Stephany Kariuki is turning cups of coffee into award-winning works of art.
The 23-year-old Wiesenhof Coffee Shop barista at Life St George’s Hospital in Gqeberha, claimed top honours in a national barista competition hosted by the company recently.
Baristas from 33 Wiesenhof Coffee stores across SA competed, impressing the judges with their intricate Christmas-themed coffee artwork.
Kariuki’s winning design featured a foam-crafted Christmas tree accented with red details and shimmering silver elements, created entirely from coffee ingredients.
The young barista, who has been working at the hospital-based coffee shop for the past three years, admitted that she began her journey into the world of coffee without much enthusiasm.
“I wasn’t interested in coffee at all when I started,” she said.
“After high school in 2020, I took a gap year and attended a pop-up programme that helped young people find work, where my current boss spoke about business management.
“Later, when a position opened up, they contacted me and offered me a job as a barista.
“I came in with no knowledge at all, but over the past three years, learning more about coffee is what made me fall in love with it,” she said.
A final-year biochemistry student at Unisa, Kariuki plans to continue her studies and eventually work in a hospital environment.
Despite her academic ambitions, she sees coffee art as more than just a job or a hobby.
“One day I would love to travel overseas, especially to places like Tokyo, where coffee culture and latte art are always evolving.
“I want to learn those techniques and bring that knowledge back home, using it to create something that feels local and uniquely ours.
“I’m quite introverted and don’t always enjoy talking, but coffee art has become my way of communicating and connecting with people without having to say much,” she said.
Kariuki explained the creative process behind her Christmas-themed coffee artwork that earned her top honours.
“The original inspiration we were given was a plain dark background with a simple white tree, but I felt it was too basic and wanted it to look more like a real Christmas tree.
“I created a dark background using a double shot dyed black, added frothy milk to resemble snowy ground, and then drew the tree stem and branches.
“I used green-tinted froth for the tree, red froth to create a star on top, and finished it off with white glitter to give the effect of falling snow,” she said.
Shereen Kakora, the front manager of the coffee shop, praised Kariuki’s work.
“Stephany is such a go-getter.
“She’s incredibly humble and a real pleasure to work with.
“Her coffee art keeps people coming back because customers genuinely love the beautiful drinks she creates.
“She is extremely creative and consistently puts pride into her work, and we are very proud of her,” Kakora said.
The Herald
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