2026 Lunar New Year Latte Art Throwdown at Winter Swan

For the third year in a row, we were happy to sponsor Rochester’s Lunar New Year latte art throw down, this year hosted by Quynh Bui of Winter Swan. Nestled in the heart of Stacy K Floral, at 43 Russell St in Rochester, NY, Winter Swan opened in 2022 as an outlet for Quynh’s passion for making coffee, not just for herself but for others as well. As a Vietnamese immigrant, Quynh’s heritage is represented in Winter Swan’s Asian inspired flavors and menu items. She was kind enough to share one or two recipes with me that I’ll be linking a little bit further down in this article.

While this was the third Lunar New Year throwdown to date (the prior two being held at the now defunct Happy Gut Sanctuary Café), it was Quynh’s first time hosting a throwdown and the first time Winter Swan served as a venue. As is tradition for the event, there was also an artisan market featuring several Asian creators from the Rochester community, including our Senior Graphic Designer Elley Ellison.

In keeping with the red and gold color scheme for the event, we supplied a red Gaggia Classic E24 for the first place prize and a brushed gold Technivorm Moccamaster KBGV Select for second place.

The Throwdown

The format of the throwdown was a 32 seat competition bracket that was divided into five rounds. There weren't quite 32 entrants, but that was quickly solved with a buyback system that allowed a handful of eliminated baristas to try again in the first round. Baristas could choose between 8oz and 12oz cups for their pours. 2% milk was used for all rounds except for the second round, where oat milk was used instead. Quynh pull all of the shots for the competition.

The Judges

Judging the throwdown this year were Noah Shapiro, Winter Swan's lead barista, Catt Hsu the owner and founder of Happy Gut Sanctuary, and Jaina Dinino, a former Winter Swan Barista and the owner of Butterjoy Bakery.

The Artists

Numerous Rochester cafés and businesses were represented among the participants, including: AMFM, Little House, Ugly Duck Coffee, Little Monster, Public Provisions, Flour City Bread, Melo Coffee & Kitchen, Kopani Coffee, Winter Swan, Whole Latte Love, and a slew of home baristas.+

The final eight included Adam and Bawb of Ugly Duck, Satoshi of Public Provisions, Mitch from Little House, and Devan Jenson, Juliana and Jess of Winter Swan. The competition concluded with Bawb taking second place and Jess finishing in first.

The Sponsors

The throwdown received broad prize support from both local and national businesses.

Local Sponsors

As I mentioned, we provided the prizes for the first and second place finishers, with additional support from a wide range of Rochester businesses including:

Alt Bar, Central Roc Gym, Cure, Forno Tony, Geva Theater, Happy Earth Tea, Lento, The Little Theater, Martine, Red Fern, Wild Flour

National Sponsors

Several of the national sponsors for the event are brands that we also work with here at Whole Latte Love:

Acaia, Barista Magazine, Elixr Coffee (coffee and cash prize sponsor), La Marzocco, Lucky Ox, Minor Figures (oat milk sponsor), notNeutral 

Interviewing Quynh Bui

A little before the throwdown started, we found a moment of calm in the midst of the bustling artisan market to talk with Quynh about the event, Lunar New Year, her perspective on coffee, and how she blends her Vietnamese heritage into the menu at Winter Swan.

What's it like creating a menu where specialty coffee and culturally authentic recipes intersect?

I would say it's definitely a difficult task. Because coffee is not easy to work with. There's flavors that we want to balance and protect for coffee while at the same time bringing in flavors that are not familiar with the community here. Some people will be experiencing them for the first time. So I always try to ensure that it's something that's friendly to the taste, familiar, but still highlights the authentic flavor. I mean, we're going with a crazy flavor, like a pho latte. So everybody's like, "what's it going to be like?" Right? So it's definitely a difficult task. But I think that's also what I'm really most excited to tackle.

What aspect of Vietnamese coffee culture is most important for you to represent here at Winter Swan?

I think this is something I always tell everyone; I grew up in the Vietnamese coffee culture, where coffee is simply not just for caffeine. It's a way for us to connect with friends, families.

We'll take each other and say, I want to go grab coffee. And that's our way to stay in touch. It's a community. So I just want to kind of protect that social aspect, that community. We want to be friendly and welcoming. It goes beyond just a cup of caffeine you need. It's a place for people to go and meet, to take their time and have a good read even. So I'll say that's one. Just one for me.

What's it like hosting a throwdown for the first time?

It's definitely a lot of work. I mean, we've done it the past two years, partnered with other businesses, but this year, it's Winter Swan taking on this task and trying it out for the first time.  So I'm grateful for my team who are ready to jump in and tackle it with me, and also for our partners and support from the community. Definitely Whole Latte Love meeting with me and helping to advise me on how to make our event successful. And of course we got Wayo to help us with all of the live streaming equipment.

I feel like it's been a big project for me, but at the same time, it's one where I feel like I finally learned what it means when we put ourselves out there and we get the support and we see what it means to be a part of the community.

How important is latte art to the experience you want to provide at Winter Swan?

