The Inaugural Coffee Culture Fest Is a Buzzy Success

The happy buzz of friends and neighbors greeting each other met the irresistible aroma of java at the inaugural Coffee Culture Fest held at the Marjorie Luke Theatre on March 28. 

With an assortment of booths and bands and coffee and community-related activities to choose from, one of the highlights of the day was the Latte Art Throwdown. Baristas battled for bragging rights, as well as a $500 cash prize. Competition was fierce, and judges June Habib (Welcome Coffee Co), Aide Flores (Dune Coffee Roasters), and Marianne Partridge (Santa Barbara Independent) were not easy critics.

Robert Bertha — now a sound engineer at LinkedIn, who worked for Dune Coffee for seven years — was crowned the reigning king of latte art for his espresso creation, about which he joked, “It’s the best thing I’ve ever poured.”

The competition was done in a head-to-head bracket-style fashion, sort of a mash-up of March Madness and Chopped. Robert ultimately beat out baristas Tegan (Welcome Coffee Co.), Sierra (Zaca Coffee), Luca (a roaster), Gunnar (a home barista who formerly worked at French Press), Emily (Goodland Waffles & Melts), Iais (Deltina Coffee Roasters in Oceano), Matthew (Goodland Waffles & Melts), and Camila (Dune Coffee).

The judging criteria included: symmetry and balance (Is the design centered and well-proportioned?); contrast and clarity (strong contrast between crema and milk with clear lines); definition and line quality (clean edges, no wobbles, no blurring); complexity and difficulty (more advanced patterns score higher when executed cleanly); milk texture and integration (proper microfoam with a glossy, bubble-free texture); and overall visual impact (the “wow” factor).

Robert emerged victorious in the end, in a very close head-to-head final duo with Camila. As a judge, Partridge said, “This is very tough competition. … So, there was a lot of consultation among ourselves. And I think in the end, they’re really both equal in many, many different ways. But in the end, based on the idea that this is this one is a complicated design with a very clear heart at the top.”

Summing up the festival as a whole, which was quite busy despite taking place at the same time as the very well-attended No Kings march that day, organizer Elly Iverson said, “This is the start of something really beautiful here in Santa Barbara. The feedback from our inaugural event was overwhelmingly positive, and I am thrilled with the way our community showed up and supported each other — the buzz was real! I’m looking forward to growing this into an annual event with all of our partners.”

Stay updated on future events by following @coffeeculturefest on Instagram and visiting coffeeculturefest.com.