An Ottawa barista took home the top prize in a national latte art championship last week. Wanying Wang, a barista with Little Victories Coffee Roasters, placed first in the 2027 Canadian National Latte Art Championship in Toronto on Friday, Oct. 16. Speaking with 580 CFRA’s Ottawa at Work with Patricia Boal, Wanying said she created two versions of three different pieces of latte art for the competition: a gorilla, a giraffe and a camel. “It’s on the stage, and I did six cups of latte art during 10 minutes, in front of five judges and some other people,” Wanying said. While Wanying says her favourite art to create is the gorilla, Andrew Bassett, the co-founder of Little Victories, says he is particularly impressed by another of her creations. “I’ll flag the macchiato that she poured in her final round: it’s a camel. Knowing how small the cup is and knowing how complex that pour is, it’s pretty amazing to be able to do it in such a small cup,” he said. “So, the camel is pretty amazing.” According to Bassett, Wanying is “known in our shop as being the latte artist.” “I think the people who are really interested know that Wang is terrific at it and world class at it, and they’ll come in, and those are usually the customers that Wang may make a more special coffee for,” he said. “All of the baristas at the shop can pour really nice latte art, no doubt. What Wang does in the competition format, is like another level.” As Bassett explains, the latte artists competing in the competition earned scores for different aspects of their art, including technical capabilities, beauty, contrast and complexity. “You show them what you’re supposed to pour, and then you make two pours that are supposed to look identical to that,” he said. The art Wanying and her competitors create is ephemeral, disappearing into the beverage in only a matter of minutes. “When Wang’s doing the competition pours and stuff like that, by like the end of the 11-minute routine, pretty much all of the pours are kind of gone,” Bassett said. Wanying says she’s been working with coffee for 11 years but has only been doing latte art for about four years. She’s competed in the championship before, earning second place finish in 2025, but this is her first time atop the podium. Bassett, who used to compete in the event himself, says he has gone to Toronto with Wanying for the past three years to cheer her on throughout the competition. “I know how hard she works. I see it, and it’s cool to see that recognized,” he said. The secret to Wanying’s success? “I just like working really hard for that,” she says. “Practice a lot and a lot.”
