Kota Kinabalu: Sabah-born Barista Ryan Liew defied the odds and became the first Sabahan to win the 2022 Malaysia Latte Art Championship (MLAC) in Kuala Lumpur, recently.Ryan brought home a trophy and sponsored items worth RM10,000 through his four winning designs – illustrations of an owl, hornbill, buffalo and puppy, that display a high degree of technical skill in latte art making.
With the national champion title, the 23-year-old who hails from Penampang will be the first Sabahan to compete internationally and represent Malaysia in the World Latte Art Championship next year.
Ryan, who began his barista career in Sabah about seven years ago, said winning the national competition was a five-year dream in the making, a goal he had since he started entering latte art competitions in 2017.
“Eversince I got my first champion title in Kota Kinabalu (2018 Borneo Coffee Festival), I knew this was what I wanted to do, which is to bring Sabah to the national stage,” he told Daily Express.
It took Ryan three months to prepare for the competition, from design creation and scriptwriting to pouring at least 20 cups of coffee daily as part of his training. He is coached by two-time World Latte Art Champion Irvin Quek.
Despite his thorough preparation, many did not expect him to win as he went up against seasoned contenders and even two-time national latte art champion Nicky Voon, who is also one of his coaches.
“I joined as an underdog, as only somebody who is there to warm up or gain experience. My champion title is not expected, everyone thought I would place second or third. Even my coaches told me to join this only as preparation to win the next national stage.
“But my mindset has always been that I can do better, because I always hold this pride of Sabah in me. I come from Sabah, and I want to show that Sabahan baristas can do it too, not just West Malaysians.
“This was one of the challenges, people seeing you as an underdog and already telling you that you will not win the champion title. So it’s either you listen to it or you challenge them.
“A lot of people think it was beginner’s luck, but I have been putting a lot of effort into this as I’ve been chasing this dream for a very long time. Now that I’m finally here, I feel that it’s just the beginning.
“With this national champion title I want to bring up Kota Kinabalu’s name, I want to bring Sabah to the world stage,” he said.
He hoped that his achievements could inspire other baristas in Sabah to compete on the national stage.
“We could send two or three baristas to compete nationally, not just in latte art but in all categories. Kota Kinabalu is rich with artistic talent, (there is no reason) why we cannot do it,” he said.
Ryan, who is based in Kuala Lumpur, plans to visit Sabah in the next few months to conduct coffee workshops and a latte art throwdown in hopes to uplift KK’s baristas and local specialty coffee scene.
