I usually stick to cows milk but thought I’d branch out a bit. I got the barista version that’s supposed to froth nicely, and it does, but I really suck at steaming milk so it didn’t turn out fantastic. It still tastes really good though, and now I’m determined to learn to froth properly.
This is mostly an excuse to show off another pottery mug.
Some tips for steaming:
If there are any large bubbles in your steamed milk you can tap it on a hard surface, then swirl it around to really mix it. The texture you’re looking for should be very glossy and fluid, like white paint, not foamy at all. You can go for a thinner texture as well if you like a flat white. The final texture you get is based on how long you do stage (A). You can get some repeatability by using a pitcher with measuring lines inside. Fill with milk to one line, then inject air until you reach another line.
This is really helpful, thank you! I’ve been doing some of that already but not the whole deal, or at least not well anyway. I’ll be sure to come back to your comment for my next milk drink. Thank you again!
I hope you have great success and delicious drinks! One tip I forgot to mention is that I like to keep my steaming pitcher in the freezer after I rinse it clean and let it dry (on top of the machine works great for this).
By starting with a frozen pitcher of fridge cold milk / oat milk, I find I can steam for longer and create a better texture that way.
Anyway if you have any other questions about steaming milk or making coffee with an espresso machine (such as stubborn light roasts), just let me know. I’ve been in this hobby for a few years now and I’ve picked up some things along the way.
I’ll try frozen pitcher, that sounds promising. I’ll definitely come back to you if (when) I have more questions.
My personal favorite is the Oatly full fat. I think that barista one is from oatly too if it’s the one I’m thinking about, but it’s like twice as expensive by volume and the original full fat oatly foams up basically exactly the same!
Oh good to know, I’ll check that one out too at some point. Thanks for the tip!
I love the picture! A vegan encouraged me to try soy milk with my coffee. After a little time with it, I’ve found that it’s easier for me to froth the way that I like it, it has a “fattier” mouthfeel than skim milk (maybe closer to 2% or full) and it hold on to the cinnamon flavor better while being lower calorie and saturated fat.
I haven’t tried soy before, maybe I’ll test it out after I’m done with this carton of oat.
I read that as ‘lathe’ and thought it must be difficult to make one out of oat milk.
I don’t have a steamer, but I just microwave some oat milk and use one of those little battery-powered frothers. It works great, but requires a little experimenting with oat milk brands and time in the microwave (too hot and it doesn’t froth as well).
Microwaving milk just feels so wrong to me for some reason. I can’t place my finger on the reason. Before I had the espresso machine I’d heat milk on the stove with a thermometer in it to make sure it didn’t start to split.
Idk give it a try I guess. It’s such a small amount of oat milk (like 1/3 cup) that it only takes like 30 seconds in the microwave. I add a tablespoon of my coffee before I froth it so the foam has more flavor.
I really like the barista style oat milk. It’s more expensive but it’s definitely thicker. I haven’t tried frothing though, looks pretty good to me honestly.
Thanks, I appreciate it. In the pitcher, I don’t get as much microfoam as I’d like, and it’s not quite as homogenized as it should be either. Even with swirling, it’s a thick foam on top of mostly normal milk underneath. It’s okay, but not great. The taste is nice, the texture is mediocre. It’ll get better with practice though.
I frequently get some oat milk from my daughter (she is doing transport for oatly) and I think it always says ‘barista edition’ somewhere on the carton. The amount that ends up in my coffee : 0%
I only use it to cook my oats. And by doing that, I sure can must skip adding sugar!
I don’t like milk in filter coffee, but sometimes I like to add some to espresso to make a latte/cappuccino/etc. It’s usually my dessert with decaf in the evenings but I was feeling fancy this morning so I did one for my breakfast coffee.
I am not a mocha kind of guy, but I discovered that oat milk makes phenomenal mochas, better than cow milk! 💕
I’m not too into mocha either, maybe I’ll have to try it with oat milk though. My friend/neighbour is huge into mocha and she keeps trying to get me into it, maybe oat milk will convince me.
Love the mug. Is that an aftermarket drip tray for the Gaggia classic?
Yeah, it’s a low profile drip tray I found online somewhere. It came with the longer waste water straw, 3 OPV springs (6bar, 9bar, 12bar), and a single hole steam wand tip. Less than $20 for the whole deal, worth it imo.
