Perfect Steam Wand Positioning for 1, 3 and 4 Hole Steam Tips 

I'm so mad bro. No one told me this. Not Emily Bryant, James Hoffman, Lance Hedrick, or even morgandrinkscoffee. I literally don't understand. I cannot compute. I've been trying to steam at work like the tip has 1 hole bc I didn't know there was a different technique for 4 holes. I just thought I sucked. That's not fair man

You contributed something substantial to the coffee community with this video! Cant thank you enough - Pro X 4-hole owner

why i always stumble upon these videos at night 😢 i will try tomorrow after work and i will come back here to post result

Oh god finally found this. Jeez. The only one video on whole yt finally explained this. God. Thanks

Thank you so much. the 4-tip method works perfectly!

Thank you! I have the same Silvia Pro X and I was doing the steaming wrong. Just had my morning coffee, will wait to do your method int the afternoon.

This is super helpful. Tried it out as soon as I finished watching, so much difference in the milk's texture and consistency.

Found your video on my day off, can't wait to start my shift and try ur four holes technique.

Fantastic knowledge sharing. Thank you Charlie!

Wow this is a treasure! Thank you! ! never knew you have to position the want differently according to the wand holes.

Exactly what I needed to know! I had no idea about the steam holes

Ahh... thank you! Was having no luck on my new machine with 4 holes, this worked better!

Thanks for posting 4 hole steam tip. Awesome

this was a life saver, i was having a mental breakdown at work because of this

Very helpful, thanks 👍

Thank a lot for your information. Really a very helpful video.

Thank you so much for this well explained video! Finally made it with a 2-hole tip. Technique is the same. This is so valueble for us 🎉😊 no more 1-hole vortex 😂

Thank you very much, Sir! We’ve got a super large La Cimbali machine in our office and I struggled with the steam wand (coming from a Leli Bianca dual boiler at home). Positioning the steam wand in the middle made so much more sense. I’m running the leli Bianca with 2 holes… but 3/4 in the office, with so much more power is such a game changer. :D

Thank you so much omg. You have no idea

This is really helpful to understand how to steam on every amount of tip holes. Great Job Man, Kudos!!!

I inherited a LM and it's a few grades above my abilities, so for the life of me couldn't get it right. Thank you so much. You made it register that the steam holes were essentially 'blowing air' and it's about knowing where to position the holes (not where to position the steam wand) to get the milk to spin -- or the way I think about it now is, where to position the air to whip the milk... Thank you!!!

It’s 2 am and I am obsessed to create tomorrow mornings cappuccino as perfect as possible. This video is by far the most eye-opening tutorial I have seen within the last two sleepless hours on how I have to exploit by dedica ec680s new milk steamer incl. one or three of its holes as suggested by you. You chad, are the man! Thanks a lot(te!)

Thanks for this video. I'm a beginner and was trained in 3 steamer before. Later then have been struggling in the past 2 weeks for using the 4 hole steamer. Looking around the solution online and still didn't get a clue until I saw this. Will definitely try it on tomorrow.

Thanks for the video! I just bought a 4 pack of rocket steam tips (ranging from 2 to 4 holes) to play around with and this video will definitely help me figure out the best way to use them.

Thank you ❤

I've been practicing from 2 holes to 4 holes. All i got was a thick foam. Gladly found your video and only 1 try i got a silky smooth milk. Thanks!

I’ve been trying to prepare the milk with my 4 hole steam wand like a one hole forever and it’s always been crazy inconsistent. Thank you for clearing this up.

Amazing.

This is super handy. Ive been putting way too much air in my milk. I can pour a basic heart, an apple or a leaf but my foam has never had the definition and also sometimes too buoyant. Cheers!

THIS, thanks man 😉👌

THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! I was a professional barista like 20 years ago and I was AWESOME at making the perfect, silky foam. Literally had coworkers ask to teach them. I tried my old technique on my new home machine and I can't get a roll. So frustrating. Now I see that with this 1 hole steam wand I need to do a completely different method. I was so mad lol. Thanks again!!!

Thanks for posting this. Got my 4 hole steam tip in about a week ago and after trying my best with my usual vortex technique it was just obvious there was something I was missing. Giving this a try in the morning! Love how fast it is but I couldn’t get it to stop gulping air.

I'm really glad someone took the time to talk about this. I'd also like to add, with one hole steamwands, it's better to tilt the milk jug to get a better vortex

You da man!

Late comment but thanks so much for the video. I have the same Rancilio and couldn’t get silky milk after all the other videos I watched. Putting it in the center was the trick!

