The US leg of World of Espresso befell over the weekend in San Diego, California and boy was it ever a doozy. The present ground was buzzing, the events have been bumping, however one occasion particularly is price 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 kind of streaks has now come to an finish. Becoming a member of Monzon in San Diego have been 29 different nationwide champion latte artists from all over the world to indicate off the artistry of the craft and stretch the bounds of what’s potential with microfoam. Over three days of competitors, the sphere was whittled down to only six for Sunday, the Finals.
The pours, unbelievable. The designs, mind-bending. However in the long run, there might be just one champion.
And the champion for 2026 is Bala from Taiwan. His authentic free-pour designs included a raccoon, a surprising giraffe, and a purple 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 earth in 2022. And now he’s a World Champion.
So with out additional ado, listed here 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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