Microfoam vs. "Bubble" Foam - by "She"

Foam is foam, right? Not quite. Hopefully you've had the privilege of being served a cappuccino with true microfoam and not the airy, big bubble foam that plagues most cafes in the States. Microfoam is dense, creamy, rich, and oh so good. It is mixed in with the milk so that when you pour it into your espresso the drink becomes smooth and perfect. "Bubble" foam is usually spooned, not poured, onto the top and doesn't add much to the espresso flavor. In fact when they spoon the "bubble" foam on top they usually don't add much, if any, milk to the drink. A cappuccino is a milk drink and as such there should be milk in it--not just foam.

The difference between getting perfect microfoam and "bubble" foam is in the milk, temp, and technique. We use whole milk as it produces (when frothed correctly) a nice ratio of milk to foam. It is possible to use 2% and lower yet from what I've read it's harder to get the dense microfoam. I can't speak from experience on this point so if you want a lower fat milk try it out and let me know.

Here are some pics to show the difference between "bubble" foam and microfoam. These come from CoffeeGeek.com which is a great resourceful site! Learned lots from there already.

First, the "bubble" foam--CoffeeGeek.com describes this as looking like dish soap--I agree. I have also seen bigger bubbles in cappuccinos before.


Next, the microfoam--it's not the best pic but you can see the bubbles are tiny, tiny, tiny and it's dense. THIS is what you want!


I think once you taste true microfoam you will yearn for it. I could be wrong, but for me microfoam enhances my cappuccino...it makes it what it is. I loves me some microfoam.