Tea Has Tea Leaves; Coffee Has Portraits

Look into the cups in the photo. Who do you see? Do you recognize the couple? These latte art depictions are in honor of the upcoming April 29th wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, created for the International Food and Drink Exhibition 2011 in the UK. The Barista Championships of the UK also took place at this exhibition. These coffee portraits will set the bar high, but the winner goes on to compete in the World Barista Championships in Colombia. The latte art portraits are part of the hype of the upcoming wedding of the decade. Of course these portraits are temporary, not like all the other commemorative royal wedding items available. There are dishes, china, mugs and china cups, ring replicas, books, CD’s, and even a Prince William teddy bear. The Brits do seem to get excited about their royal weddings. As temporary and fleeting as the latte portraits are, they inspire creativity by example. A whole catalog of uses pops into mind for such latte images, prepared by a new category of baristas who may start specializing in weddings, birthday and anniversary party celebrations. We may start hiring a barista for our celebrations as people now hire DJ’s and bartenders. Wouldn’t it be fun to have coffee served at a wedding or anniversary that features the happy couple smiling up at you as you take your first sip? Or maybe the guests could be served latte art featuring the couple’s initials, something a little easier to swallow than happy faces. For anniversaries, the number of years married could be written on each foamy cup. The ideas are limitless, but it certainly would add flair to any holiday or special celebration. For icebreakers at social gatherings, lattes could be decorated in pairs, which each cup in the pair depicting half of an image. Attendees would have to find their missing half. All you need is a couple of baristas who can turn out latte art quickly… or the stencils available at ROASTe. Beats reading leaves in the bottom of a tea cup.