At least once a week someone leans into the window and says the same thing: I bought a machine, I bought your beans, and it still doesn't taste like yours.
Nine times out of ten, it's the milk.
Past 65°C, the sweetness goes
Milk has its own sugar. Heat it gently and that sweetness comes forward, which is why a good flat white tastes like it has sugar in it when it doesn't. Push it past about 65°C and the sugars start to cook off. You get a flat, slightly burnt taste and a foam that falls apart.
Most home machines, and most people, go way past that. If the jug is too hot to hold, it's too hot.
The fix costs ten dollars
Buy a clip-on milk thermometer and stop at 60°C. The milk keeps climbing a couple of degrees after you stop, so 60 lands you right where you want to be.
Stretch it for the first few seconds, with the tip just under the surface so you hear a gentle tearing sound, then sink the wand and let it spin. You want wet paint, not bubble bath.
Then the coffee
Once the milk is right, the coffee matters again. I built Sweet As for exactly this: chocolate and caramel that cut through milk instead of disappearing into it. 18g in, 36g out, about 28 seconds.
Try it this weekend and tell me how it goes. I read every reply.
Liam