Malaysian Barista Wins International Latte Competition For The Second Time In A Row!

Irvine Quek Siew Lhek has outdone himself yet again by winning another international latte championship. According to The Star, Irvine successfully bagged the first spot with 73 points at the 2019 World Latte Art Battle (WLAB), beating South Korean barista, Kim Young Jin.

This victory marks his second time in a row taking home an international title. Last year, the 21-year-old was the champion of the World Latte Art Championship (WLAC) held in Brazil.

Irvine who was over the moon after his win, took to Instagram with the following post:

View this post on Instagram

Get the world champion title in a same day but different year,after 365 days and I’m back to the stage again. It’s was a very tough time for me and it’s full of stress in the period of preparation, glad that I made it and I feel so happy to all of the people who supported me and I’m happy that I didn’t disappoint you all. WLAC was back to the street and I made it! Feel honoured to be with the best of the best on the same stage, you guys are awesome and you guys are always my inspiration! ❤️

A post shared by WORLD LATTE ART CHAMPION (@irvine_nj) on Nov 10, 2019 at 9:57am PST

(Source: Instagram/@irvine_nj)

In his viral post, Irvine continued to elaborate on the preparation period for the competition. While he was familiar with the process, Irvine still struggled in coming up with new ideas for his latte design – “Spent almost three months to develop just one pattern for the first time. Tried to perfect every single detail of this pattern and to make it more realistic and impactful ”.

A great reminder to all that success isn’t brewed overnight!

His efforts certainly paid off as he managed to create a unique ‘Bear N’ Fish’ design that earned him the number one spot.

Irvine’s award-winning design – The Bear N’ Fish design featuring a bear clinching a fish in its mouth!
Source: Instagram/@irvine_nj

Irvine has definitely come a long way since he dropped out of high school to pursue his passion. These days, he is busy conducting training classes at 103 Coffee Workshop in Sri Petaling, where he imparts knowledge on mastering the art of making coffee and beautiful latte art.

He has even launched his very own brand of milk pitchers called ‘Nasty Jug’. As for his future plans, Irvine hopes to continue sharing his knowledge and inspiring other baristas like himself.

Well done, Irvine! Keep inspiring us with amazing coffee art!