Technology innovations often spell the end of the Artisan.
Automated looms ended the jobs of the textile worker.
Horse and Plough ended with the innovation of the tractor.
The toaster ended the guild of elite toasters and the skill accumulated through generations of toasting excellence.
Now latte art is under threat with the advent of stencils. The pitch is persuasive.
No longer do you need to learn the art of conjuring micro foam and the Sleight of
hand of free pour. Forget all that don’t waste your time and the tonnes of milk it takes to get it right. Slap a stencil on the top of the cappuccino sprinkle choc on the top and voila get a pattern on top faster that it takes Bansky to tag your front porch.
Latte Artists may well feel threatened like a Luddite at a Stephenson's Rocket convention. Amazon sell La Cafetiere stencil sets for under a tenner. Temptation high and cost low I couldn’t resist buying a set and giving them a road test.
When they arrived presentation is good. A nice oval shaped tin box holds the 5
shapes and at the back of the box a short preamble explains the designs are from the work of Alison Appleton, a British designer apparently.
Enough hyperbole on with the review...
The stencils feel strong and look easy to clean. They fit easily on top of a standard mug too which has the advantage you can use the stencils solo no need for a double act.
Having served up a cappuccino it was time to put the stencils to the test. I chose the star pattern and it sat perfectly on top of the cup. I then reached for the Cadburys Sprinke chocolate and let the good stuff flow.
Ok sprinkling over, time to see the finished article. With drawing the stencil
I felt like a kid at Christmas ripping through a parcel fuelled by the anticipation that this year he would get a genuine eagle eyed action man and not a box of matches and a can of lager like last year.
But as the finished result dawned my delight was muted. Irt was OK, not bad not brill just OK. So latte artists its safe to conclude you aint got nothing to worry about, stencils just cant match the finesse of Rosetta poured by a pro. No need to write letters of protest to La Cafetiere no need to take to the streets with burning effigies of Alison Appleton.
All in all i give the La cafetiere stencil set 3 stars out of five. Easy to clean, cool packaging but just not a great finished result.
Rent espresso coffee machines serve elite standard coffee :-)
