Coffee in the European Union is a wild and wacky scene, and Jelle Van Echelpoel is proof. A Belgian by birth, Jelle lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden; this year he somehow managed to place third in the 2013 Belgian Barista Cup and win the 2013 Swedish Latte Art Championship. It gets even more transnational: the Belgian started his coffee career three years ago in Poland, at Filtry Cafe in Warsaw (official website here). Two years ago, he moved to Sweden. Why? “I’m probably one of few people who didn’t move there for the girl,” Jelle told us. “It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to live in Sweden since I was a little kid – something about the vikings, I don’t know.”
On Instagram as @belgianbarista Jelle Van Echelpoel exclusively takes photos of his latte art – most from Drop Coffee in Stockholm, where he works. His Instagram is approaching its one year anniversary, and in that time he’s built a strong following of coffee professionals. “I’m not sure how they find me,” he tells us. We hope this post helps attract a lot more followers – his latte art form and creativity is stunning.
Jelle is one of over twenty baristas currently in Milan at the DC Campus. As a part of the event’s Saturday schedule, Jelle competed alongside 2013 Hungarian Latte Art Champion Edit Juhasz in a mock Latte Art Competition. Watch him in action in our exclusive video below:
Sprudge.com is in Milan all week covering the scene at DC Campus. Coverage made possible by Urnex and Dalla Corte.
