

make some medicore espresso with little to no crema

foam milk that's too warm and preferably low fat - 1% or skim - generate lots of light foam by keeping the steam wand very close to the top the entire time

pour in the milk

tip the glass and pour the espresso in slowly

spoon the foam on top

Photograph and discard

I need some cool skinny clear glasses to do this. Hmmmm.... one of our local restaurant supply places is liquidating their entire inventory (they've sold mostly to retail customers rather than the trade in recent years). They had some kick ass deals going on glassware - I'd best check it out and see if I can get a few interesting sets.

[melkor]

Uh... you can also make a latte that looks like that if you steam the milk in the glass your using, pull a shot into a shot pitcher and then pour the espresso slowly through the foam on top of the milk, if the milk is well textured and the espresso is thick enough then you'll get three layers, though there will be a crema mark on the top of the foam. I'll see about taking a pic of one in the morning.

[phaelon56]

I almost forgot about this other pic - it was yet another great looking and awful tasting drink - a mocha from Cafe Pooka in Dingle Town Ireland. Cool little hippie cafe with great breakfasts and lousy coffee ( a common combination in Eire).