WEEK 7
After last week’s success pulling my first-ever shot of espresso, I fantasize that steaming milk will bring me to another level of independence: cappuccinos, cortados, iced latte on a hot day.
Irena and I wake up Saturday morning after an impressive 9+ hour sleep. We’re rested and have a fresh gallon of milk, she says. No better time to start.
I have always been intimidated by milk steaming. It’s incredibly easy to f**k it up (read: Starbucks cappuccino). Mastery is smooth, no-air-bubble milk that pours like paint and blends perfectly with the espresso. Italians are clearly born with this gene.
First, I watch and listen. We are quiet as she puts the wand into the steel pitcher of milk, opens the steam valve swiftly and brings the tip of the wand right to the surface—just enough to form small whirlpools. It’s a pleasant whirring sound. If the tip of the wand is too high it screeches, drawing in too much air that whips up bubbles. If the wand is too low, it rumbles, pumping hot steam into the milk and burning it.
Irena has the wand dancing along the surface, moves it around the pitcher slowly, then at the moment the milk has expanded, she pushes the wand down for a couple seconds to heat the milk and quickly closes the steam valve.
She taps the pitcher with authority on the counter to distribute her work and there it is—inky white milk poured into the espresso shots, which by the way I pulled and are a deep chocolaty brown that makes for a picture-perfect cappuccino.
Later in the day, I give it a try.
The first thing I do wrong is open the steam valve too slowly and not fully. This needs to be a swift, on/off motion, she says. Then I have the wand too low and it’s gurgling. Then the wand is too high, and I get big milk bubbles. I finally find a spot right at the surface and steam for a bit, then drop the wand back down to finish. Close the valve. Tap my pitcher (need to be more deliberate, she says) and take a look. To me it looks ok, but my teacher is not impressed. I’ve ended up with a foamy, bubbly head on the milk that will not pour and integrate well. I fail and we toss my work.
She takes over, and I watch again.
This is going to take some time.