Bellissimo's Matt Milletto Places Third in Millrock Free Pour Latte Art Contest

Matt Milletto, consulting director of Bellissimo Coffee InfoGroup and director of the American Barista & Coffee School, placed third in the Millrock Free Pour Latte Art Contest held in conjunction with Coffee Fest Atlanta, June 1-3.
Twenty baristas from around the world, including Tokyo, showed off their latte art skills while vying for the first place purse of one thousand dollars.

Sarah Allen, editor of Barista Magazine and Millrock Free Pour Latte Art Contest sponsor and judge, said it was the tightest finals round ever, with only 14 points separating first place from tenth (270 total points were possible). Joining Milletto on the winner’s platform were Layla Osberg of Blenz Coffee in Vancouver, British Columbia, who took first place, and Luis Acosta of Vancouver, British Columbia and Mexico City, who took second place.

"The community aspect of this competition was excellent and I was thrilled to be in the top three of such a talented group of baristas," said Milletto. "It is amazing how supportive everyone is toward each other and I look forward to pushing my skills to the next level. There were so many deserving competitors and we all should be proud of our hard work and dedication."

Contestants have five minutes to produce their best free pour art and can submit up to three pours to be judged on color infusion, overall aesthetics and beauty, as well as creativity. The winner walked away with $1,000, second place $500 and third place $250.

Bellissimo is the specialty coffee industry's leading consulting company and founder of the American Baristas & Coffee School. The company is well known as the producer of the award-winning coffee education DVDs “Espresso 101,” “Espresso 501,” “The Passionate Harvest,” “Everything BUT Coffee” and “Advanced Barista Training: Extreme Pours.” Bellissimo is also the publisher of the business manuals Bean Business Basics, Opening a Specialty Coffee Drive-thru, Effective & Essential Marketing for the Specialty Coffee Retailer and Achieving Success in Specialty Coffee. Bellissimo’s worldwide client list includes Fortune 500 companies as well as American and International entrepreneurs. As a result of the success of his company, Bruce Milletto is recognized by the press and the coffee industry internationally as “the voice of North America’s specialty coffee industry.”