It's one that we take very seriously. I think for coffee, taste is one thing. The presentation is another thing. It's something that I want in a barista, for them to be passionate about the latte art that they are given the opportunity and the chance to practice. To go with the design that they like to pour because the first impression is the quality of the presentation of the cup you're getting.

What are some of your favorite Lunar New Year traditions?

As a kid, mostly the red envelopes, because I just love getting that good luck. But I think as I grow older, another thing is really the festive feeling, the food surrounding it, because now I look back, I remember my mom would be prepping for it weeks in advance.  It's all of these foods and dishes that are only around once a year, and coming together as a family to celebrate. 

Anything else you want to say about the event?

I really just want to say how grateful I am for the turnout at the event. It's something that I've always wanted to do. From a personal level, but also, as the owner of Winter Swan. I'm happy to see everyone coming to visit us today and experience the events we put together. I'm happy to see all of my fellow Asian Americans, artists and makers have the chance to showcase their talent. I'm grateful for the team that came together to really provide this experience to the community.  And I guess I'm just grateful for everybody who showed up today.

From Winner to Judge

In addition to Quynh, we also had a chance to speak with Noa Shapiro, one of Winter Swan’s lead baristas and the winner of last year’s event. This year she went from competing to judging, so I was curious to hear how her thoughts had changed now that she was on the other side of the table.

How has working at Winter Swan shaped your perspective on coffee and its intersection with other cultures and traditions?

I knew nothing about southeast Asian coffee culture when I started. My first day at Winter Swan was my first time trying Vietnamese coffee and it blew my mind. Quynh led me down a rabbit hole of popular flavors that are just starting to break into the mainstream here. Some of my favorite flavor combinations are ones she’s shown me - refreshing espresso drinks with citrusy flavors such as yuzu or orange, pandan, sweetened condensed milk, the list goes on.

My perspective on Robusta coffee in particular has changed. Coming from a different coffee background and only seeing Arabica beans being used, I always assumed Robusta was the lesser quality bean. Since being introduced to Vietnamese and South Asian coffee, I’ve come to learn more about these different varietals and how they all play their part in the coffee world.

I think the café culture in Vietnam and Southeast Asia in general is something I’ve come to cherish as well. My coworkers and I often fantasize about going abroad to try all the amazing coffees and specialty drinks we’ve seen online. If I’ve learned anything about Southeast Asian food and coffee culture overall, it’s that it’s full of passionate and proud people who are just so happy to share these flavors and drinks that remind them of home.

As a past winner of this event, how does it feel to be judging this time around?

It’s exciting for sure, I think that participating every time wouldn’t feel as good because I want to give other people a chance to show off all of their hard work. As someone who’s participated a couple of times, I know the qualities I look for in a judge and what I’d want to feel being on the other side of the bar. It’s also fun to see what the rest of the community has been working on here.

How do you feel about the coffee scene in Rochester?

I mean, it just keeps growing. I think there's so many inspired people here. Even five years ago. Ten years ago, it was not like this at all. We're never short on coffee here. There's so many nice people, so many talented people. And I just love seeing how the passion has grown, especially with other people introducing their cultures, such as Vietnamese coffee. It's really like it's a complete bounty. And I love it.

Is Latte Art a Requirement at Winter Swan?

I would say more or less. It's not necessarily a hard and fast rule, but I think it is something that people have come to expect on every drink. And it's a really fun sort of add-on for our customers who maybe have never gotten latte art before, and for them to see something really cool, like a nice stack tulip or a swan can just make their day.  And I love seeing their reactions, when they do get that first latte art. So I think it's definitely an important part of this job.

Other Shoutouts

I wanted to take a quick moment to offer up a few additional shoutouts before wrapping up. First of all, two members of the Whole Latte Love crew had their own reasons for attending, separate from us sponsoring the event. Our own Senior Graphic Designer Elley Ellison was invited to participate in the artisan market with her company Design by Elley where she makes stationary goods inspired by Rochester and her Filipina heritage.

I am so grateful for my mom for sharing all of what she's brought from the Philippines here. And I just really love sharing that with other people. And it definitely displays in my art who I am. 

I've done other events, like the Lilac Festival and Corn Hill, but this is my first time participating in this kind of setting. I really appreciate the Asian culture in the artisan markets here at the Lunar New Year.

Another mention goes to John Cannon. If you attended the latte are throwdown here at Whole Latte Love HQ (in person or via livestream), then you'll remember how he killed it as our emcee. In this case his reputation certainly preceded him and the team and Winter Swan reached out to him to emcee this year's Lunar New Year Throwdown.

Final Thoughts

Three years on, the Lunar New Year Throwdown has quickly become one of my favorite events in Rochester's coffee scene. As happy as we are to support events like these, this year's event was truly inspiring, with Winter Swan carrying on the tradition and sharing their space with the community. So with that, I'd like to offer my congratulations to Quynh and the Winter Swan team, the vendors at the artisan market, sponsor and competitors for putting on an incredible event.

Photography by Zachary Shouse and Special Thanks to Mike Herschell

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