Local Competition Heats Up: Rochester Throwdowns in October 2025

Competition heated up as the weather cooled down this October in Rochester, with not one but two latte art throwdowns taking place within just two weeks of each other. If you’re not familiar with what a latte art throwdown is or how it works, the simple explanation is that it’s a tournament style competition where two baristas go head-to-head to pour the best latte art they can. A panel of three judges determines the winner. The loser is eliminated while the winner proceeds to the next round.

As a matter of fact, we hosted our own throwdown last year in June and if you missed it, you’re in luck, we live streamed the entire thing with commentary on our YouTube channel. Our panel of judges included Whole Latte Love founder Gary Salzman and WBC Judge Danilo Lodi, and there was over $1,000 in prizes on the line for first place. You know, a pretty low stakes event.

This Year's Throwdowns

We were happy to sponsor both throwdowns, offering up prize packages that included things like a Gaggia Classic E24, Varia VS3 Grinder, Gaggia Magenta Prestige, and a ton of other cool brewing accessories and supplies to boot. In total we had four people (John, Zach, Lily and Steve) compete and John was even asked to serve as a judge at the Aporia throwdown. The photos you see in this blog were taken by Zach and Brian, both of whom helped coordinate our participation and sponsorship of the throwdowns.

Aporia Coffee Roasters

Aporia's throwdown took place on 10/16 at their new roasting facility at 175 Dewey Ave in Rochester. All entry fees and donations for the throwdown supported the Charles Settlement House, a local charity that provides critical services to a wide range of Rochester residents. Before the throwdown, a panel of business owners from the Rochester coffee community hosted a live recording for the Dialed in Coffee Podcast.

The winner of the Aporia throwdown was none other than our own Zach!

Ugly Duck Coffee

Ugly Duck's throwdown was a bit of spooky fun, taking place on Thursday, 10/30, upping the stakes with a Halloween costume contest in addition to the throwdown. All proceeds from the throwdown were donated to Mary's Place Refugee Outreach, a nonprofit that supports families in need with food, hygiene products, essential supplies and education.

With some stiff competition, including several baristas from % Arabica who made the trek from Toronto, Canada, first place ultimately went Joe Clark, one of Ugly Duck's own baristas who went home with a full pour over setup from Varia Brewing.

Whole Latte Love at the Throwdowns

To give you a better sense of what it's like to compete in and judge a latte art throwdown, I grabbed several of our own participants to offer up a bit of firsthand perspective. If you've ever thought about competing yourself but haven't plucked up the courage to do it, hopefully they'll encourage you to give it a try.

John

John is a bit of a legend in the Rochester coffee community with many years of experience as a barista, café manager, and roaster to name just a few of the hats he's worn. At Whole Latte Love he lends his expertise to the content and marketing teams and helps with training customers and employees alike. This year he participated as both a judge and a competitor at the throwdowns in October.

What is your objective going into a throwdown?

As a competitor, winning a prize is kind of an afterthought for me – I just want to see how far I can get in the bracket and challenge myself. There's always going to be some really good latte artists that I have friendly competition with and I always look forward to seeing who gets the bragging rights.

What's something about judging that people don't think about?

See, this thing happens as a competitor if you get knocked out early. It can make you feel like there’s nothing left for you after losing, and sometimes you see folks go home early – I totally get it. But as a judge, you’re engaged all night, and it never gets boring. It’s still social, but you don’t feel like you need to “make the rounds” – just stay at the judge’s table and relax.

What's the hardest thing about judging?

Being a judge means you've got the power to break someone's heart, and that's always tough. Especially when my focus is on having fun and ESPECIALLY if it's a tough call or a split vote. You can easily feel like it was your vote that cost someone a great win.

Lily

Lily from the Whole Latte Love sales team participated in Ugly Duck's throwdown on 10/30, ultimately placing fourth overall in the competition. Before joining the crew at Whole Latte Love she actually attended our own throwdown in 2024 and you can check out some of her pours in the livestream above. Lily's time behind the bar is a bit shorter than many in Rochester's coffee scene, but her intensity more than makes up for it.

What is your objective going into a throwdown?

In general my objective is mainly to have fun, but ideally to place/win something too! I started as a home barista so I feel like I was a bit out of the loop with the coffee community here. It's fun to see that there are others like me and to compare how far I've come learning on my lonesome vs. seasoned café baristas!

Are you nervous about competing?

I've competed in three throwdowns locally and I'm ALWAYS nervous, and I do try to practice but I can't drink all those lattes by myself. After one or two rounds, things mellow out a bit. I'm always competing against myself and mainly trying to do better than I did last time, which I think I've done each time.

How does it feel going head-to-head with your co-workers?

Steve and I "throwdown" in the office so it's a lot less pressure going up against him at Ugly Duck. It's friendly competition, but I still feel bad that someone has to get knocked out!

Steve

Steve, our technical support lead attended both throwdowns at Aporia and Ugly Duck this year and is a frequent customer of many of Rochester's local shops. Like Lily, his background has given him a little bit less time behind the bar than some of his favorite baristas but that hasn't stopped him from competing.

What is your objective going into a throwdown?

I'm pretty new to competing in throwdowns. I started going to them a couple of years ago because they seemed cool and I wanted to be more involved with the local community. Now that I'm a bit better at latte art, I just want to put something I'm proud of in the cup. Winning is less important to me than my skills progressing and having a fun evening with fellow coffee nerds.

How does it feel going from customer to competitor?

It's fun! Even just going to these throwdowns helps make the community feel closer. It can also be a bit intimidating, because I know they can all pour, and they get a lot more practice than I do.

How is frothing different on a commercial machine vs a home machine?

Commercial machines are held at a higher pressure than most home machines – so, all the basics of frothing are still the same, but you need to work quicker. I learned to froth on a prosumer machine and most of my practice is done on one. I think if you can get the basics spout position, proper aeration, and a good whirlpool on a home machine, getting used to a commercial one comes pretty quickly.

Final Thoughts

And that's a wrap on our local throwdowns! If you've never competed, or maybe never even been to one, they're a great opportunity to engage with your local coffee community, meet people, strut your stuff, and maybe win some prizes while you're at it. As for us here at Whole Latte Love, we're definitely looking forward to the next one here in Rochester. And who knows, maybe it'll be us hosting!

Photography by Zachary Shouse and Brian Tucker

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