LIM

Feb. 2. Steven Lim, a process engineer at S&D Coffee & Tea in Concord, will compete in the Coffee Fest Atlanta 2015 Latte Art World Championship Open Feb. 6-8 at the Cobb Galleria. The competition will pit 64 baristas from around the world in head to head matches as each tries to produce the best free form latte art. Lim is a self-taught barista who has learned the craft working nights and weekends over the past four years.

“Making a cup of coffee look as enticing as it tastes is essentially another aspect of pleasing the customer so, in some ways, this is just a more creative interpretation of what I do in my day job,”  he says.

The competition is judged on five categories: aesthetic beauty, definition, color infusion, degree of difficulty and creativity and speed. Each barista gets an espresso machine, coffee, milk, cups, steaming pitchers and three minutes to create their latte art; the contestant receiving the highest score advances to the next round. The top three contestants will be awarded $2,000, $1,000 and $500, respectively.