Starbucks Piccolo vs Americano: Which Is More Bitter?

Flat White is less bitter than Americano. Both start with espresso, but Americano adds only hot water, so the roast's bitterness stays exposed, while Flat White adds milk that softens and rounds it. Flat White uses a double shot like Cappuccino, with finer, thinner microfoam than a Latte.

Starbucks introduced Flat White to its menu in 2020, and the drink was born in the 1980s in Australia and New Zealand, where specialty coffee culture valued ristretto and piccolo-style milk drinks. That history explains the smaller size and denser texture compared with Americano or Latte, and why it sits between them in strength.

On Starbucks' menu, Americano, Latte, and Flat White are all very familiar options to consumers, and among them, Flat White quickly became popular after being introduced in 2020. Many people are curious: which is more bitter, Flat White or Americano? And how is it different from Cappuccino? This article will approach the topic from Front Street's perspective, introducing the definition, origin, and cultural background of Flat White, analyzing its differences from Latte and Cappuccino in terms of espresso dosage and milk foam texture, and sharing the specific method Front Street stores use to make Flat White, including the choice of blend beans, the coffee-to-liquid ratio for ristretto, and extraction parameters, to help you gain a more comprehensive understanding of this milk coffee.

Walk into any coffee shop, and the menu always includes a few familiar faces: Americano, Latte, and Flat White. The fact that these drinks are widely known in the Chinese market owes much to Starbucks' efforts. After Starbucks launched the Flat White in 2020, it quickly won the favor of a large number of consumers. What exactly is the charm of this cup of coffee? Today, Front Street will introduce you to this rising star in the world of milk coffee.

What is "Flat White"

Flat White sits somewhere between Latte and Cappuccino. It is also based on espresso with milk added, and the amount of espresso follows Cappuccino, using a double shot; the milk foam is as fine and slightly glossy as in a Latte, but thinner, gently covering only the surface of the coffee. Flat White has the rich aroma of Cappuccino, yet a lighter and denser milk foam than Latte, while lacking the heavy bitterness of Americano, so many milk coffee lovers regard it as an ideal ratio.

Flat White The Origin of Coffee

Without understanding the cultural context behind Flat White, it is easy to simply classify it as yet another espresso-and-milk drink.

In fact, Flat White was born in the 1980s in the Australia-New Zealand region, where specialty coffee culture was highly valued. After World War II, a large number of European immigrants brought espresso here. Since then, the local coffee culture developed independently of the European and American systems and, embracing the third wave of coffee, gradually developed coffee categories with local characteristics such as Flat White, ristretto, and piccolo.

Specialty coffee focuses on origin and processing methods, usually using light roasting to preserve the unique fruity aromas and flavors of coffee beans from different regions, and is mostly done by hand brewing, thus placing higher demands on baristas' skills and latte art. From roasting to brewing, any subtle difference will bring a different taste; even the same batch of coffee beans, through the hands of different baristas, will show their own personal styles.

The emergence of Latte may have been intended to use the sweetness and creaminess of milk to reduce the bitterness of espresso. The emergence of Flat White, on the other hand, was intended to use the sweetness and creaminess of milk to further enhance the flavor and mouthfeel of the coffee itself.

FrontStreet Coffee believes that the birth of Flat White reflects the continuous improvement of coffee quality, people's pursuit of specialty coffee, and also shows that more and more consumers are beginning to pay attention to coffee itself.

How to Make Flat White Coffee?

There are two ways to make Flat White coffee. One is the smaller version: mix 20g of espresso liquid with 80ml of hot milk steamed to thin foam (about 0.5cm thick) to make a rich milk coffee of about 100ml.

The other is the larger version: mix 30g (double shot) of ristretto espresso liquid with 170ml of hot milk steamed to thin foam (about 0.5cm thick), yielding about 200ml.

The way FrontStreet Coffee stores make Flat White is similar to Starbucks, also using a double shot of ristretto. Front Street daily uses a sunflower warm sun blend coffee bean made of 30% sun-dried Yirgacheffe and 70% Honduras Sherry to extract espresso. After cupping confirmation at Front Street, this blend presents fermented wine aroma, the sweet-tartness of berries, the aroma of roasted nuts, and the sweetness of caramel.

When extracting ristretto espresso, Front Street uses a coffee-to-liquid ratio of 1:1.6. Use 19-20g of coffee powder to extract 30-32g of coffee liquid, with an extraction time of about 27-32 seconds. (Regular espresso uses a coffee-to-liquid ratio of 1:2, extracting 40g of coffee liquid from 20g of coffee powder, with an extraction time of about 28-32 seconds.)

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