The cream on a coffee at a cafe is usually whipped fresh from heavy cream, which contains a high amount of fat. This whipping process incorporates air into the cream, creating a light and fluffy texture. The fat in the cream helps stabilize the air bubbles, making the whipped cream more firm and able to stay on top of the coffee for longer.

In contrast, the cream that comes out of foaming pressurized canisters, often called whipped cream or whipped topping, is made from a mixture of cream, sugar, and stabilizers. These stabilizers help the whipped cream hold its shape, but they also make it less stable than fresh whipped cream. As a result, the whipped cream from a can tends to break down and become runny more quickly, especially when exposed to heat or moisture.

Additionally, the whipped cream in pressurized canisters usually contains less fat than heavy cream, which can affect its texture and stability. So while whipped cream from a can is convenient and easy to use, it doesn't have the same stability and flavor as freshly whipped cream made from heavy cream.

Do you mean foam that’s made from an espresso machine?

It’s a combination between the actual milk/cream they use, their machines, and technique.

It’s likely that the cafe is using higher quality milk or cream specifically for cafes. Especially with alternative mills, many brands have a barista blend that has a higher fat content which helps maintain the stability of the foam. For traditional milk, it’s likely they’re using whole milk or half and half which has higher fat content than like 2% or lower.

The machines that cafes use are also professional coffee makers. They’re designed to control all the aspects of the coffee making process. When it comes to foaming & steaming milk, you can normally control the volume and intensity of the steam.

And of course, people working in cafes are making coffee and foaming milks for them almost back to back for hours on a shift. So they’re getting more experience and perfecting their techniques to get the perfect foam. From getting a perfect swirl in the cup to evenly steam and warm all the milk and fold air creating micro bubbles, to also getting a feel for the perfect temperature for the milk. All of those things are dialed in to create better foam.

If you’re only making coffee daily at home without the same tools and ingredients of a cafe, it’ll be a while before you get exactly the same level of foam as you get at a cafe.

The cafe stuff is real whipped cream. The air bubbles that are incorporated into it while it’s being whipped are smaller than the air bubbles in the canned crap. The crap in the cans gets it’s bubbles from the gas (CO2?) that’s pressurized into the can along with the cream-like-substance.