Michael Yung, a Barista Babe !!!

Have you ever gone back over and over to a cafe, hoping for a glimpse of your handsome barista? Perhaps you find it's his day off, and your heart sinks in disappointment. But if he's there, you're giddy with excitement because you can gaze longingly while he's making your drink while everyone will just think your an exacting coffee connoisseur when you're really just taking in all of his breathtaking beauty and handsomeness! Well, I'm sure Michael Yung, our handsome barista babe has many people doing just that!


Michael's beautiful side profile, next to some coffee beans in a specialty grinder at a barista competition.

Michael's beautiful eyes examining cups for cleanliness.

According to this canada.com article, Michael won the 2007 Canadian Barista Championship, held in Toronto. Here's a great blog documenting the 2007 Canada Championships. And here a ctv.ca article on the story. It seems to have a video as well, but I'm having trouble viewing it. I'm thinking it might only be available to viewers in Canada, so perhaps a Canadian reader can let me know if this is the case. CTV says Michael'"Yung's signature concoction consisted of fig puree, espresso and vanilla bean Chantilly cream infused with coffee"--mmmmm, sounds tremendously tasty!

And Michael got 5th place in the 2008 World Barista Championship!!! Unfortunately, it looks like there was a video of him at this event, but for some reason, it's been removed! It's too bad, because I would love to watch Michael and his beautiful hands work that hefty espresso machine and draw out shots! =)

For a quick trip into Michael's mind, check out his blog. He hasn't updated it for awhile, but he has some wonderful comments on coffee places in Vancouver and Seattle.

Appropriately apt, Michael's flickr handle is "baristahands." He seems to be a fan of photography and travel as well, with many great shots on his flickr photostream documenting his adventures in coffee places like Mexico, Nicaragua, Colombia, and Guatemala, as well as exciting Asian places like Hong Kong and Japan. He also seems to enjoy air travel, and has a nice set of travelog-ish pics in his "The World at 35 000 Feet" photostream.

As far as I can tell, Michael is at Caffe Artigiano, with several locations in the Vancouver BC area.

UPDATE: I've discovered Michael's twitter feed (using the "baristahands" handle) and learned he's moved to HONG KONG as "Coffee Ambassador" for Graffeo Coffee Roasters from San Francisco!

Michael Yung, our handsome barista babe!