In a triumphant return to competing, 2022 Australian Latte Art Champion Amy Zhang will once again take on the world for Australia after emerging victorious from the 2026 ASCA Australian Latte Art Championship.
Amy tightened her routine over the course of the three-day event where, before Sunday’s final round, she admitted to doubting herself due to going over the time limit in the first two rounds of competition.
However, she steadied herself to take out the title and earn her place at World of Coffee San Diego in April 2026.
“I’m really happy with today, the last two days were very challenging with the stage because so many things happened to me,” Amy tells BeanScene.
“I was even crying on Saturday, because on the first day I was way over time, and I was over time again on the second day.
“I thought I didn’t achieve the goals I had set for myself, but on the third day I just had to tell myself that had already happened and not to be scared. I got the full experience, and I really enjoyed it on the final day.”
Amy brought some of the designs she had practiced for the 2023 World Championships in Taipei back onto the stage with her at Big Plans North Melbourne, much to the delight of the crowd.
With a former crowd favourite, the Amy Bear, being inspired by her young daughter, this time it was a sheep design that Amy says her daughter played a key role in influencing.
“The sheep uses a high skill level with a screen dragging form, and it’s inspired by my daughter,” she says. “She inspired the Bear, but now she’s six years old and she loves sheep.
“In the 2023 finals in Taipei, I didn’t get the chance to show everyone the patterns I worked on, so I went back to work on designs like the fish and the poodle and brought them to this competition.
“Latte art is not just about patterns, it’s about feelings. It can make people smile and it can capture energy. I think that’s why people love my patterns, they have emotion – that’s the challenge for me.”
After not featuring on the stage for years, Amy has praised the support of Brisbane’s The Maillard Project, who she works for, but says this will likely be her last time pursuing a place at the World Latte Art Championships, with the need to balance her young family and her work contributing to the decision.
“This is probably my last time to try and make it to the Worlds. I see a lot of people making all the effort on the stage, and honestly, I’m a mum and I need to take care of the balance for my family,” says Amy.
“The first time I made the finals, I was so excited that I was going to meet my idols on the stage, and I was shaking. This time, I’m not shaking and I’m not nervous. I’m just going to see all my friends, and it’s very exciting.”
The Art Bar Championship also featured as part of the competition, with each top ten competitor anonymously submitting a design to be judged by the audience.
Alvin Limbu’s ‘Growling Tiger’ was named the winner, with Georgia Ellis’ ‘Sabre-Toothed Tiger’ and Ryan Nguyen’s ‘Tiger’ coming second and third respectively.
