L'Arte Del Latte

Once you delve into the world of latte art, you might as well resign yourself to steady-state letdown. How can one bear the farcical grande lattes from Starbucks after the taste of a rich cappucino topped with a foam fleur de lis? One can't. But the taste of a well-pulled shot, finished with perfectly foamed milk is one of the smaller more benign pleasures in the life of a yuppie. Not only does your capooch look pretty, but since latte art relies on perfectly pulled espresso (with crema) and thick rich foam, it tastes pretty too. Here are 5 coffee shops around the world noted for their superb latte art.

Seattle: Victrola Coffee is at the epicenter of America's coffee geekdom. Blessed with an attractive staff (check out Paltrow look-alike Shana) and high quality beans they roast themselves, the Capitol Hill cafe trains all its baristas until they can bang out hearts, rosettes, and even lions with every latte they make.

Toronto: Bulldog Coffee is Toronto's only cafe creating latte art. The cafe also serves coffee cocktails like the signature drink, the Bianco Bulldog: Ghirardelli creamy white hot chocolate in a dark-chocolate-drizzled glass, infused with a shot of 100 per cent Arabica espresso. Stewart Ross, the owner of Bulldog Coffee, recently won the Central Canada Barista Championship for his lattes. Located near the Old Maple Leaf Gardens, a cappucino will cost you CA$3.

New York City: Getting a cappucino at Williamsburg's Gimme Coffee is a long process. So obsessed with the perfect coffee, the baristas weigh, time and probe every step of the process. But the wait is worth it. Roasted at the original location in Ithaca, which is gorges by the way, Gimme Coffee's macchiato, cappucino and latte come flowered, rosetted or hearted, depending on how surly artistic or lazy the bartenders are feeling. Caps are US$2.75.

Tokyo: As World Champion Barista 2003, Paul Bassett has his own website, TV show, product line and a signature cafe in Tokyo. 3 of them to be exact: one in Ginza, one in Shunjuku and a new one Jiyugaoka. The cafes, like their master, create beautiful coffee drinks using the highest quality bean, finely roasted and delicately pulled. The result? Crema-rich espresso with a cumulus of foam. But artistry straight (indirectly) from the hand of the champeen of the world don't come cheap (espesh in Japan). A latte is 650 Yen (approx. US$5.50)

Copenhagen: A latte at Estate Coffee Cafe in Copenhagen is a serious deal. The bean will have come from a single prestigious estate and chances are, the drink may even have been prepared by Klaus Thompsen, the current Barista World Champion. In a coffee crazy town, Estate Coffee is perhaps one of the most well-respected names in caffeine.

Latte Art [Flickr]
Victrola Coffee
Bulldog Coffee
Gimme Coffee
Paul Bassett
Estate Coffee

[Photo: Tonx/Flickr]

Previously: Parisian Coffee Roasters, Vienna's Coffee Museum, Places Not To Get Lattes, Geographic Center of the Starbucksiverse