Froth Failure

There is a certain art to a perfectly pulled shot, I have slowly been discovering. Actually, there is a little art, a little form, and a lot of practice wrapped up into making any type of espresso drink. The other night at work one of my co-workers asked me is I wanted to take the cappuccino test. Naturally I agreed, and then asked what it was. The perfect cappuccino, you may not know, not only has a specific net weight, but also foam density is essential. The test then, is to froth your milk to such a consistency that you can balance a quarter on top. “No problem,” I thought. Conceited as that thought may have been, I embraced the challenge readily. Granted I’ve only been a certified barista for two weeks now, but you’ve got to have a little confidence in yourself, right? Well any way, I frothed my 2% milk good and hard. To my amateur eye it looked spectacular. I piled the seeming foam into a cup, tapped once or twice, and was ready to test my froth. I carefully held my coin a centimeter above the steaming foam, and released. Plop! It immediately sunk to the bottom; disappearing in an instant and taking all my unmerited pride with it. Apparently I still have a lot more to learn before I’ll win any Barista Competitions.