Melannie Aquino doesn't have major aspirations as an artist ย she's a hobbyist painter and drawer in her off time, she says, but she tells Mashable, "I do that more for relaxing." As a barista at San Francisco's Elite Audio Coffee Bar (893 Folsom Street), the coffee bar attached to the high-end electronics store Elite Audio Systems, she's been getting ultra-creative with her latte art, after being convinced to try her hand at it by a friend.
Using just milk foam and chocolate, she now creates intricate drawings of animals and other things atop customers' coffee drinks in just three to five minutes. "Iโve been drawing on drinks for the past 4 years and have since perfected my craft," she writes on Bored Panda. "You need a marriage of the perfect espresso and microfoam in order to get the right contrast and bring out the little details."
Aquino adds, "The reaction on customerโs faces are the most rewarding part of my job. A lot of people become regulars and it pushes me to do different designs and to do better."
Below, some examples, many more of which you can find on her Instagram.
