COFFEE FEST FIRST LATTE ART CONTEST POURS SURPRISING RESULTS

FAEMA Latte Art Competition presented by Tea & Coffee Trade Journal and Atomic Distributing

Seattle WA. Pouring Latte Art takes technique, an artists eye and lots of practice. Zack Lakic, however, surprised the judges and awed the crowd when he poured his rosette blindfolded. Zack, representing Caffe Artigiano, in Vancouver B.C., took home the $1,000 top prize from the first annual Coffee Fest Seattle Latte Art Competition.

“This competition was incredible,” said David Heilbrunn, Coffee Fest Show Manager. “Twenty Three Barista participated and everyone expected a representative from one of the Seattle cafes to take home the hardware.

The big story of the first Latte Competition was not so much who won but who did not. “If this was Vegas, the odds on favorite would have definitely been one of the competitors from any of the Seattle powerhouses.” Said Heilbrunn referring to, Espresso Vivace, Caffe Vita, Café D’Arte or Zoka Coffee Roasters and Tea Company. Of the 23 competitors, ten represented the previous Kings of Latte Art. Of those ten only four made it to the finals and none finished in the top three. “It was amazing, these relatively unknown companies traveled into the heart of Latte Art land and flew home with all the hardware,” said Heilbrunn Coffee Fest show manager and Latte Competition head judge.

Final placing:

1st) Zack Zlatin – Caffe Artigiano Vancouver B.C.

2nd) Chen Chin-Pei Taiwan R.O.C.

3rd) Keiko Urabayashi – D & M Coffee Ellensburg WA.


After preliminary rounds on Friday and Saturday the stage was set for the final show down on Sunday. Advancing From Fridays preliminaries were Nikol Fiala – Caffe Vita, Brian Fairbrother – Espresso Vivace and Bronwen Serna – Zoka Coffee Roasters and Tea Co., all three are located in Seattle. Rounding out Friday’s qualifiers were Ian Tobin Broadway Café – Kansas City and Chen Chin-Pei from Creation Food Co. Taiwan R.O.C. Saturday’s competition saw Don Jones - Espresso Vivace Seattle qualify while the other four positions were nailed down by out of town visitors. Peter Samuels – Kansas City, Keiko Urabayashi – D & M Coffee Ellensburg and Layla Osberg and Zlatan (Zack) Lakic from Caffe Artigiano, Vancouver B.C.

Sunday finals were relatively uneventful through the first six competitors. Then it was time for Cowgirl Keiko Urabayshi to take the stage. Keiko emerged in complete Ellensburg Rodeo regalia and was accompanied on her swagger to the stage by a chorus of the Gambler sung by her co-workers from Ellensburg’s D & M Coffee. Keiko’s Latte Art was as good as her entourage and she clearly pushed her way into first place on all three judges’ cards. Following Urbayashi was Chen Chin-Pei from the Republic of China. Chin-Pei spoke no English and communicated with the master of ceremonies and the audience through her interpreter. Her Latte Art needed no interpretation however as she was the only competitor to successfully pour designs that went beyond the traditional. Her double heart design got her to Sunday’s finals and her tulip pour on Sunday clearly raised the bar. With only two competitors left it was clear that one or both would need to be near perfect to take down Urbayashi and Chin-Pei. The second to last competitor was Zlatin (Zack) Lakic from Caffe Artigiano in Vancouver B.C. Realizing that he needed to move the audience and the judges and understanding that creativity and audience enjoyment played a role in the scoring Zack pulled out all the stops. For his judging submission Zack did the entire process blindfolded. From dosing the coffee to steaming the milk to pouring the Latte – all blindfolded. “The most amazing thing was that his blindfolded pour turned out to be the best art of the day and perhaps the weekend.” Scoring a perfect 100 on two judges cards and 99 on the third, the final competitor Nikol Fiala – Caffe Vita needed an absolutely perfect and flawless performance. She never really got on track, seemed to be shaken by the competition and did not seem to move the judges.

The next Latte Art Competition will be staged at the Riviera Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas Nevada, during Coffee Fest February 28 – March 2, 2003. Competitor applications are being accepted for the Dillanos Free-Pour latte Art Competition presented by Tea & Coffee Trade Journal now and interested participants can learn more by Contacting Coffee Fest at (800) 232-0083 ext 13. or davidh@coffeefest.com.