The art of coffee

Courtney Love once compared cocaine to “really evil coffee”. Coffee hasn’t always been a legal drug; its intoxicating effects have been reason enough for it to be banned in several communities in coffee’s long history. Now coffee has undergone an identity makeover worthy of Madonna. Once referred to as the “devil’s brew”, its health benefits are now widely acknowledged: it apparently makes us more wakeful, relaxed, increases our metabolism rate, and is full of (gasp, really? What doesn’t have it?) antioxidants.

And as if we needed any more reason to justify our caffeine addiction, enter latte art, the idiomatic cherry on the cake… Latte art — whassat? Latte art’s when it looks like your morning cuppa’s succumbed to the pressures of modern society and has started sporting a heart or fern leaf because it’s pretty, cute and gives it the illusion of a personality.

But surely it’s not all foam and no substance? According to those at CoffeeGeek.com (and who would know better), beauty runs cup deep with latte art, since it's a sure indicator that the milk has been steamed to a right temperature that maximizes its sweetness. Without the right texture and consistency of steamed milk, and a well-extracted espresso, latte art wouldn’t be possible at all.

It’s not just about the controlled “wiggle” of the trained barista’s wrist. Latte art may be gaining in popularity but it isn’t something you’ll get at your local Starbucks...yet. However, the baristas at Peter’s Yard make their bean juice an extra special experience by conjuring up cats and even Nessie from the clouds in your coffee. Though latte art may be a fairly good indicator of coffee’s quality—since the barista’s putting in so much effort— this doesn’t mean cafes that don’t do it are any less dedicated to the craft.

Caffe Lucano is one that prefers to serve their java with some chocolate instead. Sure, they may not do latte art, but at least their cappuccino’s a real one with enough foam, while at the other two cafes, my cappuccinos are compromised into semi-lattes.

To learn about latte art is only the tip of the iceberg of a new coffee revolution, where independent coffee shops are serious about the whole process from the sourcing of beans to owning the best equipment. Gwilym Davis, Britain’s Barista Champion 2009, referred to this as a “third wave” of coffee in The Guardian recently. This third wave, he says, is about “taking coffee to the next level”. The first and second waves were instant coffee and Starbucks respectively.

Kilimanjaro Coffee is part of this third wave. Run by Jonathon Sharp, Scottish Barista Champion 2009, the café is a patron of Square Mile Coffee Roasters, the work of two previous world champions who directly source, blend and roast their own beans. Kilimanjaro has also recently installed a Synesso Hydra – often referred to as the Ferrari of espresso machines.

Latte art’s arguably one way of expressing all this dedication to making that perfect cuppa: for they would care about every part of the process, including presentation. However, this means that your coffee may also take 10-15 minutes to arrive at lunch hour, as compared to a minute at Starbucks. Though I reckon the whole sensory experience of having my fresh cuppa with a Nessie on top beats just having it to go.