Wet Paint, Espresso, and Art

What do wet paint and steamed milk have in common?  Most well-trained baristas will tell you that those two have more in common than the average consumer realizes.  The art of steaming milk for any drink is just that: art.  There is a magic within the stretching of milk via the steam wand that will either burn or sweeten the beverage. It is all about amount of time, heat, and pressure during steaming. The end result of the steamed milk should resemble that of wet paint.  By the time milk hits excellently pulled espresso shots, it creates tones in the beverage that will enhance the actual coffee taste.

Whenever my adventures take me to a new location, I test the beans at the local coffee shop through a plain latte.  My most recent coffee discovery was made in Atlanta, Ga.  Chrome Yellow Trading Co. was founded by a husband and wife team in the wintery months of 2013.  Along with coffee, Chrome Yellow sells clothing for men and women in the back of its store.  While there are many local roasters in Atlanta, Chrome Yellow chooses to outsource with their beans from Stumptown Coffee Roasters, based in the state of Washington.  While I thoroughly enjoyed the coffee locality of Atlanta, my favorite coffee shop of all time is located in Chattanooga, Tenn.  Velo Coffee Roasters (http://www.velocoffee.com) procures milk from Cruze Dairy Farms in Knoxville, Tenn., and although the beans are imported worldwide, they are locally roasted right inside Velo.  The drink that is most renown is their “Niterider Nitro,” which is nitrogen, cold brew and looks like a beer.  It is fresh and creamy and unlike anything else in the surrounding coffee shops.  

From pulling shots and steaming milk to brewing with nitrogen, coffee has slowly started to take over the world as more than just a morning beverage.  It is, indeed, a form of art.  According to a 2015 study done by Espresso Business Solutions, the number of coffee shops across the United States was approximately 24,000 and rising.  With such growth, it is safe to say that coffee education is expanding, as well, and sooner than later, more consumers will truly understand the commonalities between steamed milk and wet paint.