Latte art is not reserved to latte coffee only, it also applies for other beverages containing milk foam like cappuccino and hot chocolate. Latte art developed independently in different countries, following the introduction of espresso and the development of microfoam, the combination of crema (which is an emulsion of coffee oil and brewed coffee) and microfoam allowing the pattern; it presumably was initially developed in Italy. In the United States, latte art was developed in Seattle in the 1980s and 1990s, and particularly popularized by David Schomer. Schomer credits the development of microfoam ("velvet foam" or "milk texturing") to Jack Kelly of
Latte art geometric shapes to complicated drawings, such as crosshatching, images of animals and flowers, and are generally performed with a coffee stirrer of some sort. Etched latte art typically has a shorter lifespan than free poured latte art as the foam dissolves into the latte more quickly. A crude but quick method with cappuccino is to pour chocolate powder through a metal cutout in which an image, typically a flower, has been incised. This is favoured by chain coffee shops like Costa where speed is of the essence when serving large numbers of clients during peak times. Latte art is made