# Such a simple thing...perfect milk



## NickdeBug (Jan 18, 2015)

I have been experimenting a bit with milk steaming/foaming techniques with the Sage in pursuit of my first bit of latte art that didn't look like an onion.

My standard method has been to tilt the jug to the right and angle the steam wand from the spout to the 3 o'clock position in the jug. A few seconds at the surface and then dip below to get a good vortex going. Temptag on the jug makes life much easier. I thought that my results were fairly good, with nice thick microfoam, but no luck with the pouring.

I freely admit that it is pouring that is probably the limiting factor but getting the milk right is a big part of it. Sooo...

...I watched one of the Sage videos on the Dual Boiler and copied the technique. It seemed to involve resting the jug against the side of the drip tray and gradually angling it back. Good results but I noticed that it was resulting in some light scratching to the metal finish. Now I am not the sort of person to get too precious about some of these things but it didn't seem a good idea to keep with this method.

Now for the breakthrough -

I was reading Glenn's review of the Alex Duetto (not with the intention of buying one by the way - just nosy







) and he mentioned using the opposite side of the jug for the wand placement.

Bingo!

I now angle the jug to the left and it seems to produce and much better consistency - real wet paint - everytime. Latte art still a work in progress but I feel that I have just graduated from using edible wax crayons to a nice set of oil paints. Even without the surface looking pretty, the coffee tastes smoother and even the flavours seem more prominent.

Hope this helps a bit


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

Great Tip Nick. I still can't make consistent micro foam. I've generally been in the position the steam wand at 10 o clock an tilt to the right.

Weirdly enough I've recently tried just tilting the jug forward slightly and keeping it at 10 o clock and it also seemed to give good results.

Still can't do it!


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## DoubleShot (Apr 23, 2014)

Might be worth mentioning which side of the machine your steam wand is on so others know when reading your clock face references?


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## NickdeBug (Jan 18, 2015)

DoubleShot said:


> Might be worth mentioning which side of the machine your steam wand is on so others know when reading your clock face references?


Assuming that you are standing in front of the coffee machine at the time I'm not sure that it would make much difference as you could just shuffle 30cm left or right and still be directly in line, but for clarity, the steam wand on the Sage DB is on the right hand side of the machine.


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## DoubleShot (Apr 23, 2014)

@NickdeBug

When I read your first post mentioning 3 o'clock position then pictured that using my machine (Brewtus which has the steam wand on the left handside) it was the opposite of where my steam wand is usually positioned. But then when I remembered that you had a Sage DB it made perfect sense.

Hence my previous comment that it may help others if members mentioned which side their steam wand is. I would think everyone stands in front facing their machine when using it, so steam wand is either to your left or to your right. Moving the steam wand placement in the milk jug by 3cm is deffo no hardship, lol!


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

DoubleShot said:


> Might be worth mentioning which side of the machine your steam wand is on so others know when reading your clock face references?


Given the jug is symmetrical, does it matter whether it's 3 or 9?


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## NickdeBug (Jan 18, 2015)

jeebsy said:


> Given the jug is symmetrical, does it matter whether it's 3 or 9?


Jug is symmetrical, I am most definitely not









It might be an artifact of the Sage design, but the tweak in methodology has absolutely worked for me.

Only downside is that I had stuck the TempTag on the left side of the jug so now have to perform minor contortion to check for colour change


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

I steam at 3 usually. Have often tried switching to 9 as in my head it should make no difference but usually end up with milk all over the walls


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## DoubleShot (Apr 23, 2014)

Chaps, perhaps I wasn't making myself clear. So here's a second attempt...

A member stumbles into this thread, reads first or subsequent posts mentioning which way you're tilting your milk jug and the placement of steam wand which has provided the best results when trying to create perfectly stretched milk/microfoam. Now if it is also mentioned which side your steam wand is on your machine, anyone reading and wishing to try your technique will know whether they need to do the same or the opposite.

Anyone frustrated in trying to consistently create perfect silky microfoam like the pro's would probably be willing to give anything a try and keeping it as simple to follow as possible surely has got to help. No:confused:


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

urbanbumpkin said:


> Great Tip Nick. I still can't make consistent micro foam. I've generally been in the position the steam wand at 10 o clock an tilt to the right.
> 
> Weirdly enough I've recently tried just tilting the jug forward slightly and keeping it at 10 o clock and it also seemed to give good results.
> 
> Still can't do it!


Surprised on the Sage. Its by far the easiest machine I have used to achieve consistent milk with little effort


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

I have to say I've produced better milk on this than any other machine I've used. Unfortunately I only probably make 2 milk based drinks a week if that and have the hands of an imbecile when it comes to latte art.


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