There’s more to the perfect coffee than just choosing the right beans and brewing method. With the right technique and some practice, you can achieve rich, velvety foam that makes your coffee café-quality.

Mastering the art of steaming milk can be tricky, especially for beginners, so we’ve put together a simple guide to help you achieve the perfect foam every time.

Guide to Making the Perfect Steamed Milk

1. Prepare your milk

Fill a clean, stainless steel jug approximately 1/3 of the way with fresh cold milk (never reheat warm milk).

While you can use any milk you have at home, we recommend using full cream milk for the best texture. Soy milk is also a good dairy alternative due to its high protein content. Milks with high fat and protein content deliver a creamier, thicker texture with strong elasticity to hold the structure and are therefore best for froth.

2. Position the steam wand

Submerge the end of the steam wand just under the surface of the milk, then turn the steam on full. Slowly angle the jug lower until you hear a quiet sucking noise. This is air being sucked through milk to create foam. If you do not hear this noise, then you are simply heating milk and not adding texture.

Hold the jug in the same place while steaming; you do not need to move the jug up and down.

3. Monitor the temperature

Use the palm of your hand to gauge the correct temperature; the jug should be hot enough that you cannot leave your hand there for more than a few seconds.

4. Pour and Serve

Once the milk has reached the desired temperature and texture, you can swirl it gently to remove any air bubbles. This ensures a smooth, glossy surface and even pour.

Begin by slowly pouring your milk into the centre of the prepared coffee shot. As you pour, lift the base of the jug up higher as it reaches the top of the cup. This will deliver the perfect textured, frothy latte or cappuccino.

Your coffee is then ready to serve!

Watch and Learn

Watch our milk texturising tutorial below to learn more tips and tricks and get the perfect texture.

Taking Your Frother Coffee to the Next Level

Once you’ve mastered the basics of steaming milk, you can experiment with pouring techniques to create beautiful coffee art to further elevate your coffee skills and impress your family and friends.

Still want to learn more? Consider enrolling in one of our coffee classes to master everything from the foundations of espresso making to achieving the perfect milk texture and maintaining your equipment. Make barista-quality coffee in the comfort of your home!