Man thanks a lot. I have ECM Technika II it’s awesome machine, made in Italy. Old but gold. I wanted to give up and sell it because of this trick. Thank you a lotttt. I already try it and it’s much much better 🙏

how was this not taught to me in my costa training.. had a few shifts now and was starting to doubt my skills. i noticed less of angle was getting me a better result. i had a look at the steam wand tip and suddenly it all makes sense! thanks for the explanation, this is really gonna help

Great video Charlie, l just have a one hole tip

OMG!! cant wait to try this tomorrow ctm :'-) hopefully it's the reason why my coffees suck, i'll tell you tomorrow ;-) *finger crossed*

Nice

I practiced with a 1 hole. I start with the tip and then I go deeper after a few seconds. Angling works wonders if you ask me.

I wanted to get some tips for myself but got stuck on you showing off with your two-boilered Silvia pro while steaming the milk and pulling the shot at the same time. I want so too!

If you had a GCP or a Lelit Anna, what tip would you recommend?

Im definitely going to practice this with water. Even with my Silvia Pro I can't for the life of me get microfoam

well this explains why my 4 hole steam tip on my linea has been making it so difficult for me to steam for the past 2 years LOL. thought I was just terrible.

That’s why I don’t see the swirl of the milk every time with my four-hole wand even following all the steps suggested by the pros. And my husband, who did not watch a single video and claimed just wanting to warm up the milk, went straight with the pitcher and got perfectly glossy milk almost every time!

Thanks Charlie! Never made a mind about this, but it sounds logic :) My machine have a 2 hole tip, which are paralell and close together. Would you recommend to use it like a 1 hole tip?

Hi I would like to buy the 4 whole tip for my Pro X, do you know the part number or where can I buy this? Thanks

My breville baridta pro eand had 4 holes, but they are sort of facing forward, not sideways like yours... So with this in mind, should I do the traditional 1hole angle, or your 4 hole one? Thanks!

Dope

jesus christ ur d only one know this. thank you. bbecause other guys like hoffman did evem have this kindd

I couldn’t do the 4 holes on the Silvia Pro so got a custom one hole tip from Chris Coffee. Way easier in my opinion for those struggling with the 4 hole tip.

Thanks for this Charlie. I have a tip which has an aerator attachment. What do you recommend for this?

👍Thank you very much Charlie 👑 for sharing your experience and what you have learned by switching from 1 to 4 holes tip wand. I was struggling myself with my new 3 holes tip Bellezza Bellona. I am mad about those so called "influencers" like Hendrick, Hoffmann etc. for not sharing this personal knowledge of theirs. They are a bunch of selfish egoïst. ☹️

Can someone give me a tip for my bezzera duo? Its a 2 hole tip and the steamwand is pretty short and I cant pull it out a lot. The angle is more steeper down compared to my old sage/breville. I‘m having problems getting a good vortex with the steep angle of the steamwand

Had my Spaziale for a week, with a 4 hole tip and a ton of power, and I was 100% failing at this process because I was using 1-2 hole techniques. I’m about 5 tries into this technique and while nowhere near perfect all 5 have been actually combined and way better than any attempt before. Thank you!! If you had to say where the tip was pointed at the bottom of the pitcher how would you describe it? Right off dead center pointing straight down? If I’m understanding the video. Thank you again!

2:43 Can someone expand more on how to steam with 3 hole tip?? I’m still a bit confused on the explanation

Hey, I have a delonghi bar14f. Its steam wand has a white plastic that looks like a bell and it has one hole. Shall I use a different technique to produce latte art or is it the same with the single hole technique demonstrated in this video? Your answer would be really helpful...

On your Silvia Pro X, i noticed you turned the knob about two turns. Is it not recommended to turn it all the way up? I’m new at this and was under the impression I should crank it full steam ahead. Thanks for making this video and hope to hear back.

❤❤❤

Hi Charlie, I have Delonghi La Specialista Maestro with 3 holes tip. i tried so hard to make a smooth silky foam but i couldn't. no Swirls and foam separates from the milk. appreciate your advice.

Hi sir, i am using 5 holes for my coffee machine.can you give an idea how to use so i can create a good milk texture.thanks

Hey Charlie, what about the six holes steam wand from synesso. does it work the same way?

So that’s what was wrong with my milk steaming technique!!!!! I thought I really sucked at using a La Marzocco Linea Mini….the tip is different???? How come no one mentioned this before 🤬🤬🤬🤬 Thanks a lot bro Edit: I tried your technique this morning and it worked like magic….forever grateful 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

Hey we have one with 5 holes, do you maybe know how to use this one i cant find any tutorials

Why is this the first time I am hearing this.

I want to buy a machine with which i can do good silky milk for Latte Art.Would you recommend the rancilio Silvia pro x for that?

