latte art

4.5

Decorative patterns in the milk foam on a latte made by pouring steamed milk into coffee

noun
/ˈlɑːteɪ ɑrt/

: arte latte

At the coffee shop, I admired the latte art that resembled a beautiful heart on my drink.

Examples

The barista skillfully created a stunning design in the foam, showcasing her exceptional latte art.
For today's latte art, we have a BLOB.
On the other hand, I do like Starbucks latte art over "7-cup from 7-Eleven at 7 AM and threw up 7 times" posts.

Blog text (21)
He learned to make latte art by attending a workshop designed for new baristas.

Synonyms

design

vslatte art

422 3.3

A pattern or picture used to decorate a surface

is specific to patterns made in milk foam on coffee

How Decorative

rosette

3 6.9

latte art

4.5

etching

14 6.3

foam cup

1 1.6

Surface Forms

latte art singular

latte arts plural

Morphology

latte + art

The meaning is directly built from 'latte' (the coffee drink) + 'art' (decorative skill or design), so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to decorative designs made on a latte. This follows a straightforward noun+noun compositional pattern common across languages and is therefore immediately comprehensible to B1 learners.

Etymology

Latte art The noun latte art comes from the way a coffee maker pours steamed milk into a cup of latte to make pictures in the white foam, like hearts or leaves. That's why latte art now means 'designs' made in the foam on top of a latte.