Lately I've posted a couple of pictures of the top of a cup of coffee like this...



and I'm sure some people are curious why?

These decorations are the result of three very important elements.  First, the espresso must be prepared correctly.  The brown in the image is crema, a mix of gases, oils, and coffee particles.  Crema is a great sign that a shot of espresso was extracted properly.  It is very delicate and can be difficult to produce depending on the equipment.  All espresso drinks with crema don't necessarily taste great, but a cup without is almost guaranteed to taste poorly.  The white is obviously the steamed milk but in this context it is more specifically the correctly textured microfoam steamed milk.  Once again it can be difficult to stretch and whirlpool the milk to the right consistency to hold up on top of the liquid coffee and mix correctly with the crema.  Coffee geeks have written volumes about microfoam steamed milk.  It has a certain texture and flavor that is satisfying.  In essence the art is created by the third element, the barista, Italian for barkeep, as proof that these two key elements have been performed correctly.  The beans may be bitter, the steam may be scorched, but at least the first sign to the consumer is in order.  Advocates of latte art feel that it's an easy thing to do once a barista is properly trained and that perhaps a customer may remember it and choose their cafe over a competitor.

A little tip... I often prefer a Cappuccino to a Latte, but in a public cafe I now order the latte.  The reason is fairly simple.  Mostly because I got a lot of disappointing caps and switched to find that the lattes were generally better.  A cappuccino should be one third espresso, one third steamed milk, and one third a light and airy foam in these proportions regardless of the size.  A latte is a third espresso and two thirds steamed milk or microfoam.  I think the specialty coffee industry has placed so much emphasis on the latte and latte art that the average barista is almost always going to have much more practice with making one.