Jibbi Little of jibbijug in New South Wales has won the Australian Specialty Coffee Association (ASCA) 2019 Australian Pauls Professional Latte Art Championship.
This marks Jibbi’s fifth attempt at the Australian Latte Art Championship title, placing second most recently in 2018.
Alice Park of Pure Brew Co in Gordon, NSW placed second, and Zhao Ting Wu of Cote Terra Coffee in Victoria placed third in the competition, held at the 2019 Melbourne International Coffee Expo from 7 to 9 February.
Jibbi’s literary-influenced thems drew inspiration from her favourite stories as a child.
“I think latte art should be meaningful. I don’t want to just pour patterns, I want to leave something special behind,” Jibbi says.
Jibbi’s free pour designs included interpretations of Mary Poppinsand Fantastic Mr. Fox.
“These were some of my favourite books to read growing up,” Jibbi says. “I really wanted to have a nanny when I was growing up because of [Mary Poppins].”
Jibbi also used her fox pattern to win the final round of the 2019 Milklab Barista Battle Series, held at MICE2019 on 8 February.She says she will likely use a more advanced version of the design at the 2019 World Latte Art Championship at World of Coffee in Berlin, Germany from 8 to 10 June.
Jibbi’s designer latte art pattern drew inspiration from Aesop’s fable The Lion and the Mouse. She used black colouring to accentuate the mouse’s eye and lion’s paws and facial features.
Runner-up Alice Park drew inspiration from Disney and Pixar for her designs, which included the pelican from Finding Nemo, baby deer from Bambi, and Ariel from Little Mermaid.
The third placed Zhao Ting Wu’s designs were based on mythical creatures, including a guardian griffin, sharp shooting centaur and majestic dragon.
Jibbi Little encourages aspiring latte artists to keep practicing and not give up if they face hurdles at first.
“I didn’t win for five years but just kept trying,” she says. “[Latte art competitions] take a lot of effort and money, but I want [to encourage] new young people to just keep trying.”