A slightly absurd latte art challenge

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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This entry was posted in Coffee, Espresso, Latte Art, News, Opinion. Bookmark the permalink. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.
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31 Comments

  1. Posted July 22, 2007 at 11:31 am | Permalink

    haha james you crack me up

  2. Swanstein
    Posted July 22, 2007 at 3:05 pm | Permalink

    Haha this is so awesome!

  3. Posted July 22, 2007 at 3:16 pm | Permalink

    Navel Macchiati, anyone?

  4. Posted July 22, 2007 at 7:57 pm | Permalink

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

  5. Posted July 22, 2007 at 10:02 pm | Permalink

    That is very smart James! Very nice!

  6. Posted July 24, 2007 at 3:28 am | Permalink

    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?

  7. Claire (the coffee fairy)
    Posted July 24, 2007 at 5:08 pm | Permalink

    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…

  8. Posted July 24, 2007 at 8:41 pm | Permalink

    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!)”

  9. Posted July 25, 2007 at 12:08 am | Permalink

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

    Saucer

  10. Posted July 25, 2007 at 12:15 am | Permalink

    Alright, no picture embedding….

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

  11. Posted July 25, 2007 at 11:14 pm | Permalink

    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.

  12. Posted July 27, 2007 at 10:47 pm | Permalink
  13. Posted July 27, 2007 at 10:53 pm | Permalink

    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.

  14. Posted July 30, 2007 at 3:54 am | Permalink

    Come on – lets see the contact lens pour!

  15. Thundergod
    Posted August 5, 2007 at 8:47 am | Permalink

    Go for it Grendel.

  16. Posted August 6, 2007 at 2:22 am | Permalink

    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!

  17. Posted August 6, 2007 at 2:34 am | Permalink
  18. Posted August 15, 2007 at 9:37 pm | Permalink

    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.

  19. Posted August 15, 2007 at 9:38 pm | Permalink

    Rats, it didn’t post.

    Ah well, here’s a link!

  20. Marianne
    Posted August 29, 2007 at 3:59 am | Permalink

    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 :)

  21. Posted August 31, 2007 at 1:55 am | Permalink

  22. Posted August 31, 2007 at 1:59 am | Permalink

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

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

  23. Posted September 4, 2007 at 11:33 pm | Permalink
  24. Posted September 5, 2007 at 12:00 am | Permalink
  25. Posted September 12, 2007 at 3:16 am | Permalink
  26. Posted September 21, 2007 at 8:43 am | Permalink

    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/

  27. Posted September 26, 2007 at 1:42 pm | Permalink

    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

  28. Posted March 25, 2008 at 4:49 pm | Permalink

    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

  29. janlen_09
    Posted August 10, 2008 at 7:05 am | Permalink

    awessssommmmeeee!!!!!

  30. Posted March 20, 2009 at 10:16 am | Permalink

    Wow that’s preety awesome..

    Keep up the hard work!!

    :)

  31. Posted July 29, 2009 at 1:55 pm | Permalink

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDE1Pq9DzOE

    Latte Art from the milk bottle. The idea came from trying to find a quicker way to make a cup of coffee.

    enjoy.

    oh yeah sorry about the quality.

    luke

6 Trackbacks

  1. By So…. Tokyo….. at jimseven on July 27, 2007 at 2:57 am

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

  2. By Obscure Latte Art Challenge. at Tropical Saloon. on August 10, 2007 at 6:41 am

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

  3. By absurd latte art challenge » t o n x . o r g on September 14, 2007 at 7:28 am

    [...] 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 [...]

  4. [...] 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 [...]

  5. By Art in different forms « DanLacher on October 15, 2008 at 1:39 am

    [...] Art in different forms October 15, 2008 So the current world barista champion posed a litte challenge. That is to pour some absurd latte art. I have to say that so far I think the boys from [...]

  6. By Art in different forms « deletemeverysoon on October 16, 2008 at 1:33 pm

    [...] in different forms So the current world barista champion posed a litte challenge. That is to pour some absurd latte art. I have to say that so far I think the boys from [...]

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  • About the Author

    My name is James Hoffmann, and I am a founder of Square Mile Coffee Roasters and was the World Barista Champion in 2007. I continue to write, give talks and consult on many aspects of coffee.

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