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Had a chat with a retired barista about latte art judges
Met an old barista who used to judge latte art competitions. She told me they don't even taste the coffee, they just look at the design. Made me wonder if we're putting too much effort into making drinks look pretty instead of tasting good.
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kim_west26d ago
My buddy from a cafe downtown told me he poured the same drink for a judge once and got a 9.2 the next time a 6.8. Same exact latte art pattern, just felt like it on different days. He said he had baristas crying at competition tables over what felt like random scores for swans or rosettas. Kind of wild to think the taste doesn't matter at all in those rooms.
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willow_morgan26d ago
6.8 to 9.2 on the same pour is exactly why I take these competition scores with a grain of salt. People get so worked up over a number that probably depends more on the judge's mood that day than the actual skill involved. I mean yeah the art looks cool and all but at the end of the day it's a coffee drink not a painting hanging in a gallery. Seems like a lot of stress over something that's basically subjective opinion.
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