As you may have heard on today's California Report, sixty-four baristas from around the world have descended on San Diego to compete in the Coffee Fest Latte Art Championship, where each is given three minutes to produce a latte so visually compelling that only a philistine would actually put lips to liquid in a misguided attempt to drink it.
The criteria:
- Aesthetic Beauty
- Definition
- Color Infusion
- Degree of Difficulty and Creativity
- Speed
Locally, we've got three horses in this race:
Nicolas Lawson, The Coffee Bar
Joshua Li, Café Bello
Dennis Medina, Dolores Park Café
Hyper-locally, The Coffee Bar is just down the block from KQED, where early-morning news department personnel have been known to imbibe a triple macchiato or three. Rather than recuse ourselves, however, we'll just issue the disclaimer that no espresso was exchanged in the following interview between The California Report's Rachael Myrow and Coffee Bar barista Nicolas Lawson. (As for madeleines or biscotti, I can't say.)