We’ve all become fond of heading out to a fancy coffee shop, whether it’s a latte or cappuccino or something less caffeine filled like a hot chocolate that’s the drink of choice. It’s not always possible to head out, though, and even if you’ve got a decent bean to cup maker at home, it can sometimes feel that while it tastes great, it doesn’t quite look the part.
Getting Arty With A Coffee Stencil
The solution is coffee stencils, sometimes called a cappuccino or latte stencil. They’re the things that you’ll see the barista in Starbucks or Costa use to sprinkle a pattern in chocolate onto the froth on your drink. While each coffee house has its own signature way to decorate a hot beverage, there are a wide variety of different patterns and designs to choose from.
Traditional Coffee Stencils
Let’s start with the type of design you’d expect to see in a high street coffee house. Below are a few examples of stencil kits that are hugely popular with those who like to enjoy a latte, hot chocolate or cappuccino at home, and have the time and inclination to make sure it’s dressed to impress:
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36 Coffee Decorating Stencils + 2 Stainless Steel Mesh Powder Shaker, Magnoloran Foam Latte Art Stencils Barista Templates for Decorating Oatmeal Cupcake Cake Cappuccino Mousse Hot Chocolate
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72 Pieces Coffee Decoration Stencils Coffee Art Template Coffee Mold Tool with 2 Coffee Latte Art Pen 2 Dusting Jars Mesh Powder Shaker for Cake Coffee Oatmeal Cappuccino Hot Chocolate
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JENNIMER 5Pcs Coffee Stencils, Stainless Steel Printing with 12Pcs Cute Kitty Templates and 1Pcs 5inch Expander,Barista Cappuccino Arts Garland Mould Cake DIY Decorating Tool for Kitchen and Store
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44 Coffee Decorating Stencils + 2 Steel Mesh Powder Shaker + 1 Coffee Latte Art Pen, Magnoloran Foam Latte Art Stencils Barista Templates for Decorating Oatmeal Cupcake Cake Cappuccino Mousse
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30 Pieces Halloween Cookie Stencils Reusable Small Halloween Stencils Coffee Templates Baking Painting Mold Tool for Halloween DIY Notebook Wood Sign Card Making(Classic Style)
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Funny Designs
You might have seen or heard that there’s some novelty options that you can use to decorate your drinks with too, perfect for when a known joker comes around for a catch up and you want to get your revenge for their pranks:
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Konsait Cookie Coffee Stencil, 46 Pieces Template Stencils for Baking Decorating Supplies, Yoga Sports Cross Mermaid Farmhouse Leaves Snowflake Art Stencil for Cupcake Cake Barista Latte Decorations
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38 Coffee Decorating Stencils, Magnoloran Coffee Art Stencils Barista Template for All Kinds of Mousse, Cup Cake, Birthday Cake, Coffee + 1 Piece Coffee Latte Art Pen
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yueton Pack of 16 Cappuccino Coffee Barista Stencils Template Strew Pad Duster Spray
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Logos For Drinks
A less common but quite neat solution is to get a logo stencil for a coffee that’s a bit different. Here’s a few examples of some coffee stencils for logos you might recognise:
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JENNIMER 5Pcs Coffee Stencils, Stainless Steel Printing with 12Pcs Cute Kitty Templates and 1Pcs 5inch Expander,Barista Cappuccino Arts Garland Mould Cake DIY Decorating Tool for Kitchen and Store
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Konsait 20 Pack Cake Stencil Templates Decoration, Reusable Cake Cookies Baking Painting Journal Mold Tools, Dessert, Coffee Decorating Leaves Butterfly Flowers Bird Dragonfly for DIY Craft Decor
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16Pcs Coffee Decorating Stencils Various Patterns Plastic Coffee Stencils Cappuccino Chocolate Latte Barista Template
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Personalised Coffee Stencils
Just as Starbucks and Costa have their own recognisable logos, you can too! Even when you order through a huge site like Amazon that sell so many different types of products, some sellers on their platform offer a customisable stencil maker service. Here’s some examples of a personalised stencil for cappuccino art:
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30 Pieces Halloween Cookie Stencils Thanksgiving Christmas Stencils Reusable Cake Stencils and Templates DIY Baking Templates Holiday Cake Templates Decorating Stencil for Food Dessert Craft
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Konsait 20 Pack Cake Stencil Templates Decoration, Reusable Cake Cookies Baking Painting Journal Mold Tools, Dessert, Coffee Decorating Leaves Butterfly Flowers Bird Dragonfly for DIY Craft Decor
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30 Pieces Halloween Cookie Stencils Reusable Small Halloween Stencils Coffee Templates Baking Painting Mold Tool for Halloween DIY Notebook Wood Sign Card Making(Classic Style)
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How Do Cappuccino Stencils Work?
Using a coffee stencil is remarkably straightforward, but as is so often the case, it’s only easy when you know how! We’ve probably all seen baristas make it look so easy in our favourite coffee shops, but probably haven’t been paying enough attention to really see how it’s done!
In this short video you can see it in action, along with a couple of tips to help you along the way.
The key part is that your milk is finely frothed. If you have a machine with a manual wand, or you use a separate milk frother, then use the tapping method with the jug (as shown in the video) to smooth out the foam.
If you’ve got one of our recommended automatic cappuccino coffee machines like the Eletta, then you’ll be able to set the frother to produce a finer foam for better results when stencilling. Of course, if you prefer bigger bubbles that’s fine, you’ll just get less accuracy in your stencilled pattern.
When it comes to using the stencil, we’d recommend that you rest the stencil on the rim of the cup as you sprinkle the chocolate powder, otherwise you’ll need a very steady hand to avoid the blurring effect of the pattern. As noted in the video, the more detailed the pattern in, the steadier the stencil needs to stay.
