午后找一家安靜的咖啡館小憩，如果服務員端上來一杯帶有可愛拉花圖案的拿鐵，你會不會有整個下午都被點亮的感覺呢？生活中有些人對咖啡拉花著迷，有些人又是拉花高手。今天，我們就來說說latte art。

Latte art, also sometimes described as cappuccino art, is a pattern or miniature sculpture produced within the froth that tops off milky coffee drinks such as cappuccino or latte.

拿鐵藝術（latte art），有時候也叫做卡布奇諾藝術，是一種在卡布奇諾或拿鐵等牛奶咖啡飲品的表面用奶泡畫出圖案或者進行微型雕花的藝術，也就是俗稱的咖啡拉花。

Latte art is formed by mixing crema (the technical term for the liquid formed from coffee oil and water) and microfoam (the foam produced when air is passed through milk using a steam wand on an espresso machine). Since neither of these substances are stable (coffee dissipates and foam becomes liquid milk), latte art needs to be admired and appreciated as soon as it's completed, the careful designs simply 'dissolving' after a few minutes!

咖啡拉花是將克麗瑪（術語：由咖啡脂和水混合成的液體）和牛奶微泡（在蒸汽奶泡機中使用蒸汽棒將牛奶打成的泡沫）混合后形成的。因為這兩種物質均不是穩定的（咖啡會消散，奶泡也會變成液體牛奶），所以咖啡拉花藝術需要在完成時立即欣賞，精心的設計圖案僅僅存在幾分鐘就會“消失殆盡”。

There are two varieties of latte art – one in which the foam is sculpted into a 3D pattern, and the other, more common approach, of 'etching' a pattern in the froth as the milk hits the surface of the coffee. Classic examples of latte art are patterns such as hearts, rosettes and ferns, but designs can be much more complicated, and include cartoon characters, intricate portraits, or even 3D animals. Some more serious 'latte artists' sometimes use colored syrups to 'paint' on the coffee and bring a vibrant twist to this unusual form of artwork. (Source: macmillandictionary.com)

目前有兩種拉花藝術：一種是用泡沫塑成一個立體的圖形，而另一種更為普遍的做法是，將牛奶注入咖啡時用在咖啡表面形成的牛奶泡沫蝕刻出圖案。經典的咖啡拉花圖案有心形、薔薇花型和蕨類葉型，但是也可以設計得更為復雜，包括卡通角色、精致的肖像，甚至是立體的動物形象。一些更鉆研的拉花藝術家們會選用帶有顏色的糖漿在咖啡上作畫，為這一與眾不同的藝術形式增加亮點。

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（中國日報網英語點津 實習生 馬國佳，編輯 Helen）