My credentials (nearly none):
I'm a six-espresso-shot in the morning kinda guy and I don't think I've ever said no to a cappuccino. I have a super-automatic espresso maker/milk frother that my wife and I bought in exchange for not buying coffee while out for 6 months. When I wanna get fancy with my cappuccino, I pull the espresso using a hand pump press and foam the milk by hand.
My opinion:
Once I'm done admiring the crema of my espresso and have smelled all the potential ingredients to decide what will make me happy for this cup, I pour them into a cup and drink it. I like my coffee drinks to look like someone put the ingredients in the cup in a way that makes sense. I get really sad when people make art in my drinks because my gluttonous drinking style and mustache are going to ruin it immediately. I feel like someone showed me a painting they'd completed over the course of a month and I were to run my fingers across it saying, "oh wow! I love the feeling of dried oil paints!"
Summary:
Between the two, I guess I prefer the Italian style, but even that would drown me in guilt the moment I took my first sip.
How do y'all feel about customers taking pictures of your latte art?