Until 10 years ago, I wasn’t so much into coffee. It all started when I worked at a place where they had a badass coffee machine that produced the most delish latte’s. You’ll rarely see me drink black coffee unless I find myself somewhere in Italy, because drinking cappuccino’s in the afternoon are out of question in the Italian coffee culture.
A well-made latte is a treat for me (I use ‘latte’ as the collective name for latte macchiato’s and cappuccino’s here) -especially the vanilla latte- and I usually enjoy my coffee outdoors. At the pub around the corner -aka my second living room- while reading a newspaper, or with my gals in the weekend as we like to check out the latest coffee places.
Because I mostly drink my coffees outdoors, I’ve added a little comparative research to it, and a good latte stands out with the correctly whipped layer of milk foam. Any barista can throw in some latte art, but the taste and structure of the foam layer are equally -or maybe even more- important.
In your own kitchen, you’re the one that controls the foam layer on your latte, but in the coffee places the quality really differs depending on the machine or technique. Now I recently discovered that there’s a new machine on the market -only for use in the hospitality business- which is able to deliver milk foam of constant quality. After some research it appears to be the ‘Lattiz‘. A milk foam machine developed by FrieslandCampina (one of Holland’s biggest dairy producers). Research pointed out that producing higher amounts of lattes with a well-made milk foam layer is quite the challenge for most hospitality businesses. With the Lattiz anyone with a lack of barista-skills can still throw together a perfect latte.
In addition, the procedure is faster than the average with 6 cups per minute, and it is more hygienic because there is no contact between the machine and the milk product. There is a special Lattiz milk carton which is placed in the ‘bag-in-box system’ in the machine (good for making 140 cappuccinos), so it also saves you time cleaning. And from my side jobs in hospitality during college I can remember cleaning the machines were a tedious job…
If you are not as much of a coffee drinker but you do enjoy a good Chai Latte? Then a good milk foam layer is just as important. Take a glance behind the counter of your favorite coffee places to see which machines they use, or ask the staff if they happen to use the Lattiz-machine. Then at least you’re guaranteed a well succeeded foam on your latte.
Pssstt…in Amsterdam you can already have your latte with Lattiz-quality milk foam at Art Deli, Du Cap, Hotel de Hallen and de Ysbreker, and in Rotterdam at de Burgerij. Enjoy!