Salon competition: mind-blowing latte art

The results of the recent Salon coffee barista competition have just been published online, together with photos of some of the winning designs. The competition? To see how happy the intricate and artistic designs in latte art made the team of judges.

Latte art is now an impressive craft. The traditional-style baristas are called ‘free pourers.’ They create patterns in espresso coffee in a particular way. By heating milk so that it ‘stretches,’ they can pour the milk into the coffee ? as it meets the espresso, the milk does not completely blend into the coffee and the barista can draw patterns into the drink. The success of these patterns is determined my many factors such as the baristas’ skill, the aeration of the milk and so on. The other camp of latte artists are called ‘etchers’ and they draw into the milk.

So how did the various baristas fare? The winners won prizes donated by Bodum. There were an amazing range of styles and pictures drawn into the coffee using the two techniques mentioned above. The winners came from all over America. And what were the winning designs? The runners up created a seahorse/dragon, a tulip, a fantastic rosetta and even a design of Snoopy! The overall winner, however, was Elizabeth Gray who created an amazingly detailed latte art design of a swimming carp and a woman. The precision of these two designs impressed the judging panel, who were completely blown away. Latte art at its finest…