Coffee meets creativity: Latte art takes over cafes

Mumbai’s coffee culture has grown far beyond the daily caffeine fix, evolving into an experience driven by both flavour and aesthetics. Among its rising trends is latte art, a skill once confined to professional baristas, but now drawing increasing interest from everyday Mumbaikars eager to learn the craft themselves. It reflects a wider cultural shift and is now becoming a shared cultural experience that is blending creativity, technique, and community. A BREWING TREND ACROSS AGE GROUPS “Yes, there is a rising demand to learn latte art, and every workshop has around 16–20 people coming in,” says Tarun Sharma, a coffee enthusiast who has been holding frequent workshops in Mumbai. What’s striking is the diversity of participants. “The youngest participant we had was 16 and the oldest was around 60. Usually, we have a mixed age group as everyone wants to learn this art,” he adds. From teenagers to seasoned professionals, the city’s residents are finding common ground in their curiosity for crafting the perfect cup. THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE SWIRL Latte art may look effortless, but it demands precision and technique. Tarun breaks it down: “To pour a heart, start with your pitcher high and pour a thin stream while swirling to mix the milk under the espresso's surface. Once the cup is half full, drop the pitcher spout as close to the liquid as possible and increase your pour speed to make a white circle bloom. As the cup fills, lift the pitcher slightly and "cut" a thin line of milk through the center of the circle to pull it into a heart shape." For those serious about the craft, understanding milk texturing is crucial. Ruchika Sharma, who has undergone a professional barista course, explains, “If you want froth, you have to keep the steam wand at the surface of the milk and not dip it in too much. There is a chirping sound called aeration, this is key to knowing you are doing it right and your milk will froth well. To heat the milk, you should plunge the steam wand a bit deeper in a particular angle and it should form a whirlpool. That is the perfect way to heat the milk for a latte.” MORE THAN JUST A CUP For people like Pranali Shinde, a pharmacist, latte art is a form of personal expression. “I love coffee and I’m passionate about different types of coffee art like making a swan, tulips, heart, and I want to create these and serve it to my family and friends. Today I mastered how to create a beautiful heart on my latte. I learnt a lot of little details about coffee right from beans, to roasts, to different espresso machines.” Meanwhile, for others, coffee has been a long-time companion evolving into a passion. Payal Vedant, a bridal couture stylist, reflects, “My love for coffee goes way back when I started working in the industry. There coffee became my coping mechanism to get through the day and I used to have at least two to three cups of black coffee just to be able to deal with back-to-back clients! Slowly this grew into something more; I loved the flavours, the taste, the bitterness and I wanted to explore. Thankfully Mumbai now has many ‘experience cafés’ for coffee, and I love it. This has become my favourite pastime now, trying new coffees, exploring new cafes. After this workshop I will surely try latte art at home.” FROM COFFEE LOVERS TO CREATORS For many attendees, these workshops are more than just a hobby, they mark the beginning of a deeper relationship with coffee. Ronson William, who works in marketing and communication for a finance firm, shares, “My love for coffee started three years back when I moved from regular to fresh ground. Ad I started learning more about it and began experimenting using the coffee machine I have. Latte art is something I really needed to know more about and workshops like this one, on latte art are a great help. I loved it and finally created my own latte art.” Hetvi Shah, a Spanish teacher, credits her fiancé for her newfound interest. “I'm a tea person but my fiancé is a coffee maniac and thanks to him I’ve also started liking it. This workshop taught me so much about coffee. We both are definitely going to buy a coffee maker after this.” A LONG-AWAITED LEARNING CURVE For some, the journey to mastering coffee has been filled with trial and error. Yash Kothari, an entrepreneur in digital printing, says, “I love coffee, I always have. There have been multiple instances when I have gone up to coffee chains (like Starbucks, Costa Coffee, Third Wave Coffee) and said, ‘Can you please teach me how to make good coffee!’ but none did and I lost hope of ever getting the nuances of a good coffee. Until, of course, I got to attend a workshop that taught me a lot on this!” The rise of such workshops is filling a gap that cafés traditionally did not address, hands-on learning for enthusiasts.