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People

Story / Photos by Coffee t&i Thailand

Caleb Cha

2015 Latte Art Champion and the commitment in his dream

From a small start of his big dream, ‘Caleb Cha’ or what next 7 years there. I took interest in the origin of coffee and all
the coffee industry knows him as “Tiger” used his 8 years of ex- the elements of coffee. One day my boss showed me a latte art and
perience in the industry to conquer the 2015 Australian Latte Art told me to try to recreate it. It took me a couple of attempts before
Championship, and later stepped up as the 2015 World Latte Art I was able to create the same art, which I later discovered that it
Champion. His success is driven by his passion in coffee and it did was the art used by 2009 World Latte Art champion. That really
not take long to get there. sparked my dream and motivated me to take latte art seriously.”
Everything was learnt from the ground up. Caleb studied
The Beginning every day routine of Hisako, 2013 World Latte Art Champion,
Before Caleb decided to take on coffee as a profession, he over and over to find ideas and build his own unique identity.
was a financial consultant in South Korea for 4 years. He moved Calab made almost 300 cups of coffee a day, and his commitment
to Melbourne in 2008 and worked in a restaurant until his career to develop his identity resulted in around 14,000 cups of coffee
took a turn when he decided to enroll in a coffee course. made throughout his 7 weeks of intensive practice.
“ I was looking for a new experience when I moved to Behind his success was a person who Caleb always re-
Melbourne, and that’s when I found a company advertisement members as his teacher and a coffee friend. “A few years after the
saying, “Do you want to be a part of a restaurant or a café? We success I met a Australian National Barista Championship judge
can help you!” I decided to go to the company and began learning and I immediately recognized her. She’s Melissa Caia and I didn’t
about coffee at William Angliss, a renowned institute in Victoria.” know she was the head judge of Australian Specialty Coffee As-
sociation while I was studying with her. After winning the world
The Art of Coffee championship, I received a personal congratulation message from
By completing the coffee course Caleb landed a barista her and I was very grateful.”
job in a café in Melbourne where he accumulated valuable experi-
ences and creativity to become a coffee artist. Playing a Different Role
“I was fortunate to get a barista job. Everything was new The success of Caleb took him to another role in the
to me and it was a steep learning curve to climb. A few months coffee industry, from a contestant to a judge. He was selected as
later I moved to another café called ‘Cafenatics’ and spend the one of the judges for 2016 and 2017 National Australian Latte Art
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