Coffee material

How would I make a realistic coffee material in UE4, should I use actual liquid or a static texture? Here is what I have so far

I guess it would depend on the implementation within the scene. I mean most likely the liquid will give you the most realistic look, but probably isn’t the best for a high performance scene.

So is there a shader model that would look best for a 2d plane for coffee

You could do a hack job and put in a cylindrical mesh with a material of water. Change the color parameters to a brown. Add a particle system that involves slow rising steam. Then group the mesh + material with the cup.

Just came across

Grab a coffee with Stephen Fry thanks to 3D printed coffee art