The Double Heart

The double heart is an excellent step in your latte art progression because it will teach you how to connect different poured designs to make even more complex patterns. We will eventually be learning other designs that will require you to move effortlessly from one design to the next. So, what is a double heart? It's just a single heart connected to another heart at its bottom tip. This one will require you to accurately position the first heart in top half of the coffee cup while paying attention to the amount of space you have for the one below it.

By now, we assume that you know the importance of steaming your milk properly and having perfectly ground and brewed espresso. If you don't use the steam wand at an angle to the steam pitcher toward the end of the steaming process, your milk won't foam correctly and it will be extremely difficult to create any kind of latte design. Phew, glad we could that off our chest. Now it's time for the double heart.

You will begin the pour for a double heart just as you would begin it for a single heart. Start by keeping the steam pitcher low to the coffee cup while getting a moderate flow going. When the cup is about half full, you will want to position the steam pitcher in between the middle and near side of the coffee cup to get the heart in the top half. Once there, begin the slow wrist wiggle motion required for a heart.

Remember that, unlike the rosetta, you don't need to wiggle your wrist all that much. You just have to stay in the same place and wiggle it a little. As the heart starts to show and fill the cup, elevate the steam pitcher slightly as you move to the bottom of your first heart to start pouring the second one. When you lift up your steam pitcher and move it like this, you are creating the sucking action that makes a heart a heart. Basically, the milk coming in from on high is kind of like a black hole. Everything around it is attracted to the center point.

You will begin the second heart at the bottom tip of the first heart. Pour it just as you would pour any heart. If you poured you first heart a little big, that's okay. You can create a tiny heart to fill up the rest of the space. From the standpoint of visual composition, a little mistake like this is probably a good thing. One of the more prevalent and visually appealing themes in art is that of a large object set in contrast to a smaller one. Perfection sometimes results in banality.

As an added challenge, try to get three hearts in one cup. Not only will it look awesome, you will be honing your heart creation skills in preparation for Valentine's season. After learning this technique, the latte art world is yours for the taking. Almost all of the highly advanced designs are some variation of a heart and rosetta combination. Learn these skills first, and you will be well on your way.

Learn more about making Latte Art in our Latte Art How To!