How do you make a flat white with an espresso machine?

A flat white is an Italian-style milk coffee that came out of Australia in the 1980s and is built to show off the coffee rather than the milk. Compared with a latte it uses a stronger espresso shot, thinner steamed milk foam and a smaller finished volume, so the coffee aroma stays present instead of being buried under milk.

Milk steaming follows a simple rule: pour in milk equal to cup capacity minus the espresso, divided by about 1.2, since steamed milk expands to roughly 1.2 times its volume. Purge the steam wand without milk first to clear cold water from the tube. The base can be a standard espresso or a ristretto, which changes how the finished drink tastes.

Flat White is an Italian-style milk coffee originating from Australia that highlights the true flavor of coffee. Compared with a latte, it has a stronger espresso, thinner milk foam, and a smaller overall volume. This article will start with the steps for steaming milk, compare the differences between lattes and Flat Whites in espresso extraction, coffee-to-milk ratio, and finished volume, explain the flavor differences between espresso and ristretto, and finally provide Front Street Coffee's complete in-store Flat White preparation parameters and blended bean recommendations. It is suitable for coffee lovers who want to recreate Starbucks' Australian White at home.

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If the coffee and fresh milk in a latte are like a默契 pair of lovers, then the espresso and fresh milk in a Flat White are more like partners merged into one, permeating each other, silky and dense on the palate while delivering a fuller coffee aroma that lingers in the memory.

Lattes are certainly easy to drink, but some friends always feel that the milk flavor overwhelms the coffee itself. So Australians, who are passionate about studying the pairing of milk and espresso,偶然 made a cup in the 1980s with a more prominent coffee flavor, thinner milk foam than a latte, and a velvety, gentle texture—the Flat White—and it quickly became popular around the world.

What is a Flat White?

Flat White is called 馥芮白, 澳白, 小白, 醇艺白咖啡, and so on in Chinese. It is an Italian-style milk coffee that can highlight coffee flavor. It is similar to a latte in method, but differs in the concentration of the espresso, the thickness of the steamed milk foam, and the size of the whole drink.

How do you steam milk into milk foam?

Step 1: Pour in milk according to the cup capacity minus the amount of coffee liquid, then divide by about 1.2. (1.2 assumes that after steaming the milk volume expands to 1.2 times; the specific value depends on the amount of milk foam you want and your latte art habits.)

Step 2: First release steam once without milk to flush out the cold water in the tube. The shaded area is usually where the steam wand should be placed. It is recommended that the steam wand touch the spout of the milk pitcher.

How deep to insert the steam wand below the surface depends on the steam pressure of the espresso machine: if the pressure is low, keep it close to the surface; if the pressure is moderate, just submerge it in the milk; if the pressure is very high, inserting it 1 cm or deeper is no problem.

Step 3: The aeration and steaming stage. After turning on the steam switch, you will hear a "hiss—hiss" sound. This is the steaming stage. The required thickness of the milk foam determines the steaming time (the longer the steaming, the thicker the foam).

Generally, steam milk from half full to about 60% full. For a latte, the milk foam thickness is about 1 cm, and the steaming time is about 3 seconds; for a Flat White, the milk foam thickness is about 0.5 cm, and the steaming time is about 2 seconds. The milk should rotate in the same direction to form a vortex.

Step 4: The texturing stage. After steaming, the milk foam will separate into layers. The upper layer is the coarse foam created by steaming, while the lower layer is relatively unsteamed (on commercial machines the boundary between steaming and texturing is not obvious, so this can be skipped). In this step, aim the steam tip at the upper layer of foam and press it into the lower layer to fully blend. Keep the temperature throughout at about 55 to 65 degrees Celsius.

Step 5: Turn off the steam, wipe the steam wand clean, and release some steam. Then check whether there are bubbles on the surface of the milk foam. If so, gently tap the milk pitcher on the table to knock the bubbles out.

At this point, the milk foam and milk in the pitcher will clearly separate. Therefore, before pouring into the coffee, tilt the pitcher at a fixed point on the table and swirl it clockwise at a fixed point until the surface of the milk foam becomes smooth.

How do you make a latte?

At Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), making a latte uses two regular espresso shots. Take 20 grams of very finely ground coffee powder and, under 9-10 bar pressure, let 94 degrees Celsius hot water quickly pass through the coffee bed. Extract 40 grams of espresso liquid at a 1:2 coffee-to-liquid ratio, with an extraction time of 28-32 seconds.

Then heat and steam the milk to 1 cm thick milk foam, and evenly blend it with the espresso at a coffee-to-milk ratio of 1:7.5. The finished drink is about 300 ml.

How do you make a Flat White?

At Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), making a Flat White uses two regular ristretto shots. Take 20 grams of very finely ground coffee powder and, under 9-10 bar pressure, let 94 degrees Celsius hot water quickly pass through the coffee bed. Extract 32 grams of espresso liquid at a 1:1.6 coffee-to-liquid ratio, with an extraction time of 25-30 seconds.

Then heat and steam the milk to 1 cm thick milk foam, and evenly blend it with the espresso at a coffee-to-milk ratio of about 1:6. The finished drink is about 180 ml.

What is the difference between espresso and ristretto?

Ristretto is actually a more concentrated espresso (under the same extraction parameters). Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) makes Flat White in a way similar to Starbucks, both using a double ristretto. Front Street daily uses a Sunflower Warm Sun blend of 30% sun-dried Yirgacheffe and 70% Honduras Sherry coffee beans to extract espresso.

When espresso is extracted at a 1:2 ratio, the coffee presents fermented wine aromas, berry-like sweet acidity, vanilla-cream smoothness, and the sweet fragrance of roasted nuts and caramel.

When ristretto is extracted at a 1:1.6 ratio, the coffee presents fermented wine aromas, intense berry-like sweet acidity, vanilla-cream smoothness, and an obvious caramel sweetness in the finish.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.