Arriving back in Houston in 2018 after many years between Melbourne and Seattle, I was taken aback by the city’s craze around latte art. I’m not entirely sure where it originated. I’ve seen and even competed in my share of latte art competitions throughout my career, but Houston had an infatuation.
Yet despite latte art being the craze, it was clear to me that the broader coffee culture in the city didn’t fully understand the dynamics of texturing milk. I understand why people want their coffee hot: it’s a morning ritual, it’s comforting, and it feels familiar. But as a coffee professional, I know the industry has learned a few truths over the years that require us to be mindful of how we texture milk and how hot we serve beverages.
Before going further, I should add this: specialty coffee, the sector we’re in, is all about elevating coffee. That can mean supporting better practices at the farm level, being intentional in the café, or even how we package our beans. Everything is aimed at one thing: showcasing coffee’s unique qualities in contrast to commodity coffee driven by price and volume.
With that in mind, here’s the hard truth: when a beverage is scalding hot, you can’t taste much of anything. Our taste buds simply can’t process flavor at extreme temperatures. It’s the same reason cheap beer is served ice cold, because when it’s freezing you can’t really taste it.
For specialty coffee professionals, the goal is to create beverages where the customer can actually distinguish quality. That makes temperature a huge factor. If we steam milk so hot that you can barely sip it, we lose any chance of highlighting what’s beautiful about that coffee. In fact, milk begins to degrade around 150°F, which means the natural sweetness that balances espresso’s bitterness is lost. When milk is over-steamed, the sugars burn and its very makeup changes. It loses sweetness, the sugars and fats separate, and instead of silky texture, you’re left with a burnt taste and a flat, dull foam. The beautiful sheen and gloss that make a cappuccino, flat white, or latte so inviting disappear. Shiny, sweet milk is meant to showcase the exceptionally balanced and delicate espresso, and without it, the harmony is lost.
This presents a dilemma. On one hand, we want to showcase the nuance of specialty coffee. On the other, we’re in the hospitality business. Hospitality means meeting people where they are, remaking a drink if needed, being gracious when expectations are shaped by more commercial shops, and making sure our guests leave happy. After all, if no one enjoys the experience, the principles don’t matter, because there’s no business.
But running a specialty café also means holding standards. Through science and experience, we’ve learned how to prepare milk beverages in ways that best highlight the coffee and give guests the highest chance of tasting it as intended.
That’s why Tenfold will never operate like a commercial chain where your piping hot drink is shouted out across the bar. That’s just not us. It is the opposite of our ethos: to elevate the value of coffee for the city we love.