The last few days have got me thinking about milk. This post is a way for me to re-think milk in general and then start looking at what makes a good drinking milk and whether this might be the same as a good steaming milk. I have observed in cafes that barista's value consistency in the milk so that they are not chasing a changing balance of milk fats, proteins and sugars that alter the way milk is steamed. Generally consistency is obtained at the cost of quality - by increasing the volume of milk blended, and by balancing fats, proteins and sugars by adding permeate, large dairies deliver a consistent, but basic, product.
For the barista willing to tolerate a little more (and usually seasonal) variation, there is some pretty good milk available that really offers better support for the coffee. Generally these are milks that are less ‘generic’ in their profile because they are from a specific herd or small dairy region where there is greater control of the factors that influence milk quality.
Sadly, at this point I must confess my past - I was an agriculture and animal husbandry student. I had high hopes of one day striding tall across my own meadow with a hay bale under one arm and a woman under the other.
Sadly I lack the 'tall' and the 'meadow' and although I have been known to buy the odd bale of lucerne hay that is strictly for gardening purposes. I'm not sure you could even fit a miniature cow in our yard!
In my studies we covered all the introductory dairy cow basics – four leg, four stomachs, four teats etc and we had the pleasure of getting up before dawn to milk them – which is an activity that I must confess enjoying. Cows are big and warm and generally cooperative at milking time and make some amazingly contented sounds as the pressure on their udder is reduced. We also studied the various dairy breeds and their characteristics.
I had forgotten much – but happily the intertubes have brought me up-to-date even more than my old textbooks.
Dairy Australia lists the following breeds of cattle and their descriptions - this list does not seem to have changed much in two decades - except for the Zebus at the end, that one is a newbie for sure. My additional comments are in blue.
Holstein FriesiansOriginally from Holland. With their distinctive black and white markings, they are Australia's most popular dairy cow – and great milk producers.
Higher lactose but less cream than Jersey and Guernsey cattle and are genetically predisposed towards the production of both the A1 and A2 protein in their milk.
Jerseys
From the Island of Jersey in the English Channel. Mostly a pale honey colour, these cows are a smaller breed but they produce delicious creamy milk. They keep on keeping on well into old age.
Higher cream content in the milk than most breeds and both Jersey and Guernsey's
produce between 25-50% more riboflavin (vitamin B2) in their milk than Holstien/Fresian cows. Some Jersey cattle produce only the A2 protein in their milk - selective breeding has been used to create entire herds that produce only A2 milk.
GuernseysThey too come from the English Channel Islands. They have a quiet nature, a result of tethering. Their cute pink noses and golden yellow colour are highlighted by distinctive white markings.
Like the Jersey, Guernseys produce more milk fat (cream) and riboflavin. Prettiest cow to decorate your paddocks with and having milked these on occasion I can attest to their placid nature.AyrshireFrom Scotland of course! These are good-looking medium-
sized cows, with strong facial features, dark browny-red (roan) and white in colour.
Ayrshire milk is considered to be an excellent drinking milk as it is well balanced between fats, proteins and lactose. It has an excellent flavour and is often selected as the 'best tasting' milk in blind taste tests. It also has an unusual characteristic - the fat particles area smaller and more evenly distributed in the milk which makes Ayrshire milk particularly good for secondary dairy products like cheese.
Ayrshire milk is about 3.9% fat by mass and each cow can produce around 80,000 kilograms of milk in its lifetime. There is an Ayrshire producer in the Toodyay area with amazingly good milk in glass bottles - the Avon Valley Dairy and I have enjoyed their milk in the past. I haven't been able to get it lately.Australian Illawarra ShorthornsDeveloped in Australia from the imported Shorthorn breed. These are attractive, chunky cows with a rich reddish colour and occasional flashes of white on their flanks.
Dairy Shorthorns
Travellers with the first fleet, these big, strong cows are bred for milk and beef and are identified by their coats of red with white blotches.
Australian Friesian Sahiwals (AFS)
These stoic cows can put up with a lot! Harsh conditions, hot weather, and those annoying little tics and parasites. They too are red-brown in colour.
Australian Milking Zebus (AMZ)
A new cow on the block, bred to make milk under tough tropical conditions. They come in various colours, but gold and fawn are the most common.
