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:
 | Chocolate Shaker with 16 Piece Coffee Stencils Set for Coffee Lovers Decorating Cappuccino Latte Hot Chocolate Cocoa Cake Design Decoration Duster |
 | 5 Pcs Stainless Steel Coffee Stencils,Latte Art Coffee Garland Mould Personalised Stencil for Coffee Cake Decorating |
 | BESTONZON 5pcs Stainless Steel Coffee Stencils Barista Cappuccino Arts Templates Coffee Garland Mould Cake Decorating Tool |
 | Panlom Chocolate Shaker Cappuccino Stainless Steel with Lid Powder Sprinkler for Coffee Icing Sugar Cocoa with 16 Coffee Stencil + Cat Coffee Spoon |
 | 16pcs Cappuccino Chocolate Stencil Templates Coffee Latte，Latte Espresso Fancy Coffee Tool Set Foam ，Christmas Style Strew Flowers Pad Duster Spray Art and Cake Decoration Tools (White) |
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:
 | Brainbox Candy Rude Coffee Stencils 6 Pack |
 | Lofekea Barista Coffee Stencils, 16PCS Stainless Steel Coffee Decorating Stencils Template for Latte Cappuccino, Cupcake Cookie Stencils |
 | LxwSin Stainless Steel Coffee Stencils, Coffee Stencils Set, 6 Pcs Barista Cappuccino Arts Templates Coffee Garland Mould, Latte Art Personalised Stencil DIY Garland Tool for Coffee Cake Decorating |
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:
 | Batman Logo Coffee Duster Mylar Stencil Approx 8.5cm Washable Reusable Food Safe |
 | Tassimo Koziol Stencil, Logo, Deco, Flowers, Motif for Coffee, Pink, Ø 9.5 cm |
 | Tassimo Koziol Stencil, Logo, Deco, Flowers, Motif for Coffee, Green, Ø 9.5 cm |
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:
 | 4 x Your name here personalised coffee cup stencils reusable many times present fundraising personalized gift |
| 2 x Your name here personalised coffee cup stencils reusable many times present fundraising gift |
| 5 Pcs Stainless Steel Coffee Stencils,Latte Art Coffee Garland Mould Personalised Stencil for Coffee Cake Decorating |
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.