The US leg of World of Espresso passed off over the weekend in San Diego, California and boy was it ever a doozy. The present flooring was buzzing, the events had been bumping, however one occasion particularly is value additional inquiry right here on a blurry post-show Monday, and that’s the 2026 World Latte Artwork Championship.
It’s a little bit of a breakthrough second for the US. The World Latte Artwork Championship has been held yearly since 2005—save for the COVID years—and in that point, the US has neither produced a world champion nor hosted the occasion. That is due partially to America’s spotty participation within the occasion. And actually, solely 5 people have ever represented the US on the world stage within the occasion: Simeon Bricker in 2014, Angie Chung in 2015, Piyapat “Flook” Lapteerawut in 2022, 2023, and 2025, Wenbo Yang in 2024, and this 12 months Marco Monzon.
And at the least a type of streaks has now come to an finish. Becoming a member of Monzon in San Diego had been 29 different nationwide champion latte artists from around the globe to indicate off the artistry of the craft and stretch the bounds of what’s doable with microfoam. Over three days of competitors, the sphere was whittled down to simply six for Sunday, the Finals.
The pours, unimaginable. The designs, mind-bending. However ultimately, there might be just one champion.
And the champion for 2026 is Bala from Taiwan. His unique free-pour designs included a raccoon, a surprising giraffe, and a crimson panda (in a macchiato!). For Bala—who competes mononymously, utilizing solely their first title—that is his third time representing Taiwan within the World Latte Artwork Championship, with a earlier excessive placement of third on the planet in 2022. And now he’s a World Champion.
So with out additional ado, listed below are the outcomes for the 2026 World Latte Artwork Championship.
Champion: Bala – Taiwan
Runner-Up: Jacky Chang – Malaysia
Third: Zking (Zhang Yuanyi) – China
4th: Financial institution Sarawut – Thailand
fifth: Jay Kim – South Korea
sixth: Tatsuya Ishibashi – Japan
Congratulations to all of the Finalists!
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Community and a workers author based mostly in Dallas. Learn extra Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
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