☕ Master the Foundation: The Essential Latte Art Heart Pattern

Are you ready to unlock the secret to beautiful latte art?

The Heart pattern is not just a classic—it’s the fundamental building block for almost every other latte art design, including the intricate Tulip and the flowing Rosetta. If you're a barista looking to improve your craft, or a home enthusiast aiming for that perfect morning pour, you need to nail your heart.

In this guide, we break down the exact techniques, critical steps, and variations you need to master this foundational pattern.

Watch our full video tutorial here.

Step 1: The Essential Ingredients – Good Coffee & Perfect Milk

Before you even touch your milk jug, you need a flawless foundation. Latte art is impossible without the two core ingredients being spot-on.

The Coffee Canvas

Your espresso shot provides the rich, dark base (the "canvas") for your white milk pattern.

Crema is Key: You need a nice, rich layer of crema to pour through. We use our Artisti Champion Blend for its rich, milk-chocolate notes and excellent extraction properties.

The Recipe: Aim for a strong, well-extracted shot. On our La Marzocco Linea PB, we use a double normale (a 1:2 ratio, e.g., 22.5g in to 45g out) for a balanced flavor and solid base. Home users might even try a double ristretto (1:1 ratio) for an extra-rich, concentrated flavor.

💡 Pro Tip: If you're in the US, Canada, or Australia, you can purchase the Artisti Champion Blend directly from our online store to guarantee a rich canvas for your practice!

Silky Smooth Milk Texture

Pivotal to great latte art is perfectly textured milk—it must be velvety smooth, not foamy or bubbly.

Prep: Always purge your steam wand before use.
Angle & Spin: Position your jug at a 45° angle. Submerge the tip just below the surface to introduce air (the "stretching" phase), aiming for small, quiet bubbles for just a couple of seconds. Crucially, the milk must be spinning in the jug.

Temperature Control: Do not overheat your milk! Stop steaming when the temperature is between 60 and 65 degrees. Overheated milk is thin, lacks texture, and makes pouring patterns extremely difficult. A milk steaming thermometer can help with obtaining an accurate temperature.

Step 2: The Core Technique – Pouring Your Heart

With a beautiful shot of espresso and silky smooth milk ready, it's time to bring them together.

Preparation Swirls

1. Swirl the Espresso: Gently swirl your espresso shot to break up any thick spots in the crema. You want an even, fluid canvas.

2. Swirl the Milk: Swirl your milk aggressively to eliminate large bubbles and ensure a uniform, silky consistency. This prevents a big blob of froth from ruining your pour.

The Two-Phase Pour

Your pour is split into two main sections: Blending and Patterning.

Phase	Goal	Jug Position	Cup Angle
1. Blending	Create a smooth, mixed base (your canvas).	Held high, flowing the milk gently into the cup.	Tilted towards you (angled).
2. Patterning	Drop the milk pattern onto the surface.	Lowered dramatically, tip as close to the surface as possible.	Gradually flattening as you pour.

The Heart Execution

1. The Canvas (First Half): Angle your cup towards you and begin pouring from a high distance. Fill the cup about halfway to three-quarters full, thoroughly mixing the milk and espresso.

2. The Drop (Pattern Start): As you hit the halfway point, immediately lower the spout of your milk jug until the tip is almost touching the surface of the coffee (without actually touching it).

3. The Push: Focus the flow of milk into the dead center of the cup. As the milk hits the surface, a white circle (your heart's base) will appear and grow. Continue to move the cup and jug together to keep the spout in the center.

4. The Lift & Pull-Through: As the pattern fills the cup to the brim, lift the jug upwards slightly and swiftly slice through the middle of the pattern with a clean, straight movement. This action divides the circle, creating the distinct heart shape.

Step 3: Variations to Practice

Once you nail the simple heart, you can easily change its size and shape by adjusting your timing and speed.

The Simple Heart

Goal: A small, clean pattern floating in the center.
Method: Blend for longer (three-quarters of the cup) before dropping the nose and starting your pattern later. Use moderate speed.

The Bold, Big Heart

Goal: A large pattern that fills the entire surface.
Method: Start your pattern earlier! Blend only about half the cup, then drop the nose and pour with more speed and momentum. The earlier you start and the faster you pour, the bigger the heart will be.

Pro Tip: Try adding a gentle wiggle back and forth as you pour the pattern base to help spread the milk and increase the size of the heart before the pull-through.

The Heart: A Foundation for All Latte Art

The beauty of mastering the heart is that it immediately opens up the door to more complex designs.

For example, a Tulip is simply a series of stacked hearts. You build the base heart, stop, move back slightly, drop the jug to stack a second, smaller heart, and then do a pull-through for the stem!

The Heart is a foundational skill that every good barista and home coffee enthusiast should know. Are you ready to perfect yours?

Practice, Share, & Support

We encourage you to practice this technique! Tag us in your videos on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube at @artisticoffeeroasters to share your progress with our community.

The best way to support us in sharing this knowledge is to purchase our premium coffee beans. Grab a bag of our Champion Blend today and taste the difference a great bean makes for your latte art!

👉 Shop Artisti Coffee Roasters Beans Online