Congratulations on qualifying for Nationals! What number Regional title is this?
2017-2025! I keep coming back for more!!!
What are the designs you are working on for Nationals?
They include a variety of different techniques with a sense of simplicity to them all. What I can say is that each design has a specific meaning to me, making it worth attempting on stage.
Who inspires you in the global latte art world & what insights have you gained from them?
Personally, I would have to say that Manuela Fensore, the Italian latte art Champion who won the World title in 2019, has been a true inspiration to me. I remember the first time I had the opportunity to chat to her after her semi-final set, at the World Latte Art Championship 2018. She was so disappointed after her set and broke down in tears. I tried to comfort her and encouraged her to keep on fighting for her dream. At the same time, Carmen Clemente, was present during our conversation. Little did I know, Manuela went on to win the World Latte Art Championship 2019, being the first female barista to do so! Carmen went on to win the World Latte Art Championship in 2022, thereafter. The dedication, passion and hard work that is put in, is a real inspiration to me. Both Manuela and Carmen have had a dramatic impact related to woman in coffee from a global perspective. Manuela is not much of a talker, however, I was fortunate enough to gain some advice from her relating to latte art. She advised that hard work needs to be put in every chance there is. The scoresheets need to be thoroughly understood and applied to your latte art them and set. Lastly, it is important to be unique and show the judges something that has not been done on stage before, such as creating a new latte art technique or pattern.
If a coffee drinker asks, what would you say is the importance of latte art competitions?
It allows barista to express their hidden talents. At the same time, latte art competitions create a competitive platform in order to enable latte artists to continue to improve the standard of latte art in South Africa. Considering this, it allows South Africans the opportunity of exposure on a global level, such as the World Latte Art Championship.
What is your favourite part of competing?
To best represent the my passion for coffee, my desire to continuously improve, to best represent the organisation I work for and to impact the industry!
How do you keep your nerves and shaking hands in check during these stressful competition moments?
This has always been my greatest challenge and seems to getting worse as I continue to age. Personally, I have tried a number of different techniques, such as a change in diet, a caffeine consumption reduction, the use of calming pills and more! They just don’t seem to work. Considering this, I really just hope for the best and strongly depend on the hours practising, if I do happen to get an opportunity to do so, which no longer happens much. I would, however, strongly encourage latte artists to believe in what you’d like to achieve in the cup, attempt to correct every error one step at a time, taking every variable into account and just maybe everything will fall into place perfectly.
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