Milk froathing

So far, I haven´t mentioned the steaming abilities of the Micro Casa, although I have been making milk drinks since day one. I have focused mostly on getting the espresso right, and luckily I feel pretty confident that I´m doing things fairly well now.

For someone familiar to the Rancilio Silvia, the Micro Casa steamer will appear familiar. The Silvia has a thin steam arm, which gives a powerful and very directed steam. Steaming with the Micro Casa feels somehow the same. Both the Silvia and the Micro Casa have very good steaming abilities. Someone who knows the principles of making micro foam, will soon succeed in getting perfect milk. I´m not good at latte art, but when the milk is right, it is easy to make a simple heart or a rosetta that is decorative.

Cappuccino Originally uploaded by audunso.

When I attended the Norwegian Barista Championship in Oslo this april, I talked to one of the judges, and he told me that not only does cappuccino derive its name from the colour of the drink (monks belonging to the capucin order (16th century) wore robes that were reddish brown). He felt that the cups should also be filled to the very maximum, to state that these monks also had cowls (small, round caps -go see the movie "name of the rose"!). I haven´t heard that opinion before, but anyway, I have begun to fill the cups more than I used to before. My cups are really small -1.3-1.4 dl to the top.

When I froath milk with the Micro Casa, I let the steam arm rest against the mouth of the pitcher. That gives full control of the depth of the steam arm. First, I work in the surface to introduce air into the milk and thereby to get the wanted increase in volume. This introduces a few bobbles, but these are knocked down when the steam arm is lowered a bit to reach an optimum angle for rotation of the milk. It´s important to stop froathing when the milk is 70 degrees or just over.

Using the steamer of the Micro Casa is a joy. And the machine is always ready to steam, since the boiler sits at steaming temperatures. When making cappuccinos, I begin by making the espresso, and then I froath milk when the spring is about to finish the shot. The milk reaches 70 degrees in 20-25 seconds :-)