Jasper’s newest coffee shop put out a challenge to the town’s baristas, asking “so you think you can latte?” and the baristas responded with a resounding “hell ya!”
The competition took place at Wicked Cup, Sept. 25, drawing a crowd of coffee-lovers to watch as java-aficionados from Coco’s Cafe, SnowDome Coffee Bar and Wicked Cup whipped up their signature drinks and showed off their best latte art.
Each contestant was given 15 minutes to prepare two lattes and one specialty drink to be judged by SnowDome’s Shelley Koebel, Coco’s Cafe’s Andrew Wannop and Wicked Cup’s Bas Byrd.
In the end, Keegan Taylor of SnowDome reigned supreme, racking up the most points for the flavour of his latte, the skill of his latte art and the creativity and presentation of his speciality drink.
The top three was rounded out by Wicked Cup’s Nathan “New Guy” Magone, who took second place—no doubt for his fabulous latte art featuring a bear—and Logan Anthony, who took third for his peppermint infused mocha.
Fourth place was snagged by Coco’s Cafe’s Leah Kennedy, who made a maple bacon latte, and fifth was Megan Cloutier-Parcels, who wowed the crowd with her shark facts and shark latte art.
The friendly competition was the brainchild of Byrd, who when welcoming everyone to Wicked Cup, joked, “baristas know not to froth with me.”
Wicked Cup has now put the challenge forward to SnowDome Coffee Bar and Coco’s Cafe to host their own barista competitions in the future.
Nicole Veerman
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