The San Diego Convention Center was buzzing with energy. Over and over, like an a-rhythmic beat — hiss, gurgle, tap — espresso machines blast steam, milk is frothed, and pitchers strike the counter to settle foam.
In April, San Diego hosted World of Coffee, a trade show produced by the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) that showcases technology, business models and design surrounding coffee. And this year, the trade show hosted the annual World Latte Art Championship, or the WLAC.
10 minutes to shine
The World Latte Art Championship is a global competition that started in 2011, where baristas from around the world compete, showing off their technique in design, skill and control.
This year’s competition was held in San Diego, where the city is ranked in the top 20 coffee cities in the nation.
“There’s always an annual trade show in the U.S.,” said Amy Ball, the digital content director for the SCA. “For our U.S. shows we rotate through different cities, and try to get to West Coast, East Coast, middle of the country, and San Diego is an amazing coffee city — and we’ve never been here before.”
The competition comprises three separate rounds: preliminary, semifinals and finals.
During the final round, competitors have a total of 10 minutes to create their free-pour lattes. Free pour means no tools, often handled with a milk jug.
The rules are simple. Finalists make a total of six drinks: two sets of matching free-pour latte patterns, and two matching designer pattern lattes. This consists of four lattes and two macchiatos.
The pours are judged by three World Coffee Championships certified judges.
“They’re judging on symmetry, the quality of the pour, texture, contrast, how it’s centered in the cup and they're really looking for something beautiful and something skillful,” Ball said.
Ball said that the main stage is a place where technical skill is showcased, but it’s at the Art Bar where contestants perform artistry for the audience.
A place where the audience decides
The Art Bar is where competitors don’t have to sweat over the technicalities. It’s a separate competition where the audience gets to participate.
Competitors re-create their work and display it for audience viewing. Attendees can vote on the most aesthetically pleasing visuals.
“Art Bar is where things get a little bit wacky,” Ball said. “It’s where they can use different types of food colorings, different types of powders — they name their entries so they can have clever names for it. They’re judged based on creativity and appearance.”
These lattes are timed as well and must be displayed in a photo box before the clock runs out.
Images of animals — like a praying mantis and dogs — were shown on a large screen. Even Garfield the cat made an appearance. It may be a competition, but it’s also playful and fun to watch.
It used to be that the Art Bar and the main competition were counted under the same event, but this year they are two different competitions — which means two different prizes.
The best of the best
There are two prizes provided for the competition. The stage competition rewards the top six finalists with trophies in silver and copper, while the winner receives a gold trophy and merch from the convention center.
The Art Bar winner gets a complimentary trip to the WCC in Panama this October.
The 2026 World Latte Art Champion was Bala-Shao Sing Lin from Taiwan. The Art Bar winner was Eduardo Olimpio, who represented Brazil.
Other finalists of the competition are as follows:
- Jacky Chang, Malaysia
- Zking (Zhang Yuanyi), China
- Bank Sarawut, Thailand
- Jay Kim, South Korea
- Tatsuya Ishibashi, Japan
