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A slightly absurd latte art challenge

By James Hoffmann ⋅ July 21, 2007 ⋅ Email This Post Email This Post ⋅ Print This Post Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

The challenge is simple - pour latte art in something unusual and post a link in the comments or use trackback.

I’ve been thinking about this for a little while and was inspired by a few amusing pours like these:

Tonx:

Owl3:

If enough people get into it then maybe there will be some sort of pointless prize suiting the silliness of this. I challenge you - pour somewhere stupid!

UPDATE: A rather excellent first offering from Tim Styles in the comments.

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Discussion

32 comments for “A slightly absurd latte art challenge”

  1. haha james you crack me up

    Posted by Kiril | July 22, 2007, 11:31 am

  2. Haha this is so awesome!

    Posted by Swanstein | July 22, 2007, 3:05 pm

  3. Navel Macchiati, anyone?

    Posted by Jimmy | July 22, 2007, 3:16 pm

  4. I’m in! I just wish I were creative enough to find something “strange” to pour into. Not many non-beverage containers around here.

    Posted by Jason Haeger | July 22, 2007, 7:57 pm

  5. That is very smart James! Very nice!

    Posted by perrys | July 22, 2007, 10:02 pm

  6. This is one of those all-so-rare times when one wishes one had a glass eye to pop out of its socket…
    … or would the milk leak into your brain?

    Posted by RichW | July 24, 2007, 3:28 am

  7. You have my sick little brain, along with many others I suspect, contemplating the pleasure/pain aspect of this challenge. I wonder if anyone would be up for a volcano pour (directly in the mouth!)

    Leave it with me, I can be very persuasive…

    Posted by Claire (the coffee fairy) | July 24, 2007, 5:08 pm

  8. That sounds hot and very wrong for all of the wrong reasons miss coffee fairy.
    “You have my sick little brain, along with many others I suspect, contemplating the pleasure/pain aspect of this challenge. I wonder if anyone would be up for a volcano pour (directly in the mouth!)”

    Posted by Peterj | July 24, 2007, 8:41 pm

  9. Ahh! I was thinking about this the other day, just after I’d poured a rosetta into a saucer.

    Saucer

    Posted by Tim Styles | July 25, 2007, 12:08 am

  10. Alright, no picture embedding….

    Here’s the link: http://www.tropicalsaloon.com/photos/saucer.jpg

    Posted by Tim Styles | July 25, 2007, 12:15 am

  11. I put the challenge to the guys at Ninth St Espresso (NYC) today, and only have the results in video format. I’ll get them up onto YouTube, and post links.

    Posted by Tim Styles | July 25, 2007, 11:14 pm

  12. […] Users Online « A slightly absurd latte art challenge […]

    Posted by So…. Tokyo….. at jimseven | July 27, 2007, 2:57 am

  13. Just made this one
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/perryskaravas/920585330/

    Posted by perrys | July 27, 2007, 10:47 pm

  14. Nice one! I can’t believe this topics come up, at the only point in my life where I have no immediate access to a machine.

    Posted by Tim Styles | July 27, 2007, 10:53 pm

  15. Come on - lets see the contact lens pour!

    Posted by Grendel | July 30, 2007, 3:54 am

  16. Go for it Grendel.

    Posted by Thundergod | August 5, 2007, 8:47 am

  17. Not a hope!

    I tried a few variations over the weekend and only managed this:
    http://picasaweb.google.com/Grendelpics/T5/photo?authkey=TXTyP9Ns2OE#5095215307754249522

    Best you can say is it looks a little like an egg in negative.

    Jeremy Hilsdunk at Epic had a go with my eggshell this morning and managed this:

    http://picasaweb.google.com/Grendelpics/CoffeePicStorage/photo?authkey=jm1m1Yud3Qo#5095390207412477362

    I reckon it is not a bad effort!

    Posted by Grendel | August 6, 2007, 2:22 am

  18. cafe grendel: Hilsdunk’s Slamdunk

    Posted by Grendel | August 6, 2007, 2:34 am

  19. […] Hoffmann has recently thrown down the challenge for baristi around the world to pour latte art into obscure […]

    Posted by Obscure Latte Art Challenge. at Tropical Saloon. | August 10, 2007, 6:41 am

  20. Hello there, James! I managed this rather shoddy rosetta in a 4.5oz metal scoop. Not much to brag about, but this challenge is much harder than I’d expected.

    Posted by Meister | August 15, 2007, 9:37 pm

  21. Rats, it didn’t post.

    Ah well, here’s a link!

    Posted by Meister | August 15, 2007, 9:38 pm

  22. A few of us here at murky coffee tried pouring into each other’s hands today. It was apretty dismal failure at first, but by the end we started to see the makings of some rosettas! We’re trying to become experts now, and hope to someday send you pictures :)

    Posted by Marianne | August 29, 2007, 3:59 am

  23. Posted by conrad | August 31, 2007, 1:55 am

  24. well, that totally didn’t work, so here’s the link.

    http://flickr.com/photos/23045811@N00/1264330150/

    Posted by conrad | August 31, 2007, 1:59 am

  25. heres mine.

    http://www.thebeaningoflife.com/images/stories/picsnvids/HB_IMG_1841.jpg

    latte art in aluminum foil.

    Posted by jon stovall | September 4, 2007, 11:33 pm

  26. in an ice cream scoop.

    http://www.thebeaningoflife.com/images/stories/picsnvids/HB_IMG_1845.jpg

    Posted by jon stovall | September 5, 2007, 12:00 am

  27. How about in a guitar?!

    http://www.ianclark.net/guitarlatte.jpg

    The video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9QYrm4wzmM

    Booya!

    Posted by Ian Clark | September 12, 2007, 3:16 am

  28. […] Barista Champion, has thrown down the gauntlet for some equally silly barista shenanigans. His absurd latte art challenge is attracting some interesting entries which will be up for voting very soon. The exact prize is […]

    Posted by absurd latte art challenge » t o n x . o r g | September 14, 2007, 7:28 am

  29. Hello seventh, congratulation about your winning in the WBC.
    Can I participate?
    Here a couple of mine
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/10064926@N07/809324801/

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/10064926@N07/1125721011/

    Posted by moosis | September 21, 2007, 8:43 am

  30. Isaiah poured a latte in his OWN mouth. Nailed the heart.
    Pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/66932307@N00/sets/72157602159441022/
    Video here: http://www.doubleshotcoffee.com/Propaganda.html

    Posted by Brian Franklin | September 26, 2007, 1:42 pm

  31. […] could this mean? is this a scheduled deep south down day for pouring absurd latte art in a bowl of collard greens? or is there some little-known outpost in the south carolina […]

    Posted by Chemically Imbalanced (espresso-jogged screeds) » hoffmann watch redux | March 3, 2008, 1:11 pm

  32. For a slightly less absurd latte art challenge, Whole Latte Love is sponsoring a latte art contest where you can win a Gaggia Baby Twin. http://www.wholelattelove.com/latteart_contest.cfm

    Posted by EliseLovesCoffee | March 25, 2008, 4:49 pm

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