On June 27th we hosted our own, exclusive Latte Art Smackdown. And by "Smackdown", we mean competition. And by exclusive, we really mean bring your friends, babies and dogs. I think the name and concept of the Smackdown is traditional within the industry, as you'll find baristas having Smackdowns throughout the year, most often during Regional Barista Competitions. In any event, our Smackdown was great and we've got the pictures to prove it!
For the first round, our baristas brought their own vessel, which is to
say they brought a unique object that could, to some capacity, house a
latte. Basically anything concave would do. Robbie, the manager of
our Snoqualmie store went first, pouring his latte into a mug shaped
like a toilet. Insert bad porcelain toilet joke here. Moving on, we
see Assistant Manager Ann pour her lattes into a bra. As you would
imagine, pouring steamed milk with both hands simultaneously isn't the
easiest of tasks. While she didn't make it into the final round, I
think it's safe to assume that Ann at least got asked out on a date by
some impressed onlooker.
Here we see one of our newer baristas Ashley
smiling fondly at her attempt within a cut-in-half soccer ball. Next
we see Assistant Manager Frey steaming milk for her pour into a
mannequin hand. Clever girl. Look how hard she's concentrating!
That's what we like to see out of our management team. Here we see
Brett from our Production staff showing off his pour into a pineapple.
Nice overalls. This latte, poured by Assistant Manager Carrollann, was
definitely one of the coolest lattes of the evening! I'm not friends
with Carrollann because she's nice. I'm friends with Carrollann
because she can pour rosettas into books with their pages cut out in
the shape of hearts. Here we see Jason, our Wholesale/Customer Service Man of the Hour pouring a latte into his beloved frisbee.
After round one, our fine judges chose five baristas to move on to the final round. Our three person judging team consisted of Jeff, Zoka Owner/Beer and Snack Sponsor, Maki San, the 2007 second place winner of the Northwest Regional Barista Competition, and coffee oracle Jodi, the
newest addition to our Administration Team/Financial guru.
With many impressive rosetta and heart designs, Matt from our University
Store claimed first place and the substantial cash prize of something between 14 and 18 dollars. Congratulations Matt!
Don't spend your all your winnings in one place, unless you're
buying a quarter tank of gas.
Thanks for reading and cheers to lattes poured into inanimate objects.
7 Comment(s)
Hey! its Jack from Snoka. I loved this article, while it was posted almost a month ago - it was very funny.. I remember watching Robbie practice in his toilet... Haha. :)
This Sounds like fun!
I'm a UW student studying abroad for the year in Tokyo and I just discovered one of the Zoka's here in Japan (I literally went there today). I had no idea Zoka had branches in Japan! Is it elsewhere in the world as well? Anyways, I put pictures of the Akasaka Zoka on my blog, urbanresearch.com , if you're interested! I think they were advertising for a latte art competition there too! : )
Hi Zokacoffeeyou put a wrong date at the post it be 16 jun and you write 16 jul.
Hello. I think the article is really interesting. I am even interested in reading more. How soon will you update your blog?
Dear Nikki-san,
Thanks for the Smackdown report. Really enjoyed it on-line as we could not be there in person. Recently I tried the Star
Bucks version of Yemen Sadani and was very disappointed by the burnt taste of their over-roasting, as well as the oils which stuck to the inside of the coffee mill. I do have to say however that I like their Stainless Coffee Dripper, but you do have to use a larger-grain grind...the fine grounds clog it up pretty quick.
Sorry to report that I had a bad experience at our Mejiro Shop in Tokyo...an IIMURA MAKIKO was just impossible, not helpful and completely unlike any ZOKA barrista I have ever met. I could do without her very easily.
Aloha and keep in touch - ken in tokyo
This site rocks!
Great site...keep up the good work.