On Wednesday night we held our first Oatly Throwdown at Good Vibes café in Falmouth, Cornwall.
Instead of using cow’s milk, competitors were required to use Oatly's Barista Edition oat drink. The drink performs technically as well as regular milk when foamed and handles well without separating. It’s also rich in unsaturated fat.
16 competitors from across Cornwall took part on the night in a head to head knockout, each pouring their best artwork into two cups of coffee, paying close attention to the cremas definition, contrast and symmetry.
Judging the barista's latte art were Origin's own Lizzy Ferry, Toby Weedon from Oatly and Adam Pascoe, Head Barista at Origin's forthcoming café in Penryn. The judging method was whittled down to a single point; as soon as both drinks arrived on the counter, the judges had five seconds to make their decision and point at their preferred work.
The competition got tense in the penultimate round when the classic 8oz cup was replaced with a piccolo glass, dramatically reducing the ratio of oat drink to espresso. Finalists Shilly (Wild Vibes), Ryan Cleave (St. Kew Farm Shop) and Chloe Alexander (Origin) all kept their cool and produced stellar tulips, but it was Shilly who lost out on a place in the final.
Ryan clinched the champion position with a final 2:1 vote from the judges for his perfect rosette. He walked away with a six month coffee subscription from Origin and a load of merchandise courtesy of Oatly, who cosponsored the event.
Origin and Oatly would like to thank Brothers Pizza and Verdant Brewing Co. for supplying free refreshments on the night, all our competitors for entering, and everyone who took the time to come down and cheer them on. Finally, a special thank you to Good Vibes for being such a gracious and timely host after we had to reschedule the event, due to the snow.
Good Vibes is open from 8:30am to 5:30pm every day except Sunday (10am - 2pm), at 28 Killigrew Street, Falmouth.