Key to latte art: simple, perfect
When Takashi Ueno heads to the US tomorrow, he’ll be more interested in visiting the coffee shops than tourist attractions.
The Hamilton barista has been selected to compete at the 2017 Coffee Fest World Latte Art Championships, held in Chicago.
The competition pins two baristas against each other in sudden death rounds.
The competitor receiving the highest score from the three judges advances to the next round and the loser is eliminated.
Competitors are given three minutes to produce one free-pour drink, which is then scored against the competitor at the facing machine.
‘‘To win the competition, I’ll have to win six rounds,’’ Ueno said. ‘‘There are 64 competitiors.’’
Ueno submitted a photo of one of his works called Wing Rosetta to the organisers. From there, he was selected to compete.
He said it was a basic pattern but it was still challenging to perfect.
Ueno has taught himself how to create latte art, but said he’s taken inspiration by other baristas on social media.
He said America was leading the way in coffee.
His favourite design to create is called a Wing Tulip, but Ueno said he won’t be doing anything too spectacular throughout the champs.
‘‘To be honest, I’m not trying to do something special in the competition. I just want to do a simple one perfectly.’’
‘‘I'm not trying to do something special in the competition. I just want to do a simple one perfectly.’’
He will be judged on speed, colour infusion, creativity, distribution and overall coffee appearance. Winners receive a $2000 prize.
Ueno has been working at Cafe Agora for two and a half years and said the team has been very supportive of his ventures. If he could win, he’d like to win for them.
He’s been practising his art every day at work when it’s not too busy, he said.
‘‘I try to do my best for each customer. People pay for the coffee, so I like to give them something worthy.
‘‘People still think ‘it’s just coffee’, but for me, it’s more than just selling it.’’
And though Ueno specialises in creating latte art, he’s happiest drinking filter coffee himself.