Calvin Klein's Pantone Hack For The Perfect Cup Of Coffee Every Time

Achieving the perfect ratio of coffee to milk is an art form. For fashion icon Calvin Klein, renowned for his attention to detail, even the morning ritual of crafting the perfect cup of coffee warrants meticulous precision. Enter the unexpected ally in his quest for coffee perfection — Pantone cards. Yes, you read that right. Klein, a master of design and aesthetics, has found a novel way to ensure his coffee creations are flawlessly balanced by matching their color with his chosen Pantone hue. 

For those unfamiliar with Pantone, it is a globally recognized color-matching system used predominantly in design, fashion, and printing industries. Each Pantone card represents a specific shade and hue, allowing for precise color communication and consistency, especially in manufacturing. Klein has ingeniously repurposed these color cards to aid him in his coffee manufacturing. His chef simply gradually adds milk to Klein's coffee until the color of the liquid matches his chosen Pantone card precisely. The result? A visually harmonious and consistently pleasing cup of coffee.

If you've ever struggled to recreate your perfect cup of coffee, lack the time to get it right from scratch every time, or even find yourself opting for coffee shop drinks more often than not, Klein's Pantone trick could also be for you. Armed with even a small selection of Pantone color cards, you can experiment by making your ideal cup, gradually adding milk while monitoring the color transformation, and matching it to a color card. If you're not already in the design world, however, Pantone color cards can be quite pricey, especially if you're just looking to narrow them down to one or two coffee hues. Visit the paint sample section of your local hardware shop instead and take home a few latte-like colors and go from there. Alternatively, you could even bring in your cup of coffee and match it right in the store. You may get some side eye, but it could be worth it in the end for a consistent cup every time.

At the end of the day (or the start, rather), all many are looking for is coffee consistency and reliability. For some, productive days can't begin without it and sub-par coffee experiences can throw entire mornings off. Klein's Pantone color card trick is his way of achieving this consistency, but there are plenty of other ways to go about it as well. 

Make sure you have the right tools, and high-quality ones at that. You want your coffee maker and utensils to last — the last thing you need is a no-coffee morning after an unexpected coffee maker breakdown or tool snafu. It can even come down to your coffee cup itself, and how its composition could be adding undesirable flavors to your morning joe unintentionally over time. Make sure your coffee vessel and maker are properly cleaned regularly — in fact, consider it a part of your coffee-making ritual. By finding the machine that works for you, be it a Keurig with coffee pods or a traditional Italian Moka pot, caring for and cleaning it regularly, and using the same measuring tools for adding your milk every day, you're likely to achieve your perfect cup time and time again — no Pantone necessary.