COFFEE GROUNDS

This is by far the most common response I receive when I mention terms like "championship baristas" to friends outside of the coffee world - but, yes! There are actually multiple ways that coffee professionals pit their skills head to head.

The one I want to discuss today is also the most common type of competition, which is called a Latte Art Throwdown or, simply, a "throwdown".

Throwdowns follow a basic structure, but vary greatly in exact execution, frequency, and formality depending on the coffee scene and the venue hosting. At their most basic, a throwdown is simply a competition of who can pour the prettiest latte. But more specifically, it is a bracket format competition where a number of baristas simultaneously prepare coffee drinks, present them to a panel of judges, and the judges select a winner to progress to the next round. The winners often receive prizes, which can range from homemade trophies to tens of thousands of dollars.

The exact evaluation criteria the judges use can differ dramatically between events: casual throwdowns tend to be run by coffee shops, who pick their own rules and judges. At the other end of the spectrum, the World Latte Art Championship [1] maintains an explicit rulebook for all events.

Generally, however, drinks are commonly graded on factors such as:

1. Presentation/clean cup - Is there coffee spilling over the edges? Would you serve this drink to a customer?
2. Creativity/difficulty - There are multiple designs that can be drawn: how unique is the selected design, and how tough is it to do?
3. Balance/symmetry - Is the design centered nicely in the cup? Is the design itself drawn symmetrically?
4. Line clarity/contrast - Does the milk stand out clearly from the coffee behind it? Are both layers well-defined?

Which design is drawn is sometimes up to the barista and sometimes pre-assigned, but common designs, roughly in order of difficulty, are as follows:

• Heart/Winged Heart [2]
• Tulip [3]
• Rosetta/Rosie [4]
• Swan/Bunny/Turtle/Other Free Pour [5]

Within each category there are many variations and combinations that can change the difficulty of execution. Other factors such as type of milk and size of drink can also make certain designs more difficult. In general, the most common design tends to be some variant of the Rosetta, as it strikes a good middle point in overall design difficulty, and it has a wide range of possible variants that allows baristas to express themselves and modulate difficulty further.

As with any competition, but especially so with throwdowns, a competitor's mental state plays a huge role in their performance. It is particularly relevant here, however, because most throwdowns do not allow re-pours: if you steam your milk poorly, your hands shake while pouring the design, or you spill your drink, that's it - no do-overs. Top tier latte artists are able to create beautiful designs first try on machines they may not have used, with music blaring, and in front of a crowd; it is a feat of mental control as much as one of skill.

Due to general lack of awareness of these events, I don't tend to see many people outside of coffee attend them. However, if you ask a local barista, chances are they can tell you when and where the next one is - and I highly recommend going! These events support local shops and baristas, and often feature free food and music, as well as (obviously!) top-tier coffee.

What more could you want?