Over the course of two hours Wednesday night, more than 30 shots of espresso and numerous pitchers of milk were pulled and steamed during the Soma Showdown. In this Battle of the Baristas, 16 competitors faced off, two-by-two, vying to be recognized as the best latte artist in town.
The competition was the brainchild of Mallory Chapman, manager of the Soma Coffeehouse and Juice Bar on Kirkwood Avenue. She said she’d always wanted to participate in a latte art competition but had never done it herself.
There have been latte art competitions in Bloomington before. Morgenstern Books and Cafe hosted one in April 2024.
“I know a couple of the baristas at Kirkwood have competed in the competitions at Morgenstern’s before,” Chapman said. “We have a lot of baristas who practice their art every day, and they're always wanting to learn more and show off their skills. So, I was just like, ‘Why not do one here then and invite all the other stores?’”
The contestants
Participants came from seven coffee enterprises: various Soma locations, Hopscotch Coffee, Inkwell Bakery & Cafe, Crumble Coffee & Bakery and Specialty Dose, a coffee distributor. There was also one free agent, who, under “store you are representing” on the sign-up sheet, wrote “none lol.”
Like Chapman, this was the first latte art competition for Crumble Coffee’s Marco Fiorini.
“Some of my old coworkers from Soma approached me and were like, ‘You gotta do this,’ Fiorini said. “So, I thought, ‘Why not? It'll be fun.’”
Fiorini brought his own steaming pitchers to the competition. He said he felt very comfortable with them, having used them at Crumble, where he’s an assistant manager and sometimes referred to as “the coffee wizard.”
“I think that using the same kind of things every time can help with consistency,” Fiorini said.
Malea Floyd from the Soma on Kirkwood signed up at the last minute. Floyd said she felt nervous as it was her first latte art competition.
“I'm kind of just curious to see, like, if it's as easy here as it is at work or, like, how it translates, you know,” Floyd said.
Another competitor, Brooke Sturgeon of the Kirkwood Soma, said it’s not as easy to make latte art in a showdown as it is while working.
“It's very different when you're behind the bar, under time crunch, than when you just are doing it day to day, just for customers, and you have like a moment to calmly do things,” Sturgeon said. “The nerves can kind of get to you.”
Sturgeon has participated in latte art competitions before at Morgenstern Books and Cafe. She said the experience helped ease the tension of working under pressure.
“It's not as nerve-wracking to have somebody watching you do it anymore,” Sturgeon said. “It's more like you don't understand time when you're back there. We have two minutes to make art and try again a second time if we want to, but we can't see a timer. We don't have time to even look up to see a timer. You just don't really understand how long two minutes is until you're back there.”
The competition
During the competition, contestants had two minutes and two tries to create latte art that would score highly in the categories of symmetry, quality of the foam, clarity of the design, level of difficulty and overall impression.
Two baristas competed against each other and the one with the highest score moved on to the next round. The judges didn’t know which latte came from which contestant.
The front room of Soma on Kirkwood Avenue was full as community members came to cheer on the competitors and judges. Bella Inman and Kai Miller, IU students, came bearing signs reading “#1 Soma Fan!” and “Go Natalie!” in support of the coffee shop and one of the judges of the competition, Natalie Haffner.
In front of the crowd were announcers Ryan Wainscott and Jackson Moore, wearing identical Jägermeister flight suits and black bow ties. They cracked jokes during the introductions and while contestants prepared their lattes.
The contestants had different strategies as they ground, steamed and poured the elements to create their latte art.
“My strategy right now is to do a safe one and then try to experiment and go the extra mile in another one,” Fiorini said before the competition started. “So, if the first one doesn't turn out well, I'm just gonna have to try to do the first one again even better.”
Designs also varied by participant. Sturgeon preferred hearts or tulips, which she described as a three-layered heart.
“The more complicated ones, like a rosette or something, require a little bit more of a precise hand I haven't quite mastered yet,” Sturgeon said. “I've attempted things like a swan. I think I've gotten as close as a duck before is the best I can say.”
Sturgeon’s design got her through the first round, but she fell to Andrew Good of Kirkwood Soma in the second. Good lost to Matthew Myer, also of Kirkwood Soma, in the quarterfinals.
Myer went on to face Franklin Hou of Hopscotch in the
final round. In the quarterfinals, Hou defeated Moore, who acted as emcee and contestant.
Before Myer and Hou battled it out for the trophy — an upcycled baseball trophy from 2006 featuring a steaming pitcher circled by espresso beans — Good and Moore competed one more time to determine who would take third and fourth place. Good finished in fourth place, Moore in third.
In the final Battle of the Baristas, Hou triumphed with a swan, going with the design because of its familiarity.
“It's the pattern that I know the best at this point, is the one I practiced the most,” Hou said. “It's such an honor. It feels so good.”
Hou received a gift basket full of shirts, coffee and merchandise from coffee shops around Bloomington. Lexi Price, the events coordinator and social media manager for Soma, also wanted Hou to sign the trophy.
“The hope is that every year we'll come back and add another year on top,” Price said. “And the winner can sign the steaming pitcher.”
Price was the one who upcycled the baseball trophy and sculpted the espresso beans around the steaming pitcher. Next to the pitcher is an upright 2025 sign, made with hot glue and painted gold.
Now, because of Hou, Hopscotch Coffee can say they have the best latte artist in town.
