Latte Love (A Latte Art Workshop)

Last Saturday, I attended the Latte Love (A Latte Art Workshop) by Krups at Landmark Trinoma. Though I received a Blogger's Pass prior to the event, it was actually an open to the public event, so my mom and my sister was able to enter, too.


Today's event was facilitated by Chef Michael Ross Canlas - a Barista Instructor / Trainer at the Philippine Barista and Coffee Academy, as well as a part-time owner and F&B Manager at Route 196 and Marjj. He was assisted by two champion Baristas: Adlher Miko Simangan and Kevin Israel Fortu, both products of Lyceum of the Philippines.

I do love the smell of coffee, but I grew up drinking those instant kind, so I am not that knowledgeable with good coffee. Thankfully, I was able to grasp some knowledge care of Chef Mike:

• Latte Art is "Art in liquid form," using coffee as the canvas and milk (as well as chocolate syrup) as the ink.
  
• A good cup of coffee latte is a product of good coffee (good crema), good milk (good textured milk), and the barista's passion.
  
• Latte and Cappuccino both have the same amount of coffee, only that Latte has more milk and is served in 10oz cups, while Cappuccino is served in 6oz cups.
  
• Coffee has to be warm (not hot) for you to fully enjoy the drink.
  
• When making Coffee Latte or Latte Art, it is best to use fresh milk - the more fat content the better.
  
• A good crema has to be hazel to reddish brown in color.

Coffee for this event was provided by Folger's. I already got to taste Folger's instant coffee and it was good, so I knew all the coffee latte made today will be just as good if not better. Of course, to make the crema, they used Krups' Espresso Machine, which actually looked so cool, I want one at home.


First up, Chef Mike showed the audience how a good crema looks like.


Then, he started frothing the milk. The machine will make a sound as it froths the milk - and even with this step, it still requires art and precision as the milk has to have a right consistency and temperature. Normally, one has to tap the little milk pitcher and swirl it a bit to check its consistency.


After that, it was time to create art. Some designs were created by pouring milk into the coffee, while some were created by adding milk and putting froth at the top to create the designs.


Chef Mike and his assistants created latte art one after the other and we were all amazed by it. They made it look so easy, yet coming from someone who hasn't tried it yet, for sure it will be a bit tough and tricky, too.


This time, we (my cousin - also a blogger and sister) just enjoyed a cup of coffee adorned with some art. I only took a sip and gave the cup to my sister, which she shared with mom (they seated three rows away from me).


They called in some members of the audience (pre-selected before the event) to try their hands at making Latte Art. All of them were first timers, and all were so good! After putting all the cups on the table, the judge selected the best latte art and the winner - an artist - won a gift pack. :)



After that, Chef Mike created more coffee-based drinks, using other Krups machines as well as Moulinex blender. I wasn't able to jot down all the names of the drink, but one had peanut butter, one had hazelnut, one had cookies, and one had bananas. I may not be a big hot coffee drinker... but these drinks surely made me drool, especially that one with Oreo Cookie!


There was another round of Latte Art contest, and this round's winner was a big coffee lover who surely wanted to learn more about latte art. Both rounds of competition had three teams (two members each team) and all were assisted by Chef Mike and his assistants from preparing the coffee and milk to the actual creation of designs.

Throughout the event, there were raffles and I was lucky to win two boxes of Pasabache drinking tumblers (4 tumblers per box). It sure would be sweeter if I won either the Krups coffee maker or the Krups bread toaster, but as a person who's so unlucky with raffles, I was really grateful to win something. :)

Before the event ended, there were small speeches from Chef Mike and his assistants. They all have something to say, but all of them stressed one particular word: PASSION. Chef Mike said that even if one has the best machine, coffee, and milk, if one is not passionate about it, it will not be 100%.

Anyway, if you want to make your own coffee art or host coffee parties at home, you might want to check out Krups products at Landmark Trinoma for they have an ongoing sale until the end of the month. To learn more about Krups and their products, you can check out their Facebook Page.

Now, if you want to learn about at the art of coffee making and be a bigshot barista in the future, you can check out Philippine Barista & Coffee Academy, Inc. for their classes and schedules.

Big, big thanks to Krups PH for the invitation. It sure was so great to watch how to make art using coffee, milk, and choco syrup. Hopefully in time, I can try my hands on it, too!