November is the perfect time for fall flavors – cozying up with a cup of joe and soaking up the entire experience: the taste, the heat of the mug in your hands, the smell of the brew, and the pièce de résistance, the beautiful foam art on top.  

No one understands that experience better than Ben Stanley, Operations Manager and barista at Perets Coffee and Tea in Oklahoma City. 

At 21, he’s already accomplished many things a barista dreams of, such as creating the flavors for Perets’ seasonal latte menu, setting goals for his future coffee business, and, oh yeah, being invited to an exclusive international latte art competition that only accepts 64 competitors from around the world – all with just a couple of years of being a barista under his belt. 

“I've only been doing this for two years. And like, if myself from two years ago, saw me pour that,” he says, gesturing to one of his signature latte art rosettas he poured during the interview, “I would freak out.” 

During the last week of August, Stanley traveled to L.A. to participate in the Latte Art World Championship Open at CoffeeFest Los Angeles. While he had competed in latte art throwdowns (competitions) before and had even traveled out of state for them, too, going to Worlds was an entirely different beast. First, hopeful baristas have to apply to get into Worlds. Applicants must submit five examples of their work, including at least three different designs, with submissions judged blind.

“It was honestly just an honor to see my name on that bracket. I put a lot of work into my application. I poured the best art I had done up until that point. Every single pour I was super proud of,” says Stanley. 

After receiving the notice that he had been accepted, Stanley started practicing at Perets for the championship. The format of the contest is a head-to-head bracket described as a “sudden-death” by the CoffeeFest team: one drink, two competitors, and three judges. Winner moves on in the bracket, and the loser eliminated. The brew of choice? A free-pour dairy milk and espresso latte, made without any special tools.

When Stanley arrived in Los Angeles the week of the competition, he received his sudden death matchup. Due to the seeded bracket, which is based on experience, he faced Andy Liang, who won Worlds in New York, L.A., and placed second in Portland just this year. Although his Worlds dreams ended early, he participated and reached round two in theEspresso State of Mind (ESOM) throwdown, held at CoffeeFest during the Expo.

“I went into the week with two goals, and that was to pour something that I was proud of in Worlds, and to make it past the first round at ESOM,” says Stanley. “And yeah, I did both of the things I set out to do.”

Landing back in Oklahoma, Stanley poured his Worlds experience into his work. First was the Onyx Coffee Lab Latte Art Throwdown on November 15, hosted at their headquarters in Rogers, Arkansas, a 64-person bracket in which Stanley received second place.

Next up, Stanley was accepted into another large-scale latte art competition. On November 22, Stanley competed in the 2025 Florida Latte Art Championship at the Florida Coffee Festival, presented by Sanremo Coffee Machines. In the second round, he faced two-time former World Latte Art Champion Nic Tanaka, losing to the former champ – who ended up winning the entire competition – by only one point. The following day, he placed 8th out of 85 baristas at the Pro Barista Latte Art Throwdown hosted by Florida Coffee Culture during the festival. 

But latte art competitions aren’t really about the glitz and perks from winning for Stanley. Earlier this year, Peret’s hosted their own second annual latte art throwdown, which packed Perets to the rafters with baristas and onlookers wanting to see latte art at its best – and Stanley is looking to collaborate with coffee shops across Oklahoma to make a bigger and better throwdown scene. 

“I have a special place in my heart for throwdowns because I really care a lot about this coffee community and the coffee community at large,” says Stanley. “And throwdowns are the main place that we all get together to enjoy our craft together.”

That’s a craft that, no matter what time of year, we can all appreciate. 

To keep up with Ben Stanley, follow him on Instagram at imbenstanley. You can also follow Peret’s Coffee and Tea on Instagram at peretscoffee or peretscoffee.com.

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