Hot from his appearance at the World Latte Art Championship 2024 in Copenhagen, Australian Latte Art Champion Victor Vu shares his cheeky raccoon design.
Followers of the World Latte Art Championship (WLAC) 2024 in Denmark would have seen Victor Vu progress to the semi-finals of the competition with his jungle-inspired designs. His impressive animal artwork included a jungle fowl, howling wolf, mighty lion, and wise owl, which he says were influenced by the great outdoors.
“I love nature and this year, with the use of the automatic machines in the competition [the first time a super automatic machine has been permitted for baristas to use], it was nice to bring an element of this into my work and to make a connection between nature and coffee,” he says.
“Since I was a child, I have always loved the jungle, so all of the animals I design are from there.”
While not part of his WLAC routine, the raccoon is member of Victor’s wider family of animal-inspired designs.
“This is quite a difficult design to reproduce because there are a lot of technical steps. You’ll need to be able to pour a good rosetta, as these form the base of the branches and the raccoon’s body,” says Victor.
This article appears in the August 2024 edition of BeanScene. Subscribe HERE.
Victor Vu’s raccoon latte art
Step 1
Start with your cup handle at six o’clock and build your base, chasing any whites. To form a large leafy branch, pour a 12-leaf rosetta on the left-hand side of the cup. Pull through.
Step 2
Rotate the cup clockwise 90 degrees and pour a six-leaf rosetta above your first rosetta so the ends meet. This will form a smaller leafy branch that curves along the top rim of the cup. Rotate the cup and aim your pitcher at 12 o’clock. Pour a four-leaf rosetta curving into the centre of the cup. This will form the raccoon’s body. Pull up.
Step 3
Using the weight of the flow, drag the milk from the centre of the leafy branches up to the body of the racoon to form a leafless branch.
Step 4
From the base of the raccoon’s body (four-leaf rosetta), drag a curved line down the cup to form the tail, and another one beside it to add thickness to the tail. Link the two side of the tail with three spaced lines.
Step 5
With the handle at six o’clock and in one continuous motion, aim your next pour at 12’clock at the top of the cup and draw a diamond shape to create the raccoon’s head. Draw a line through the middle and a small circle at the end, leaving a gap of crema to form the nose. Draw a small curved line above the head and pour two drops of milk to create ears.
Step 6
Aim the pitcher close to the cup surface and slowly pour two drops of milk either side of the racoon’s face to form eyes.
Step 7
Finally, drag the milk to add the legs, making the front legs thinner than the back .
