The Free Pour Latte Art Grand Prix Tokyo 2024, which determines the No. 1 latte art barista, was held at the 27th Food Expo 2024, a food exhibition held at Tokyo Big Sight from Wednesday, April 10th to Friday, April 12th, 2024.
Click here for the report on the 2023 tournament
This competition is being organized by the Japan Latte Art Association with the cooperation of the Japan Food Journal. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2023 event will be the first in three years to be held, and this year will be the 10th anniversary of the event.
The match is played in pairs, with three minutes to play in front of an audience.
The competition is a tournament between 64 barista artists from Japan and abroad. Three judges will score each work that is drawn in three minutes, and baristas who receive two votes will advance to the top. To participate, participants must pass a preliminary round that is held in advance, but there are no seed rights for top performers from the previous year, and everyone will compete for the championship over the three days of the final.
Participants were allowed to bring their own cups and other tools, but the grinders and espresso machines were provided by the competition. The two espresso machines were a La Marzocco Linea and an Astoria Plus 4 You TS, and which one was used was decided through discussion or rock-paper-scissors, which also affected the final product.
Astoria is on the right
On the left is La Marzocco
The tournament took place over three days, with the field narrowed down from 64 players to 32 on the first day, the 10th (Wednesday), and then from 32 to 16 on the 11th (Thursday), and the best 16 and final matches were held on the 12th (Friday).
The top three contestants received prize money and additional prizes from the sponsors. As this was the 10th tournament, the winner's trophy was an original Arita ware trophy that exuded a Japanese feel.
Many generous prizes will be awarded by the sponsoring companies, CROWD ROASTER will provide raw coffee beans.
Artistry and technique improve year by year
Latte art is a service provided by baristas to customers, in which they draw a picture by pouring steamed milk into espresso.
However, the works in the "Latte Art Grand Prix" are on a whole different level; they are literally works of art painted inside the cup. Even if you don't know anything about latte art, you can enjoy it by simply wondering how someone could paint such a picture.
The judging criteria are: 1) speed, 2) beauty/balance/harmony/symmetry of appearance, 3) expressiveness of color, 4) clarity, and 5) creativity and difficulty. You can remake it as many times as you like within the three-minute time limit, but you will sacrifice the important 1 point for speed. However, if you can surpass that with beauty, carefulness, and creativity, you have a good chance of winning.
No matter how original your creation is, it's meaningless if it's blurry, and no matter how fast you finish it, you may not be able to match the expressiveness. The tension and difficulty of a one-shot tournament, such as the motif you choose, the tools and espresso machine you use, is what makes this "Latte Art Grand Prix" an entertainment that can be enjoyed by baristas and spectators alike.
Among them, animal motifs with complex patterns, such as those by Kitti Pich from Thailand, the 2023 champion who also participated in this tournament, overturned the previous trend and attracted attention. This method, known as the "placement system," has spread rapidly on social media, and the method of making it has made an impression that there were quite a lot of baristas drawing animal motifs at this tournament.
On the other hand, there are also works called "convection type" that add originality to motifs such as hearts and leaves, and they are increasing their originality by incorporating swans and flowers from simple works. It was also impressive that the works that made it to the top of this competition were not too biased.
On the first day, the latte art competition for the top 32 featured a wide variety of motifs and challenges.
Top 16: Anyone Could Win
The final day, Friday the 12th, started with the Best 16. At this point, many baristas who had placed highly in the previous tournament had been eliminated, showing how high the level of this tournament was.
The top eight winners were three from Japan, two from Thailand, one from South Korea, one from Hong Kong, and one from Taiwan, making this a truly international competition.
In the first match of the quarterfinals between Japan's MURAI Kenta and Taiwan's CHEN KUAN YING, Murai presented a delicate motif, while CHEN, who was not satisfied with his first piece and remade it, won with his expressiveness and beauty.
Murai, who also works as a latte art instructor, was unfortunately eliminated in the quarterfinals.
Next up were Ju Min Seong from South Korea and Lu Fung Cheung from Hong Kong, both of whom had animal motifs and were almost the same speed. The difficult judging was based on color expression and clarity, with Lu from Hong Kong winning.
Chu (left) and Lu (back) showed off the fighting style you'd expect from a tournament.
The latte art of Chu (left) and Roo (right), both of which have animal motifs
The third match was between Sittipong Yongsiri from Thailand and Miu James from Japan. Both of them had motifs based on convection-type leaves. While Sittipong finished early, Miu James used up to two cups and advanced to the semi-finals.
