June Kim of Stop Valve Espresso and Bar and Primary Coffee Roasters in New South Wales has won the 2022 Central Region Latte Art Championship.
Minji Hyun placed second and Rawirit Techasitthanet placed third in the competition, which took place at Grinders Coffee in Leichhardt from 20 to 22 May.
After competing twice before, the third time was a charm for June, who moved from South Korea six years ago and has worked in the coffee industry for 10 years.
“I’ve had a lot of competition experience and practice, so I had confidence this time and was able to remain calm. And all my friends and family were there to support me which gave me the self-assurance I needed,” says June.
Instead of creating animal latte art like most contestants, this year, June says he wanted to stand out from the crowd.
“I came up with the theme of an Egyptian pharaoh’s tomb. My first pattern was the ancient Egyptian Horus, a falcon-headed god with a double crown,” he says.
“My second design was Anubis, an Egyptian god with the head of a jackal. My final design was a pharaoh, which is a king of ancient Egypt.”
June’s advice for people who are passionate about latte art is to ensure baristas pay attention to the finer details.
“Latte art is important as it’s the visual aspect of coffee. If the visual looks good, customers will enjoy the coffee that much more,” June says.
“Just keep practicing. Practice is the key for a steady hand and a good routine,” he says.
All competitors used Riverina Fresh, the official Milk Partner of the competition, to create creative and original latte art designs.
Throughout the weekend’s event, all competitors used Mythos M1 grinders supplied from Victoria Arduino as the official Coffee Grinder sponsor and Cafetto product as the qualified cleaning Product Partner.