Three-time Australian Latte Art Champion Victor Vu shares his step-by-step guide to recreate the challenging chameleon design.
This advanced design first rose to fame through Taiwanese Latte Art Champion Bala Shao Sing Lin, known as Bala, who placed third in the 2023 World Latte Art Championship. Victor has competed again with him on several occasions and has always been impressed by his work.
“I first recreated the chameleon design in a macchiato cup, but Bala’s version in a 10-ounce cup has much more detail,” he says. “Using a larger cup is actually more challenging as more space means more detail.”
The Australian Latte Art Champion describes this design as “quite difficult” due to the many techniques required to bring it together. When approaching testing designs, Victor recommends watching videos of the pour a couple of times before practising on paper. Once you’ve nailed it with a pen, you can move onto milk.
“When pouring, you don’t have time to think about what your next move is. That’s why you need to get it right on paper first,” he says.
“Designs such as this take a lot of patience and practice!”
Victor Vu’s chameleon
Step 1
Using a 10-ounce cup, start by mixing the milk with the coffee until the cup is about a third full.
Step 2
With the handle in the two o’clock position, pour a 10-leaf rosetta along the bottom of the cup to form a branch.
Step 3
Turn the cup slightly so the handle is at the three o’clock position. From the 12 o’clock mark, pour a long 12-leaf rosetta along the edge of the top of the cup to form the body shape.
Step 4
In the centre of the cup, pour a small five-leaf rosetta to form the belly. Turning the handle to the six o’clock position, pour another small five-leaf rosetta to meet the top of the body.
Step 5
Using the wet foam, from the nine o’clock mark draw a short line to meet the leaf rosetta to form the stem of the leaf. From the same point, draw a longer line parallel to the body.
Step 6
From the right-hand side of the body rosetta, draw a spiral to form the tail. Then, from the left-hand side of the body rosetta, drag to form the crest of the chameleon. Still using the same continuous pour, curve around the edge of the cup to form the nose and then pull back up and draw a spiral to form the inner eye. Still using wet foam, draw the bottom lip under the nose.
Step 7
Using the dry foam, form the two front legs under the mouth. On the right-hand side of the body rosetta, use the dry foam to form the back leg.
Step 8
Finally, use the dry foam to form three large triangles to fill the body.
