The barista and owner of a coffee shop in Eerste River recently became the first person to win a local latte art competition in Stellenbosch. The competition was hosted on 12 April and is the first competition of its kind in Stellenbosch, according to Mandi Hart, co-owner of Republique, where the competition was hosted.
“We had 16 entrants from home baristas to baristas from other coffee shops,” stated Mandi Hart, co-owner of Republique coffee shop, referring to a latte art competition hosted in the shop on 12 April. Joseph McCallum, manager at Republique (second from left), is pictured with some contestants. From left to right: Matthew Hart, McCallum, Jody Mitchell, Shalom Chikanya, Alhenrico Thomas, Ethan Scott, Siseko Rasmeni, Stefan Engelbrecht, Romero Meyer, Brighton Mapiye and Bruce Max. PHOTO: Lara Smith
Stellenbosch’s coffee art competition
The aim of the competition was to use milk to make different embellishments, such as hearts, tulips and rosettes, and consisted of four rounds, said Hart.
The public was invited to vote as they walked by the shop, in the spirit of community building, according to Hart. “Whoever wasn’t competing had to vote. Each contestant had two chances to do their art. They had to pick one out of their two cups, we voted between the two, and the top one went through to the next round,” said Hart.
Audience members were able to indulge in the coffee made by competitors of a latte art competition hosted by Republique coffee shop. “We wanted to be generous and have some fun with coffee lovers in Stellenbosch,” said Mandi Hart, co-owner of Republique. PHOTO: Lara Smith
Alhenrico Thomas, the owner of Champs Musical Coffee Shop Productions based in Eerste River, was the overall winner.
Thomas initially attended the event as a member of the audience, but was invited to join the competition.
Hart stated that Thomas was awarded a bag of Burundi coffee beans as a prize. Second place was awarded to Jody Mitchell with nobody claiming third place.
“It was fun that I could come out to one of these competitions again. I had moved away from barista and latte competitions, but I do have a lot of guys that I train for these kinds of competitions,” said Alhenrico Thomas, the winner of a latte art competition hosted at Republique coffee shop and owner of Champs Musical Coffee Shop Productions. From left to right: Joshua McCallum, manager at Republique, Thomas, and Mandi Hart, the co-owner of Republique. PHOTO: Lara Smith
‘The art behind it’
Thomas has been in the coffee industry for more than 15 years, he said. “I thought this guy was a magician because, how can you write with milk on top of coffee?” said Thomas, when recalling his first encounter with a barista.
Thomas is planning a latte art competition of his own in hopes of doing “something big for Stellenbosch” as art latte competitions are often more of a “Cape Town thing”.
“This kind of thing spikes me – just the art behind it,” said Jody Mitchell, participant of the competition and specialty coffee student at Republique. “The adrenaline rush [you experience when] making someone a proper coffee, even if you don’t feel it’s the proper way. It’s [about] the smile on that person’s face and that drives me to do even better.”