Dialling in a cappuccino at home

A good home cappuccino is a single or double shot with roughly three times its volume in textured milk. Start with a fixed recipe and change one thing at a time.

Dose

18 g

Yield

36 g

Time

27–30 s

Milk

150 ml

Milk temp

~60 °C

Adjust the grind first

If the shot runs fast and tastes sour, grind finer. If it runs slowly and tastes bitter or dry, grind coarser. Keep the dose and yield the same until the time falls in range.

Milk

Stretch the milk for the first few seconds with the steam tip just under the surface, then sink it a little and let the jug spin. Stop when the jug is too hot to hold comfortably. The foam should look like wet paint, with no visible bubbles.

Cost per cup

An 18 g shot from a 1 kg bag gives you about 55 cups. Add the milk and a home cup usually costs well under a quarter of the café price, which would make an index entry in itself.