A Systematic Scoring Framework for Evaluating and Comparing Foam Performance of Dairy and Plant-Based Barista Beverages

Dairy milk and plant-based milk alternatives exhibit unique foaming properties that are important for coffee applications. Therefore, evaluating foam performance is essential for understanding and optimizing the functionality and quality of these products. Over time, various methods and devices have been developed to measure individual foam attributes, including foamability, foam stability, liquid drainage, and bubble size. However, a widely accepted and standardized approach to comprehensively evaluate the overall foaming performance is not available. To address this gap, this study introduces a continuous scoring system designed to assess the overall foam performance by integrating fundamental foam properties critical for beverage applications. The applicability of this scoring system was demonstrated through evaluating the foaming properties of five commercially available barista beverages. The results revealed a strong correlation between the scoring system's output and visual observations of the foams, validating its practical relevance and accuracy. Its simplicity and effectiveness make this scoring system a valuable tool for quality control purposes in the dairy and plant-based beverage industries, and it could also provide a standardized approach for researchers and manufacturers, facilitating consistent product comparisons.