Coffee Art with your morning coffee?

Today, the 21-year-old manager of Yala Café in Canberra is an accomplished barista who churns out close to 1500 cups of coffee a day. Much to the pleasure of his loyal customers, he is also pushing the boundaries of what’s possible to create, visually, out of a humble cup of warm steamed milk.

Corra, who will be competing at the Danes Grand Barista Championship this August in Manly, practices ‘coffee art’ – creating designs in the cups of latte, cappuccino and hot chocolate he serves up to his customers.

Driven by a desire to find a better way to present a cup of coffee, Corra began by learning the basics: a heart, a rosetta and a tulip.

Through constant experimentation he has expanded his repertoire to include designs of pigs, rabbits, swans, dragons and angels.

Although it might look easy to his customers, Corra says that there is a lot of science to ‘coffee art’. He continues to experiment with new designs and techniques, although the complexities of milk texture, heat and technique mean that his practice time is limited to quiet times in the café.

Corra is just one of the many talented baristas who will be competing for the title of Australia’s top barista at the grand final of the Danes Grand Barista Championship on Saturday August 15th at Manly Yacht Club. The top Australian baristas will be competing against international finalists from Thailand, Singapore, South Korea and Hong Kong . The winner stands to pick up a prize package worth over $12,000. Included in the winnings are one group commercial Orchestrale Etnica, an elegant, Italian-built masterpiece machine that, valued at $8,700, plus a trip to Milan, to appear on the Orchestrale stand at the Host International Exhibition

The Danes Grand Barista Championship grand final is open to all, and is a great chance for spectators to see the region’s best baristas in action, as well as enjoy free coffee tasting on the day, food, drinks and entertainment

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