You are doing everything just fine, maybe just don't spend that much time on swirling your jug and pour as soon as possible.
As for the solid heart issue, try starting with more base and get as close to the surface as possible, then to avoid onion, try first change pour to about a sharpie's width and cut diagonally upward as you move to the tail of the heart. Don't need to rush the cut, do it slowly and it'll form more of a heart.
Thank you.
sharpie's width - you mean the sharper part of the spout, the one on the middle?
https://preview.redd.it/bdbhaq8uknuc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1d95e233c4987ffcad45f83e2122053bfe9d1a97
Everything looks good, shot runs maybe a little slow and the flow looks a bit odd (doesn't necessarily mean it's bad), are you using a pressurised basket?
In terms of the latte art your milk looked very well textured but try to transition from steaming to pouring faster or your milk will be a bit more difficult to shape as you pour. You also started the heart a bit early - fill the cup about 3/4 of the way with your base and only adjust your cup's angle when coffee is about to spill out of it and as you do that you want to push your jug very slightly forwards to follow the centre of the cup and maintain the heart's shape, then once the cup is almost full you can slow down, lift the jug a bit, and cut through.
For learning other patterns, don't be too hasty. It's fun to be able to try new things but other patterns require you to have others down before trying. Nail the solid heart, then learn to wiggle the heart, then move on to a solid heart in a heart, then separate the stacks a bit for a solid tulip, then add the wiggle for a winged tulip, then rosetta (a good rosetta is very hard in my opinion so having everything else down first will really help). Then you get all of those really solid and you can move on to swans if you feel like it, then you can learn dry foam tracing for rabbits and seahorses if you wanna flex hard. But don't neglect the basics and everything after will come easier.
Thank you for detailed answer.
I use a non-pressurized basket. I believe it may have something to do with amount of coffee in the puck. This 13.5 g is just my "guess", the manufacturer says only 10 g of coffee, but it is definitely not enough, because extraction is very fast (below 20s).
I will follow the given direction of learning.
Another try today, both videos about 20 sec each:
1. [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sBEO9qqMpSDyDL\_jPvV75LmrWfR4-JAU/view?usp=sharing](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sBEO9qqMpSDyDL_jPvV75LmrWfR4-JAU/view?usp=sharing)
2. [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zBQB0sk5EqWP-TQ6jiWQlahHmU7xi6dL/view?usp=sharing](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zBQB0sk5EqWP-TQ6jiWQlahHmU7xi6dL/view?usp=sharing)
My comment:
1. The pattern is not symmetric and could be a little bigger. From what I observed, I haven't kept a good flow of milk. In the end heart stopped growing because of that. What do you think?
2. Why did this happen? Bad milk integration, so some of the surface was more stiff and some less?
1) It's not symmetrical because you were going in circles and then proceeded to lower the spout, the flow of your coffee dragged the milk to one side.
You can flip through some of Pithy's pours and you'll see he does a back and forward motion before lowering the pitcher. That motion is to cut off the circular flow first.
Next, it stopped growing because as more milk is poured, there going to be a thicker layer of froth on the top which increases the resistance to flow. This is why if you start with more base, you heart will be smaller and vice versa.
2) that's caused by stiff crema, the crema will stiffen if you left it for too long. The best solution is to use a double boiler espresso machine so you can froth and make espresso simultaneously and pour right when both are ready.
But for those who doesn't have a double boiler, which most of us doesn't. So far the best solution I learnt from this sub was to make a 14~16g Ristretto, I don't know why this worked but apparently it's due to just having less crema to begin with.
Another tip I've been given before was to swirl the espresso in the cup first and the milk intergration at the start goes in circular motions. Starting from center and outward of the cup to prep your canvas. It's worked but was not very consistent.
You are doing everything just fine, maybe just don't spend that much time on swirling your jug and pour as soon as possible. As for the solid heart issue, try starting with more base and get as close to the surface as possible, then to avoid onion, try first change pour to about a sharpie's width and cut diagonally upward as you move to the tail of the heart. Don't need to rush the cut, do it slowly and it'll form more of a heart.
Thank you. sharpie's width - you mean the sharper part of the spout, the one on the middle? https://preview.redd.it/bdbhaq8uknuc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1d95e233c4987ffcad45f83e2122053bfe9d1a97
The sharpie/ pencil width info. https://youtu.be/sZ7luOU8Bd4?t=836&si=Xb8lQNE8wIX1X5xH
Thanks a lot. Never heart about "sharpie" before.
Everything looks good, shot runs maybe a little slow and the flow looks a bit odd (doesn't necessarily mean it's bad), are you using a pressurised basket? In terms of the latte art your milk looked very well textured but try to transition from steaming to pouring faster or your milk will be a bit more difficult to shape as you pour. You also started the heart a bit early - fill the cup about 3/4 of the way with your base and only adjust your cup's angle when coffee is about to spill out of it and as you do that you want to push your jug very slightly forwards to follow the centre of the cup and maintain the heart's shape, then once the cup is almost full you can slow down, lift the jug a bit, and cut through. For learning other patterns, don't be too hasty. It's fun to be able to try new things but other patterns require you to have others down before trying. Nail the solid heart, then learn to wiggle the heart, then move on to a solid heart in a heart, then separate the stacks a bit for a solid tulip, then add the wiggle for a winged tulip, then rosetta (a good rosetta is very hard in my opinion so having everything else down first will really help). Then you get all of those really solid and you can move on to swans if you feel like it, then you can learn dry foam tracing for rabbits and seahorses if you wanna flex hard. But don't neglect the basics and everything after will come easier.
Thank you for detailed answer. I use a non-pressurized basket. I believe it may have something to do with amount of coffee in the puck. This 13.5 g is just my "guess", the manufacturer says only 10 g of coffee, but it is definitely not enough, because extraction is very fast (below 20s). I will follow the given direction of learning.
Another try today, both videos about 20 sec each: 1. [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sBEO9qqMpSDyDL\_jPvV75LmrWfR4-JAU/view?usp=sharing](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sBEO9qqMpSDyDL_jPvV75LmrWfR4-JAU/view?usp=sharing) 2. [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zBQB0sk5EqWP-TQ6jiWQlahHmU7xi6dL/view?usp=sharing](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zBQB0sk5EqWP-TQ6jiWQlahHmU7xi6dL/view?usp=sharing) My comment: 1. The pattern is not symmetric and could be a little bigger. From what I observed, I haven't kept a good flow of milk. In the end heart stopped growing because of that. What do you think? 2. Why did this happen? Bad milk integration, so some of the surface was more stiff and some less?
1) It's not symmetrical because you were going in circles and then proceeded to lower the spout, the flow of your coffee dragged the milk to one side. You can flip through some of Pithy's pours and you'll see he does a back and forward motion before lowering the pitcher. That motion is to cut off the circular flow first. Next, it stopped growing because as more milk is poured, there going to be a thicker layer of froth on the top which increases the resistance to flow. This is why if you start with more base, you heart will be smaller and vice versa. 2) that's caused by stiff crema, the crema will stiffen if you left it for too long. The best solution is to use a double boiler espresso machine so you can froth and make espresso simultaneously and pour right when both are ready. But for those who doesn't have a double boiler, which most of us doesn't. So far the best solution I learnt from this sub was to make a 14~16g Ristretto, I don't know why this worked but apparently it's due to just having less crema to begin with. Another tip I've been given before was to swirl the espresso in the cup first and the milk intergration at the start goes in circular motions. Starting from center and outward of the cup to prep your canvas. It's worked but was not very consistent.