Rolling hills, fields of grass, and a seemingly infinite highway brought us to our second coffee stop: Alternative Fuel Coffee House in Rapid City, S.D. Walking to the shop, we appreciated the brick storefronts and large window displays of the historic downtown street.
The outward appearance of the coffee shop created excitement in both of us. We hoped for another impressive encounter, like that of our Coffea experience.
We walked in and were greeted by a woman who we assumed to be the owner. She kindly offered to give us beverage suggestions. But first, we wanted to take note of the interior of the shop.
Filled with tables and a few leather chairs, the shop seemed like a simple and ordinary coffeehouse. The only visually interesting aspect of the shop was the illuminated painted logo on the brick wall.
Nothing was extraordinary, including the coffee.
I ordered a hot white mocha with caramel sauce, a suggestion from the owner. Ashley chose her go-to beverage of a whole milk latte with one raw sugar. She also got a black tea with mango syrup and boba.
My white mocha was average and actually, too sweet for my liking. Ashley did not enjoy her latte, either. Ashley said it was flat, lacking froth and dimension.
She commented that it was simply steamed milk, without the proper foam and flavor. The tea was also disappointing when we tasted it later during our drive.
The shop was cute, but nothing interesting or unique.
When researching what it takes to make a good latte, and the correct way to steam milk, I stumbled upon a website, called Whole Latte Love, which sells coffee machines and offers advice for baristas.
Steamed milk definitely tastes better than milk heated any other way. It is sweeter because your tongue reacts instantly to the decreased surface tension. Steaming the milk can be a drudge or one step on your path to culinary glory. It’s serious chemistry, too. In addition to violently and rapidly heating the liquid, steam alters the physical characteristics of milk proteins in a process called denaturing. Changes are taking place on a molecular level in the milk but the results are cosmic. And, of far more interest to you and me, steam-denatured milk can become something quite fascinating — something cold milk simply cannot. Steamed milk can be inflated, built up into a swollen, lofty lattice. That is, it can be turned into an extraordinarily cool thing: foam.
It is important to consider the way in which milk is steamed. The sweetness, or flatness, of milk in a latte makes all the difference. We learned that firsthand.
Next stop: Cheyenne, WY.
-Allison
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