Most people I know drink their coffee piping hot and act all disgusted at the idea of letting it cool down first. They would pour it away and brew a new one rather than drink the lukewarm stuff. And if you ask a barrista around these parts to not steam the milk but pour it into the coffee cold, you’re often met with indignant confusion as if you just offended their entire line of ancestors.
Is it really that weird to prefer room temperature coffee, or am I surrounded by coffee snobs?
Temp preferences aside if they’re steaming milk, they’re making a latte or a cap or whatever. And the steaming is less about heating up the milk and more about changing texture. So the “velvety-ness” of a good latte is basically cause you infused air into the milk.
Yes this! If I microwave my milk to heat it up or if I use a steam wand, it ends up very different.