A Nice Cuppa

I love a good latte. When I???m drinking an honest-to-goodness, properly crafted latte, I am likely to get caught up in the cup and wax poetic about the delicate balance of flavors ??? the symphony of milk and espresso that waltzes on my tastebuds. Yet, sadly, the latte has become a lost art in the face of over-commercialization of coffee drinks and the exceedingly ubiquitous nature of the drink, often resulting in misnomered lattes that are little more than milky coffee.

Which is why I was so pleasantly surprised to come upon a deeply satisfying and authentic latte in Boston last week. On vacation there, I had breakfast at an unassuming establishment on Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge. La Luna Caffe is a small but charming place featuring authentic coffee drinks and imported Italian gelato. My cinnamon raisin bagel was just a bagel (albeit toasted to perfection), but the latte was everything I could have hoped for, and just the right thing to give me a jump start to a day of walking around the city. Most importantly, it delivered on all four things that make a great latte:

1) the crema
2) a substantially large drinking chalice
3) the perfect ratio of milk to espresso (the color should be caramel, rich, and never grayish)
4) and, the crema

I reserve the right to take liberties with the numerical list and specify crema twice because, well, I???m the writer, first of all; and, more importantly, because it???s the cornerstone of a well-made latte. And it???s the key element that???s sadly lacking in many of the aforementioned faux lattes you???ll find in abundance everywhere.

So what exactly is crema anyway?

Crema is an emulsion comprised of carbon dioxide, oils and lipids created when very finely ground espresso is brewed. It???s a rather scientific process greatly impacted by temperature, grind, bean, and other variables, but when it???s created properly the finished product is more art than science. The espresso (accessorized with crema) is then poured into steaming milk and voila, you have a latte.

The crema on a latte should be rich yet light, bitter yet slightly sweet in aftertaste, mellow yet bold. It should be a complex paradox of taste bud stimulation. It???s more than just the cherry on the sundae ??? although it???s situated organically at the top of the drink, it truly filters through the entire cup and caps off each sip.

Unfortunately, La Luna Caffe is a rather impractical five-hour drive from my house, which is to say it???s not exactly conducive to a stopover for my morning cup. So until I???m up in the Boston area again, I guess I???ll just have to continue my quest for a quality latte in the central New Jersey area. I know the good crema is out there somewhere.