Wand position is the key if you position the wand in the middle then it s done?

can you help with a thin steaming wand w/ 1 pin hole. what is the right position of the wand? is the tip of the pinhole submerge or half of it??

Hello, by any chance, you own Rancilio Silvia V6, and you are willing to test if V6 is good for using 3 hole steam tip?

What about a steam tip with 2-holes, but angled almost 90 deg appart? Like on the ECM Synchronika for example?

In the video, it looked like the 4 hole was necessarily producing some big bubbles right in the center near the wand, is this avoidable or does it matter? And how does the foam compare between 1 and 4 holes or does that depend on the power of the machine? Now I'm thinking that if the proper technique with a 4 hole is just stick it in the middle, then that would be something that would be easy to automate yet automated machines still use panarellos for some reason. Someone tell Breville to get on this. Or perhaps not as then I'd drink nothing but lattes and mochas and gain 20 pounds.

What about four tips and 2 bar temp steam??

I understood the 4 tip is not available in Europe. The 3 tip is send with the machine and the 4 in US. Anyone knows where I can buy the 4 tip in Europe for the Silvia pro X?

Ok so the wand is pointing straight down, slightly off center but the jug is angled or horizontal?

Thank you Charlie for another enlightening steaming video. Even after 7 months with my ECM Classika with steam temp set to 267*, I have yet to produce steamed milk with fully integrated microfoam (I usually either get too much dry foam, or steamed milk). It came with a 2-hole tip and I think the orientation is not optimal with the holes at 9 and 3 o'clock versus 12 and 6. So I ordered a 4-hole, and that produces a lot more steam but I still didn't get good microfoam. So I bought a 3-hole tip and I like the visual swirl/roll I can produce, but my holes are 12-3-9 oclock, so not equilateral like the 3-hole tip I believe I saw you have. Would my 3-hole require further angle changes? It also looks like with the 3-hole you don't put the wand in contact in the spout? Any additional guidance/suggestions are much appreciated. Cheers.

Which one did you find your favorite or the easiest to use? TIA

Man I’ve tried every thing possible and I still can’t froth and get that nice silky texture from my Silvia Pro X. This video makes sense in theory but it doesn’t work for me. I don’t know what else to do. I’ve tried center, off center, putting the tip at the surface, submerging the tip to the bottom, opening the valve full, half way, quarter way, same result each time. Boiling milk with no texture. I have a temperature gauge and it gets wayy too hot too fast and the steam is way too powerful. I’ve used different types of milk (usually use grass fed whole milk) and tried different sized pitchers. I’m open for suggestions. I just bought this machine but I’m strongly considering sending it back or something. Makes great espresso but steaming is impossible with this machine.

I followed your tutorial for 4 holes steam tip and what i get is that the milk doesn't even have the microfoam. It's just getting hot to the point that it has burnt smell😅 can you please kindly tell me where di i do wrong ? i usually steam around 200ml milk with small pitcher. and sorry for my bad english

What happens if you do all the steps but your milk is still watery…. I’m new to steam wands and can’t seem to get a good foam or micro foam. 😢

Whats for 2?

I switched from a 4hole to a 1hole and I just can’t stretch the milk properly anymore. Maybe I’m the minority but a 1hole wand is much more difficult to use than a 4….and after 3 weeks I’m still struggling

I directly pointed down my 4 hole machine and it got bubbly. Why it doesnt work for me?

Hey want to help me build an engine for commercial hydrogen steam power generator

Thank you. Sub and like.

Ok but with my machine which is a 4 hole it is impossible to get the wand perfectly straight down.

Gaggia classic got 2 tips. Im sad.

Mine has two holes...

Omg can you please send me a 4 hole tip haha, I can't for the life of me find one in the UK. 😅🙏

This video was confusing me as hell because I was thinking that my new Rancilio Silvia Pro X had a 4-hole tip by default and I have not been able to create that vortex. Then I realized that it actually has just 3 holes… 😂

What if my steam wand has 6 holes......same as 4?

Wait, why didn't he make the whirlpool effect?

What about 2 holes ?) my steamer has 2

Meanwhile I’m over here with the 2 hole wand GCP

what about 5 ??

I wish i knew this sooner. Wasted like 1,292,829 liters of milk already. Im using 4 holes steam wand

Simply.. froth water coffee 1:1 then sugar 2::1:1 Let sit Froth more Put cup in mini oven, ceramic heats better Best way Carmalise water sugar Throw in capuccino

No video for me then, mine has two… ;-)

You are going to get 3% error if you weigh milk aiming for a volume as it’s heavier than water for the same volume.

No 5 hole? You numerist!!