When you think of Italian coffee, the first images that come to mine usually involve a delicious, frothy, cup of cappuccino.  This quintessential Italian breakfast often involves the cappuccino served with a sweet pastry. Cappuccino’s have developed a huge following outside  of Europe in South America, South Africa, and Australia. Following the rise of upscale coffee houses in the Pacific Northwest during the 1990s, Cappuccino’s have become a standard espresso drink found on most American coffeehouses.

Make the espresso

Cappuccino’s typically use a high roast bean but you can choose a coffee that suits your taste. Once you have selected your bean follow our instructions here to make the perfect espresso.

Select the Milk

After you have made your fresh espresso, you can start preparing the milk. The type of milk and the temperature you have it at in the beginning of the steaming process affects the quality of the cappuccino. Ideally you should use semi-skmmed milk because a whole, or full fat milk, will hide the flavor of the coffee.  In addition, use the coldest milk you have. Many café’s will have milk lying around at room temperature, or worse, warmed because cold milk takes longer to warm up. (Time is money However, if you want better tasting foam, go with the cold milk. Not only will the foam taste better and last longer, cold milk foams more so you will have more foam in your cappuccino

Steaming the Milk

No matter what container you choose, only fill it with milk halfway.  You want to place the steam jet or steam wand just below the surface of the milk.   If its too high you’ll spray milk all around you. If you submerse the wand too much you will not create enough bubbles.  Keeping this in mind, submerge the steam wand then quickly lower the container so that the wand is just below the surface of the milk.  Another way to tell if you are steaming the milk correctly is by the sound of the process. If you here a deeper rumble sound like bubbles being blown the wand is too deep. The idea sound is a slight hissing noise.  While steaming the milk keep in mind you do not want to bring the milk to a boil, do not over steam the milk. The ideal temperature should be around 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

Cupping the Cappuccino

Once you have steamed the milk to the right temperature and consistency, pour the espresso in your cup of choice. Take your jug of steamed milk and pour hot milk into the cup till you fill it 2/3 height. While pouring the milk make sure you are using a spoon to hold back the foam.  Gently spoon in the remaining on third of the cup with foam

Toppings

If you have followed the steps mentioned earlier you now have the perfect home-made cappuccino. If you want to make the cappuccino a bit more attractive genlty shake a little chocolate power or cinnamon for presentation.