Seed to Swan

Latte Art Pour Studio

Learn the pour one step at a time: where the pitcher goes, how high, how fast, and what the milk does in the cup.

Barista view

Anatomy

What each part of the finished pattern is, and which part of the pour made it. Shown the way the guest sees it.

    Pour order

      Correct vs. common mistakes

      Compare your cup with these. Each mistake has one main cause.

      Fundamentals

      The three controls

      • Height: high (7–10 cm) and the milk dives under the crema to build the canvas. Low, with the spout almost touching, and the foam floats and draws white.
      • Flow: a faster flow puts more foam on the surface. A pencil-thin stream cuts lines without adding much white.
      • Position: foam appears just ahead of the spout and keeps moving forward, so the spout sits at the back edge of what it draws.

      Cup

      • Start with the cup tilted 30–45° toward the pitcher, so the spout can get close to the surface.
      • Level the cup as it fills. Leveling spreads the design out.
      • Turn the cup, not your arm, when a shape needs a different direction. Your hand keeps the same comfortable line: wiggle side to side, move back toward you, pull through away from you.

      Why you pour upside down

      The cup handle sits 90° from the pitcher handle, on your left. The top of every design (heart lobes, tulip head, rosetta head) ends up nearest you, and the pull-through runs away from you. Slide the cup across without turning it: the guest sees it upright, handle on their right.

      First poured, pushed furthest

      Every new dose of foam pushes the earlier foam forward and outward. The first stack or leaf becomes the outermost, widest part; the last one becomes the small head.

      Milk

      Steam to 55–65 °C with glossy, "wet paint" microfoam, and swirl the pitcher right before pouring so foam and milk stay mixed. The full steaming lesson →