The last four breeds I have not had much experience of but I do remember the cross-breeding program that was underway in the 1980's to develop warm climate dairy herds - it looks like they succeeded with at least two of the approaches.
The goodies in milk:
• Calcium
• (sometime milk is 'fortified' with additional vitamin D which
promotes the absorption of calcium and enhances bone mineralization.
• Protein - milk proteins are complex with a full range of amino acids making it a very good source.
• Potassium
• Vitamin A
• Vitamin B12
• Riboflavin (Vitamin B2)
• Niacin
• Phosphorus
• Lactose (milk sugar)
• Fat (cream)
To be a nice tasting milk, all of the above need to be in balance but the various proportions depend on a number of factors including the breed of cattle, the feed the cattle are eating and the time of year. Ideally you'd want a supply of milk from a dairy that is close by so that the milk does not have to travel too much. In Australia much dairy country has in recent years been put to other uses and very few cities now have the dairy supply in the immediate vicinity to the city.
The milk of Holstein/Friesian cows is a little sweeter due to the higher lactose content of their milk, but slightly less creamy than the milk from Jersey and Guernsey cattle. Holstein/Friesian’s (the black and white cow of familiar diary images) is an amazing producer. They are very fertile and have more milking seasons than other breeds and produce, in volume each day, more milk than other breeds.
The Jersey and Guernsey cows with their higher cream content and favoured for cream production. Cream has a high market value (butter, cheese and a whole host of value added dairy products) so it suits large dairies to ‘skim’ some cream from all their milk supply standardising whole milk to on-sell or use in value-added products.
Dairies LOVE people who drink skim milk!
On average, whole milk has 3.6g of fat per 100 ml of fluid. Normally this amount of fat will change throughout the year – if feed is thin on the ground the cows are able to put less fat into the milk because they are using it themselves. Always with milk you have to remember that the real purpose of production (from the cow’s perspective) is to feed its young. The nature of milk means that it must have fairly high nutritional value as a calf grows fairly rapidly and needs to consume a good amount of milk to mature to the point where it can be weaned to pasture.
Areas that have good pasture cover (green growing stuff) generally have better quality milk than areas where dry fodder such as hay and feed pellets have to substitute for extended periods. Most cattle do get supplementary feed (usually fortified with nutritional additives for good balance) but best flavour in milk seems to occur when green feed is the dominant food.
It is no coincidence then that ‘dairy country’ is almost always an area with rolling hills and good rainfall – perfect for pasture species. All the way from the grass on the hill to the coffee cup is quite a trip, but just as proper selection, roasting and blending of beans is important for the brown half of your latte so milk selection is important for the rest.
Selecting a good milk for steaming is not too difficult.
• It should be as fresh as you can get it, and should have little or no odour (not a strong ‘milky’ smell)
• You need to warm it very slightly to around 15 degrees Celsius. If you try to taste it much colder than this then the cold dulls your senses and hides some defects.
• Sip it lightly letting it flow across your palate and inhale a little air through your mouth then exhale to carry the aromas to your nose.
It should be sweet, have a velvety creamy texture, very slight buttery note – with some experience you may be able to learn what feed the cows have been on (grasses, clovers, lucerne etc all impart different flavours to the milk if they are the main source of fodder). Other things that can change the flavour are bacteriological activity, chemical changes (such as overheating during pasteurisation) or accidental inclusion of foreign material post milking (rare).
The breed of cow and the health of the individual cow can also change the milk flavour. Naturally in large volumes defects resulting from individual animals may not be apparent.
Australian’s love milky coffees, and the same rule for coffee applies to milk – you can make a bad coffee with good milk but you can’t make a good coffee with bad milk.
At least if you have good milk you are in with a chance!
The kit - as it appears when you open the box.
The completed instrument - the Junior Grendels abandoned me long before we reached this point but did want to run outside as soon as they could to try it out - still 4 more hours till sundown kids. . . 
I really want to try taking some better photographs with a camera fixed to the telescope, but I have to figure out how to do that first! For now I just have to hold the camera very very still behind the lens and hope for the best.
It fell apart a little on the texture side and the style of roasting used is not quite what I prefer but the guys at Elixir do a very creditable job and it was most welcome after a long day travelling.
