Cold Foam Latte
Milk frothed cold until it holds like a loose meringue, floated on iced coffee. It works because of fat, or rather the absence of it, and it takes thirty seconds.
At a glance
- Espresso : milk
- 1:4
- Active time
- 4 min
- Total time
- 5 min
- Makes
- 1 tall glass
- Serve
- Over ice
- Kit
- Handheld frother
Ingredients
Note: Use skim or semi-skimmed for the foam and whole milk for the drink. Mixing them up is the single reason most home cold foam fails.
Method
-
Cool the espresso
Pull a double and stir it over a couple of ice cubes until it is cold, or pull it in advance and refrigerate it.
Hot espresso poured onto ice melts a third of the glass before you start.
-
Froth the skim milk cold
Put 60 ml of very cold skim milk in a tall narrow jug with the syrup and run a handheld frother for 30 to 45 seconds, moving it up and down.
It should roughly triple in volume and hold a soft peak, like loosely whipped cream.
Froth 30 to 45 seconds -
Build the drink
Fill a tall glass with ice, pour in the whole milk, then the cold espresso.
-
Spoon the foam on top
Pour or spoon the cold foam over, filling the last few centimetres of the glass.
It should sit as a distinct white cap and cascade slowly down the sides over the next minute, which is most of the appeal.
Why this works
Cold foam inverts the usual milk rule and the reason is fat. In hot steaming, fat is helpful: it carries flavour and gives the foam a silky weight, which is why whole milk makes the best microfoam in a flat white. Cold, fat behaves differently. Below about 10°C, milk fat is partially crystallised, and those solid fat crystals puncture the bubble walls as they form. Skim milk has almost none, so its proteins are free to build a stable foam.
That is also why cold foam feels different in the mouth. It is a protein foam with no fat in it, so it is light and airy rather than creamy, and it holds its shape rather than melting on contact. It sits on the drink as a layer rather than mixing in, which is why the cascade effect happens.
The sweet cream version sold in chains adds cream and vanilla syrup back in, which gives a richer foam that collapses faster. Both work; the skim version holds much longer.
Temperature is the one rule. Milk straight from the fridge at 4°C foams well; milk that has sat out for twenty minutes barely foams at all. Put the jug in the freezer for a few minutes if your fridge runs warm.
Variations
- Sweet cream: 40 ml skim milk and 20 ml double cream, frothed together with vanilla syrup.
- Salted caramel: caramel syrup in the foam and a pinch of flaky salt on top.
- Over cold brew: smoother and less acidic than espresso.
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Questions
Why will my cold foam not thicken?
Almost always fat. Whole milk will not foam properly cold because crystallised fat destabilises the bubbles. Use skim or semi-skimmed, and make sure it is genuinely cold, straight from the fridge.
Can I use a steam wand?
No, a steam wand heats as it aerates. Use a handheld battery frother, a French press plunged rapidly, or a jar shaken hard for a minute.
How long does cold foam last?
Skim milk foam holds its shape for five to ten minutes. Versions with cream in them are richer but collapse in two or three.
Does non-dairy milk work?
Barista oat milk foams reasonably well cold. Almond and rice milks lack the protein and generally will not hold. Soy is somewhere in between.