Brew the espresso fresh so it is hot, concentrated, and aromatic. You need 120ml total, which equals 4 standard 30ml shots. The espresso should taste clean and full-bodied, not burnt or stale. Freshly brewed espresso gives the latte its proper café-style flavour and aroma. Brewing right before assembly rather than well in advance protects both the espresso's aroma and the visual swirl that follows — espresso that's sat and cooled won't fall through the cold milk the same way, and its flavour flattens the longer it waits.

Divide the vanilla syrup evenly between 2 tall glasses, 15ml per glass. The syrup should sit at the bottom of each glass ready to dissolve once the milk and espresso are added, so the sweetness distributes evenly instead of staying in streaks. Placing the syrup at the very bottom of the glass, before any ice or milk goes in, is what allows it to properly dissolve and spread once the drink is stirred — syrup added later, on top of a fully built glass, tends to sink unevenly and can leave concentrated pockets of sweetness rather than a consistently flavoured drink.

Fill each glass generously with ice. Pour 150ml cold milk into each glass over the ice. The glasses should look mostly milk-filled with enough room left for the espresso. The milk should be fully cold so the final drink stays crisp and refreshing rather than diluted too quickly. Add the ice before the milk is fully topped off so the proportions stay balanced and the drink has enough chill without becoming watery. Filling with ice before pouring in the milk means the milk itself begins chilling immediately on contact, rather than being poured into an empty glass and only cooling once ice is added afterward.

Pour 60ml espresso into each glass. You can pour it directly over the milk and ice so it swirls through the drink before being stirred. The espresso should create visible darker ribbons through the pale vanilla milk. That layered moment is the classic visual before mixing. Pouring the hot espresso over the already-built, fully cold glass is what creates that visible ribboning effect — the temperature and density difference between the hot espresso and the cold milk beneath it is exactly what makes those dark streaks visible as the espresso falls and disperses.

Stir each glass well so the vanilla syrup, milk, and espresso combine fully. Serve immediately. The finished drink should be an even pale caramel-beige colour, lightly sweet, smooth, and clearly vanilla-scented without becoming dessert-like or overly sugary. A thorough stir at this stage is what finally brings the syrup sitting at the bottom of the glass up through the whole drink — since it started at the very base, it needs genuine mixing to reach full, even distribution rather than remaining concentrated at the bottom.