Zoka Blog

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.

After 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!  We think you're swell!  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,

Nikki Arcieri,
Manager of Marketing