Although I appreciate a good piece of latte art, I’ve never tried to make any myself; for starters, I don’t have the equipment — but even if I did, I’m pretty sure the whole experiment would just end in tears anyway. But now there’s a way for those of us who have no barista skills to speak of to enjoy adorable latte art right at home: Deco Latte sheets from a Japanese company called Takara Tomy Arts. You’ll get an especially hearty kick out of them if you, like me, are an adult who still likes to play with her food, because seriously, you guys. They’re like magic.
According to Rocket News, the sheets are made of flavorless gelatin with cocoa food coloring. As such, they won’t result in the fluffy type of latte art skilled baristas make with foamed milk — and they’re probably not vegetarian or kosher either (sorry, folks with dietary restrictions). They will, however, paint delightful, edible little images on the top of your coffee without you needing to do much more than drop it in the top of the cup. The best part? There’s a video demonstrating how Deco Latte sheets work.
Unfortunately I don’t speak Japanese, so I can’t tell you what any of the text in the video says — but if a picture is worth a thousand words, then here’s everything you need to know about these marvelous creations:
Step 1: Caffeinate
First, make yourself some coffee (duh). Then select which Deco Latte design you want to use and place it on top your cup of joe.
Step 2: Wait
Once it hits the coffee, the sheet will start to curl up (kind of like those fortune teller fish things we used to play with when we were kids). Then it will suddenly stop curling up…
Step 3: Enjoy
…And become the cutest little piece of latte art you ever did see instead. The designs will either last about two minutes or until you stir it away — whichever comes first.
Design Taxi reports that Deco Latte sheets will be available for purchase starting on December 1, 2014; they’ll cost 500 yen, or about $4.36, for a pack of 10 sheets. I’m not sure if the Takara Tomy Arts delivers to the U.S., but if you really want a set of these suckers, I’m sure you’ll be able to figure out a way to get a hold of them. eBay might be an option (although as always when shopping on eBay, be careful of scammers); you also might check Reddit’s Snack Exchange sub, which helps connect people from different parts of the world for the purposes of trading delicious, tasty snacks they might not be able to get where they live.
Watch the video below to see Deco Latte sheets in action:
Images: Takara Tomy Arts/YouTube (4)
