Hirosaki Barista Shun Chiba will participate in the "Coffee Festate Art Japan Championship 2016 Osaka Tournament" on October 19th.

At a world-class competition for baristas who draw latte art, they compete for latte art that draws patterns by simply "pouring" called "free pores". In the preliminary round, latte art was examined with photos, and 40 finalists were selected from over 200 applicants from all over the country including overseas. In this tournament, baristas will compete in a tournament format, and the latte art will be judged on five items to determine the winner.

Chiba is a barista working at the Angelic Hirosaki store (Noda, Hirosaki City). The reason for starting latte art is that he saw the latte art of Mr. Korinori Sato, a barista from Aomori who works at a cafe in Tokyo. “I knew about latte art as knowledge, but I came to study the mechanism and theory,” he recalls.

Currently, I post my own latte art on the SNS "Instagram", and I am studying by myself while receiving advice from various people. Mr. Chiba, who is new to the latte art competition, says, "In Aomori, coffee culture such as latte art is not yet rooted. If participating in such competitions will attract even a little attention and the number of people who challenge will increase" ..

For the event, Chiba says, "The espresso machine used and the environment in which it is poured in public are completely different, but the conditions are the same for all contestants. I want to aim for the championship." "I'm accustomed to the tension that I can see even at the tournament, so I want to make a lot of latte art, so please come to see us," he says with a smile.