Sittipong (right) from Thailand, a powerhouse of latte art. You could see the artist painting on the monitor at the venue.
Latte art of soft rose James Miu (left) and sharp leaf Sittipon (right)
The last match of the quarterfinals was between the defending champion Kittipich Boonsawasd of Thailand and Jun Sakaguchi of Japan. While Kittipich scored with one shot, Sakaguchi used two cups to draw delicate leaves, but fell just short.
Sakaguchi vividly depicts delicate patterns
Latte art of Kitty Pitch (left) and Sakaguchi (right)
A first-time challenger with only two years of latte art experience takes on the champion in the semi-finals
The top four were baristas from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, and Thailand. They competed in the semi-finals and the third place deciding match.
In the match between Taiwan's Chen and Hong Kong's Lu, Lu, who has shown a very high level of perfection in the recent past, won.
Roux uses highly concentrated milk to create striking art
And then, Japan's James Miu faced off against Thailand's Kitty Pitch. Due to the difference in motifs, James Miu finished his drawing quite quickly, while Kitty Pitch took her time to carefully attack.
The much-anticipated showdown between the defending champion and a challenger competing for the first time in the tournament resulted in a difficult decision that impressed the judges, but James Miu advanced to the finals by a very narrow margin.
Kitty Pitch takes her time to prepare
James Miu pumps his fist in the air at the moment that the outcome was decided
After this, the third place match was held before the final, and Kitty Pitch defeated Chen to take third place.
Latte art of Kitty Pitch (left) and Chen (right)
The final match was between James Miu of Japan and Lu of Hong Kong. Neither had won the championship before, and just like the semi-finals, it was a showdown between placement and convection.
With solemn background music playing, the final and greatest piece of art, which could be said to be the culmination of the three days, is painted onto two cups.
James Miu (left) and Lou (right) drawing latte art almost simultaneously.
Even the judges couldn't help but chuckle (?) Which one will win...?
At this memorable 10th tournament, the second ever Japanese champion was born!
The winners of the Free Pour Latte Art Grand Prix Tokyo 2024, in which 64 people competed over three days, were announced by Noboru Ueno, Representative Director of the Japan Latte Art Association, during the awards ceremony.
The 2024 champion, for which Ueno has raised his hand, is Japan's James Miu! This is the second Japanese champion since the first tournament in 2013.
James Miu was awarded 300,000 yen in prize money and many other prizes from the sponsoring companies. CROWD ROASTER awarded the following prizes to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners: 10kg of Double Anaerobic from El Paraiso Farm in Colombia, 5kg of Bourbon from São John Grande Farm in Brazil, and 3kg of Caturra from Ortiga Farm in Costa Rica.
Although Kitty Pitch, who came in third place, lost, she still showed her usual smile and said, "I'd like to come here again next year."
Lou, who came in second, commented, "It was fun. I want to participate again next time," and when asked, "Are you going to win next time?" he showed an expression of "Hmm." Although he gave it his all and lost, he received a warm round of applause from the audience.
2nd place Lou
The winner, James Miu, shed tears and said, "I'm so happy! I'm glad I was able to believe in myself for all three days and draw to the end."
Regarding her victory in just her second year of latte art, she said, "I've always had confidence. I've been practicing so that I can believe in myself, so I'm glad I got a result," revealing that she went into the competition with a clear image of victory in mind. The owner, Liwei, said the motif was the same as the one that won the Osaka tournament in 2023, and added: "Personally, I like the framed rose design, so I've been working hard on it."
When asked about his future goals, he said, "I hope to participate in the Osaka tournament as well." There seems to be no time to let his guard down as he aims to win two domestic tournaments.
1st place: James Miu
Latte Art Grand Prix becomes more and more popular after milestone event
Ueno, the organizer of the competition, said about this year's competition, "Any of the 64 contestants in the Free Pour Latte Art Grand Prix already possess such high quality that it would not be surprising if they won. Their technique and precision are improving every year, and it felt like the competition was even more about competing on technique and perfection."
This festival features creators using their own sensibilities to create one-of-a-kind latte art that disappears once drunk, making it entertainment that anyone can enjoy, even if they have no knowledge of coffee.
However, trends become outdated day by day. In this day and age when anyone can try the same motif thanks to the spread of information on social media, new motifs and technical trends will likely be in demand for free pour latte art as well.
The Free Pour Latte Art Grand Prix felt like a new era. I'm already looking forward to seeing the amazing new latte art I'll encounter at the next competition.
Japan Latte Art Association
