Axum Coffee barista Josh Neal wins Facebook contest

Axum Coffee’s Josh Neal saw a latte art competition on Facebook. On a whim, he entered, submitting a photo of a phoenix he had done.

By the end of the day, the photo had 550 Likes on Facebook, putting Neal in the top spot over 400 other baristas throughout the world. Second place had just more than 300 likes.

Famous barista Dritan Alsela, of Düsseldorf, Germany, organized the competition, which he dubbed the “8th World Barista Competition.” He invited all followers to vote on their favorite latte art by liking the photo. Alsela’s page has more than 700,000 Likes from all over the world.

Neal knows the competition is different from the average barista competition. In those, baristas are given a picture and required to recreate the picture. Typical barista contests also deal with taste and stricter judging.

All that aside, Neal is glad to have recognition for Winter Garden.

“I kind of got lucky, I guess,” he said. “Obviously, I had some good art, but I probably wouldn’t have won it if it was something else.”

BARISTA BEGINNINGS

Neal started working at Axum Coffee three years ago, in response to a financial class he took with his wife. He already worked as a manager at Chick-fil-A, but his family decided they wanted to become debt free. He knew Axum’s manager at Axum, who was familiar with his background in the food industry and offered him a part-time job.

It was his first and only job as a barista. He worked part-time at Axum while working two other jobs. When his family became debt-free, Neal decided Axum was the place he wanted to be. He made the transition to full-time work this summer.

“I’m easily the fifth or sixth best barista at this place,” Neal said, referring to Axum. “Axum is blessed to have a plethora of good baristas.”

FROTHY ARTFORM

Neal considers himself an artist. He’s played the drums for 20 years and performs regularly in the worship band at Mosaic Church. Once or twice a month, he also plays in a band at Disney Springs in a cover band with an artist called Drey-C.

Now, he sees the food industry as an outlet for his creativity.

“Food is one of the only jobs where you get praised for being creative,” he said.

Latte art is just another form of expression, he said. It’s a challenge to make beautiful art, as well as a good cup of coffee.

It took Neal two weeks to learn how make a rosetta — which is fast.

“It wasn’t amazing,” he said.

But it took him two to three months to learn the phoenix, which is a combination of the most basic designs, the rosetta, tulip and heart.

He’s not done learning. Next, he hopes to master a hanging heart, as well as a special rosetta.

Contact Jennifer Nesslar at [email protected].

THE RECIPE

A latte starts with an espresso base. Then, the barista steams the milk to reach a hot temperature. The milk is then aerated. The aeration expands the milk, creating foam, which creates the art. Baristas push the foam into the coffee to create the design.

NEAL’S TOP FOUR

Phoenix

Dragon

Peacock

Rosetta

TIPS FROM THE PRO

• Master steaming and aerating milk, then work on latte art.

• Master the basic latte designs: heart, tulip and rosetta. The phoenix is a mixture of all three of these designs.

• Watch videos from people who are experienced latte artists.

• Trial and error. Practice is the best way to get better.