Difference in Pitchers

Two different pitchers

I have been steaming in about 1,5 years with my steel series pitcher off 0,35 L. pitcher, which until now have been more than enough - but in that period I had never been relatively close to pouring some great latte art. I have always thought and blamed my previous espresso machine, the Francis Francis X1, which definitely had a thing or two to do with it - but never my pitcher.

Unknown 0,35 L. pitcher

This lead me straight to watching online latte art videos and reading endless articles off the dos and don´ts. Therefore I currently upgraded my espresso machine and thought all would be in order and it sort of was, I was producing some great micro foam, but didn't get the pour right. You are thinking which cup are you pouring in, because it does matter if the bottom of the glass/cup is curved or flat - and Im currently using a glass with a flat bottom.

But I was at once chatting my way at the local coffee shop and saw the Motta pitcher, which was a lot heavier than my current pitcher and also had a better designed spout. I was also introduced to the fact that the latte art champion Chris Loukakis always uses this exact pitcher, therefore I had too try it.

Motta 0,35 L. pitcher

To be absolutely precise the weight difference between the two pitchers is 77 gr., which when you are holding the pitcher fells like a lot. The steel series pitcher weighs 137 gr. and the Motta pitcher weighs 214 gr. - both off them is a 0,35 L. pitcher.

Did it help me out regarding to the latte art problems? Well actually the milk was a bit more easy to steam in the Motta pitcher than the unknown pitcher, because it is formed more cone like. More importantly the spout makes a huge difference, when talking latte art - you have more control upon the milk flow and can actually draw upon the foam surface, where the unknown pitcher just dumps the milk. But a true con and the only to the Motta pitcher, is that its more heat resistant - meaning that the sides of metal is a lot thicker and therefore takes more time to adjust to the milk temperature inside. So if you are using the side of the pitcher to get a hold off how the temperature is rising, then you will be better off with the unknown pitcher.


// Hendrup