Spotlight on 2024 World Latte Art Champion Xie Yi-chen, Taiwan’s world-class barista

Spotlight on 2024 World Latte Art Champion Xie Yi-chen, Taiwan’s world-class barista

2024-08-01

Today we take you to meet the 2024 World Latte Art Champion, Taiwanese Xie Yi-chen. Xie competed against baristas from 36 other countries and clinched the title with three designs inspired by Taiwan. The designs of a dragon, whale and moose were created by moving a pitcher of steamed milk right above the surface of espressos. Our very own FTV reporter Stephany Yang caught up with Xie for a coffee.

Xie carefully draws out patterns of a dragon, whale and moose. These are his winning works at the 2024 World Latte Art Championship in Copenhagen.

Xie says his inspiration was Taiwan and the designs were inspired by real and imaginary animals in the sea, land and sky. Through the dragon design, he hopes to let people know more about Taiwanese culture.

Xie Yi-chen
2024 World Latte Art Champion
I wanted to make something special and representative from the three elements: land, sea, and air. I chose what I liked best in each element. Especially for the sky part, I chose the God that symbolizes Taiwan, which is the dragon.

To prepare for the competition, Xie practiced latte art on 10,000 cups of espresso in total, 110 days cups per day. He spent NT$160,000 just on milk and coffee beans.

Xie Yi-chen
2024 World Latte Art Champion
The most difficult part was the bean. We couldn’t get their beans and we couldn’t buy milk because the competition was in Copenhagen, Denmark. The organizers only announced the beans 10 days before the competition so we couldn’t buy them.

Xie developed thick calluses throughout training and competing but that didn’t stop him from pursuing his dream. Xie says the whale pattern was the most challenging to produce.

Xie Yi-chen
2024 World Latte Art Champion
The most difficult design was the whale, which has a total of 7 leaves. The small leaves are very difficult. It greatly depends on strength and rhythm. I will hold my breath when creating my latte art design.

Xie began creating latte art at 17 years old and has competed in over 60 tournaments.

Xie Yi-chen
2024 World Latte Art Champion
I have been practicing latte art for 10 years since I was 17 years old. I have competed in many competitions, and many people ask if I do it to earn a lot of money. Competitions are not about making money. Competitions usually involve losing money. I pursue it for a sense of accomplishment. If you like something, spend a lot of time working on it and then showcase it. I have competed in at least 60 competitions, and it is impossible to win every game. You must go through a lot of failures, and you will learn from these failures, and the feedback will give you knowledge. Knowledge can give you strength.

Xie hopes to continue to represent Taiwan in competitions and build up his clientele in his coffee shop, where the lattes feature his unique designs.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

靠龍、鯨魚、駝鹿自創圖案謝溢宸勇奪WCC世界拉花冠軍

2024-08-01

今天帶大家認識2024年咖啡拉花世界冠軍謝溢宸。他以龍、鯨魚及駝鹿的拉花圖形脫穎而出，擊敗其他36國的咖啡師，摘下世界咖啡拉花冠軍。一起來看看!

來自台灣的咖啡拉花選手謝溢宸以自創的龍、鯨魚及駝鹿的拉花圖形，勇奪丹麥哥本哈根舉辦的2024WCC世界盃拉花大賽冠軍。

謝溢宸的靈感來自台灣的陸海空代表的動物。他希望透過龍的設計，讓觀眾更了解台灣文化。

[[咖啡拉花世界冠軍謝溢宸]]
"我想要做比較特別，然後具有代表性的。陸海空三個領域，不同的領域我就挑選我最喜歡的東西，尤其是空的部分，我是選擇象徵台灣的神，我選擇了龍"

為了準備比賽，謝溢宸總共用10，000杯濃縮咖啡練習拉花，每天練習110杯。光是牛奶和咖啡豆，他就花了16萬新台幣。

[[咖啡拉花世界冠軍謝溢宸]]
"最困難的地方是第一個豆子，他們的豆子我們取不到，還有牛奶我們也買不到，因為在丹麥哥本哈根比賽，他在比賽前的10天才公布什麼豆子，不過我們也買不到"

