[coffee flower drawing technology] what are the common problems and solutions of flower drawing beginners?

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Pulling flowers has always been a skill that many coffee lovers want to have. More and more enthusiasts have acquired this skill. Even if they are not working in a coffee shop, many people want to step into the field of flower pulling. But many people fail to get to the point and give up halfway. Today, based on the experience of people in the past, the editor provides some views that the editor thinks are still important for the friends who are beginners to draw flowers for reference, hoping to give you some inspiration.

Learn to pull flowers can first cut "espresso part", "milk foam part" and "flower part". Whether the espresso is well made (flavor, contrast) and whether the milk foam is good or bad (fusion degree, cotton density) will indeed affect the effect of flower drawing. The editor has talked about the importance of espresso and milk foam and related production skills many times, so assume that your "espresso part" and "milk foam part" are all right, and the melting of milk bubbles is also OK. Today, let's cut directly to the part that says "pull flowers".

First of all, find out the common mistakes made by beginners:

First, learn to run before you can do it

Most beginners are disrupted by the words "pull" and "flower". Before I know the basic skills, I only want to "pull" and make "flowers". After several twists and turns, it is really a clash to pour out a cup. Confidence is stripped away piece by piece. Occasionally, when making a cup of coffee with lines, I don't know why it is formed.

Beginners to pull flowers, first through the "pull" this action, to find out where the "flowers" come from. "pull" the high milk tank, the snow-white milk foam falls from the height, piercing the grease on the surface of the coffee, and the milk bubble first sinks down the bottom to mix with the coffee, which is "pull", while pressing down the milk tank, the milk foam does not have enough impact to pierce the grease foam on the surface of the coffee. Naturally float on the surface to form "flowers".

Second, from simple to complex, everything remains the same.

Don't want to learn leaves and tulips as soon as you start. First of all, the editor suggests that first of all, we should only practice the appearance of "snow-white lines", do not make any moves of "pulling flowers", and do not even force the shape of the heart. Really, this is very important. This will make you understand the principle of the pattern, and confidence will be built from now on. As long as the ripple is made, the shape of the flower (leaf) will evolve from this ripple. As long as the injection point is different, the inclination of the coffee cup, the number of wobbles and the timing. It can change a lot. However, everything remains the same, and there is really no way to get rid of this "pattern".

Third, the action is procrastinating and not neat enough.

In addition, beginners often in order to have more "time" to draw more lines and beautiful flowers, so the speed and amount of milk will be injected, slow down and reduce the water column (milk column). It is said that when it is about six minutes full, it begins to shake and pull the vat. As a result, I poured out a cup of coffee that was full and nothing. Unexpectedly, the war is over in about five seconds at a time.

This is not to say that pulling flowers should be quick, but that "pulling flowers" pays attention to getting things done in one go, smooth movement, planning and then moving, and it is necessary to first conceive the movements, steps, and pattern structure of pulling before really "pulling." Excessive procrastination will make the milk bubbles in the cup and jar layered, not only the flowers pulled out are not good-looking, but also taste bad.

Fourth, reluctant to give up milk

In order to save milk, use insufficient amount of milk to make a cup of milk foam that is not fine enough, or practice with a small volume of flower jar and cup, of course, the leaf shape and pattern are not good to form. Be generous, use a larger flower jar, play more, and say nothing about coarse milk foam, that is, scrape it off (you don't have to throw away the practice, you can recycle it, but don't use the recycled ones for the guests) and put them in a large container and refrigerate them after cooling.

There has always been a lot of controversy about the operation of scraping milk bubbles. But I don't think any beginner will practice "playing milk foam" first, practice until it is really delicate and smooth, and then practice "pulling flowers" properly. Then, in the beginner stage to play too thick milk foam (much better than not able to play milk foam), coarse foam too much is not delicate enough, properly use a spoon to scrape away the surface of excess, too thick milk foam, may not be accommodating.

The following is a brief description of the formation of the "flower" pattern:

Beginners'"flower" pattern is formed (pull flower cup is poured against coffee cup, left hand holds about 200cc coffee cup, right hand gently holds pull flower cup):

First, pour out the milk foam that has been fused (* 1) first (you will find that this mouthful feels like chopping off the dry skin), and immediately use a little effort, that is, pour it in generously, keeping the height of 5cm to 10cm. There is a feeling of force through the surface of the coffee, injecting milk foam into the middle of the coffee liquid. At this time, you have to realize that the thick white milk foam in the flower jar is like an unbreakable white thread flowing into the coffee cup.

Second, wait for about half a cup, move the flower cup back to the edge of the cup (don't break the milk column, lower the flower jar, the cylinder mouth is attached to the coffee liquid surface, how low is the low pressure), after the fixed point, begin to shake the flower cup "in place". Remember to "shake", what "pull", what "flowers" do not care. At this time, I think your smile has gradually appeared. Because the "white pattern" has appeared.

Third, until the cup is almost full, stop shaking and "close the cup", put away the flower cup. The closing of the cup should be finished neatly. The shape of the heart should be pushed forward while lifting the vat, so that the "tip" will look good, while leaves and tulips should be lifted in place, collected to the tiniest milk column, and then pressed forward to draw out the lines.

* 1: do you often see people shake the vat a few seconds before pulling flowers? This action is the fusion of milk foam. If you look at the foam from perspective. The lowest layer is the most "liquid" milk, too thin. The top layer is too thick to form fine lines. The dense milk foam in the middle is exactly what we need, and the shaking is the fusion of these three layers. There are no other fusion methods, yes, directly take a spoon (round spoon) deep into the foam, gently stir two or three times, but not "handsome". Have you ever seen people pick up the flower jar and knock on the table? on the one hand, it is to force the coarse bubbles that sink below to float, and on the other hand, to break these big bubbles. Because the big bubble not only breaks the beauty of the flower shape, but also affects the taste.

Beginners should understand that pulling flowers may not necessarily make coffee tastier, and sometimes it will affect the taste because the milk foam is not dense enough. But it is undeniable that the visual beauty is definitely the impression of the taster on the craftsmanship of the producer. It is very important to build confidence first, practice the basic skills of "flower" pattern formation, and then make other changes after each cup has a pattern.

Finally, I would like to say that the reason for the failure of most beginners lies not in the action of "pulling flowers", but in the preparatory work:

Espresso extraction is the key point: the amount of powder affects the flow rate and time, different formulations of beans will affect the fluidity of flowers, the oil of Espresso will affect the adsorption of milk bubbles, the concentration of cup capacity will cause the difference in drawing, and the extraction of convection diagram and combination diagram will be analyzed respectively.

The texture of milk foam is also the key: thickness and temperature affect drawing fluidity, different brands of milk have different foaming standards, whether you can control the minimum difference between foaming temperature and thickness, the fusion of milk and concentration is the last key, different foaming methods have different drawing standards.

The editor knows that many people have read books, watched live performances, watched teaching films, and even attended cram schools, but they may still fail again and again. I hope this article is really helpful to everyone. I also hope that everyone's novice period will be shortened and their confidence will be greatly increased.

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