Hearts, tulips and rosettas: the café where the milk does the drawing

Customers come in and order at the till, and Juno passes their order back. Hold to grind the coffee and let go when the scale says 18 grams. Swipe down to tamp it, nice and straight: a crooked swipe tips the tamper. Then start the shot and stop it while it is running golden: too soon is sour, too long is bitter.

Next, the oat milk. Hold the jug up to the steam wand: with the tip near the top it froths up, then slide the jug up so the tip sinks in, and it rolls silky. Let go when the thermometer says it is hot. Pour from high until the cup is about half full, then pour the art: press and hold anywhere, and the jug moves as your finger moves, so you can see what you are drawing. The foam really flows: hold still for a blob and swipe down through it for a heart, push blob into blob for a tulip, and wiggle while you back away for a rosetta. Customers ask for their favourite.

There is more on the board than flat whites and lattes. A cappuccino gets cocoa shaken through a stencil (a heart, a star, a coffee bean or a cat), a mocha gets pumps of chocolate, and a hot chocolate is whisked round by hand. With the ice machine, iced lattes too. Then the customer sits by the window with their cup, or takes it out with them.