Katherine Daniel ~ Editor in Chief
The Third Wave Coffee shop will be hosting its second Third Wave Throwdown of latte art on December 8, 2018, at 7:00 p.m. Third Wave Coffee is located in Forest, VA.
Jimmy Thomas, Third Wave Coffee Owner, said, “There will be a small Oatly competition, which will be a latte art competition using oat milk. Then our main throwdown. We will be judging the competitions based on the rules of the US Latte Art Throwdown at the US Coffee Championships. We will be judging pours based on symmetry, contrast/definition, complexity/skill required, creativity, and quality of foam.”
According to the New in Lynchburg website and the Third Wave Coffee Facebook event, “There will be music, lots of coffee, and BIG PRIZES. We have amazing sponsors this year such as Acaia, Brewista, Fellow, Vision Espresso, and more. There will also be gift card and merchandise giveaways. We will also be having different types of latte art competitions (ex. using oat milk, pouring into random objects, different designs, etc.).”
Thomas said, “There’s prizes for the top three places in both competitions. The oat milk throwdown is going to have t-shirts and some flat white cups by acme. The main throwdown has a lot of prizes for the top three spots. First place gets an Acaia Pearl scale in gold, a good engraved cupping spoon, a milk pitcher by Brewista, a Joey mug by Fellow, and a kettle. Second place gets a Brewista scale, milk pitcher, a silver engraved cupping spoon, a mug, and a few other things. Third place gets a cupping spoon, a mug, a tasting book, a t-shirt, and milk pitcher.”
The sponsors for the event are Acaia, Fellow, Barazta, Oatly, and Brewista. Thomas said, “The entry fee for competitors is $5.00 and free for anyone to watch. There’s a DJ from Speakertree so there will be entertainment, plus the coffee bar will be open till the competition starts. Those interested can also have the lattes made in the throwdown, for free.”
“This year, we will also be streaming the whole competition on social media and have a projector showing the pours on the wall so everyone can get a good view of it,” added Thomas.
Thomas said, “We love the coffee community and want to provide a platform for the baristas who work hard on practicing their latte art from our areas. This event brings the community together and we had a great turnout last time from customers, competitors, and baristas from shops all across town and from other cities in VA.
Thomas added, “We strive to bring our community together through coffee and within the specialty coffee community and it is one of the main reasons we love throwdowns.”
For more information about the Third Wave Throwdown go to https://www.facebook.com/events/608429546238403/?active_tab=about or https://www.newinlynchburg.com/events/#event=21128725.
