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Victor Vu of Ona Coffee Melbourne is the 2020 ASCA Australian Pauls Professional Latte Art Champion.
Polly want a cracker? Reigning Australian Latte Art Victor Vu shares a refined take on his classic parrot design with a little more detail, and a lot more character.
T
he parrot was one of the first latte art patterns that I mastered, and this edition, I’ve stepped it up a notch. I presented my original parrot design at the 2019 Australian Latte Art Championship, but it didn’t contain quite as much complexity as this version, which I developed after being inspired by 2018 World Latte Art Champion Irvine
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Quek and his Sleeping Parrot design. One of the techniques I use in this design is the ‘cunning eye’ made popular by Arnon Thitiprasert at the 2017 World Latte Art Championship. Rather than using a drop of foam as the eye, you build the eye into the design of the face, really helping to add character and realism to the pattern. Beyond that, you see a greater level of
detail, with much more texture added to the parrot itself, as well as the background set up within the rest of the cup. To perfect this design, you will need a good understanding of basic latte art techniques and how your elements will interact with each other in the cup. This is not an easy design to master but that makes it all the more worthwhile when you do.