經歷無數次的訓練和比賽，使他的手長出厚繭，但這並沒有阻止他追求自己的夢想。謝溢宸表示，最難做的圖案是鯨魚。

[[咖啡拉花世界冠軍謝溢宸]]
"最困難的是鯨魚，它的葉子總共有7片，小葉子很難，力量的拿捏，你的節奏。拉花的時候我會憋氣"

謝溢宸從17歲開始創作拉花藝術，並參加過60多場比賽。

[[咖啡拉花世界冠軍謝溢宸]]
"從17歲開始，已經10年開始練習，比過很多賽，很多人問是不是要賺錢?其實比賽不是賺錢，比賽通常是賠錢的，我是追求成就感。你喜歡的東西，花很多時間，把它呈現出來。我比過至少60場比賽，不可能每一場都是很順利都拿名次，你一定要經過很多的失敗，這些失敗會學到回饋，回饋會給你知識，知識才可以給你力量"

謝溢宸希望繼續代表台灣參加比賽，並以他獨特的拉花設計，好好經營咖啡店，吸引更多客人前來。

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The final vote was 193 in favor, 1 against. And with that, approval was secured from all seven villages in the region. It was a big relief for the government’s Suhua Improvement Engineering Office.

The April 3 earthquake and Typhoon Gaemi ravaged large sections of the Suhua Highway. Many sections with heavy damage had not been reinforced during the government’s Suhua Highway Improvement Project. With the highway in tatters, the government is pushing to fast-track safety upgrades. Its plan is called the Suhua Highway of Provincial Highway No. 9 Mountainous Section Improvement Project.
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Queen of Badminton Tai Tzu-ying crashes out of Paris Olympics

Badminton star Tai Tzu-ying’s last Olympic campaign ended in tears on Wednesday, after she lost to Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon in the group stage. After her defeat, Tai posted a heartfelt message of thanks to her fans. President Lai Ching-te also took to social media. He thanked the Queen of Badminton for her hard work and said Taiwan stood with her in Paris.

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Tai shared that India’s PV Sindhu had also hugged her after the match, holding her face and consoling her, saying Tai had played very well. Intanon left a comment on Tai’s post, saying Tai would, quote, be her mirror, as always. The Thai shuttler thanked Tai for her fighting spirit, and said she hoped to keep seeing her around the world. President Lai Ching-te also posted to social media. He thanked Tai for her hard work, writing that the cheers in the stadium represented Taiwan standing with her in Paris.

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We were very moved by Tai Tzu-ying’s match. We knew about her injuries, and some of the moves she made to catch the shuttle must have been really painful. We want to thank Tai Tzu-ying for representing our country all these years.

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She’s a very strong girl. I saw how she cried when Intanon hugged her… She had some severe injuries, so it was very tough for her. If she had waited to heal fully, she would’ve lost her touch. Before leaving, she said she needed a miracle. The miracle was that she was able to run again. That was already a miracle in itself.

Despite Tai crashing out of the Olympics, her father remains proud as ever, and messaged her after the match to cheer her up. Tai plans to continue playing for the rest of the year before retiring. Her father says the most important thing for her is to get plenty of rest, adding that her family will support her no matter what she decides to do.

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Boxer Lin Yu-ting prepares for first Paris match amid online storm over gender

Taiwan boxer Lin Yu-ting is preparing for her first match at the Paris Olympics. But ahead of her Friday bout, she’s been dragged into a controversy regarding her gender. Online critics have questioned her eligibility, citing her failure to pass a biochemical test last year. Taiwan’s Sports Administration defended Lin, saying that critics are unaware of the details of her situation.

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Each slice of beef is rolled up like a rose and grilled under a hot flame until medium rare. Paired with onions, a special pomelo sauce and garnished with sesame seeds, Tainan’s “warm beef” is prepared to perfection.

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