What separates flat white from latte and cappuccino?

Flat white, also called Australian white coffee, is espresso with milk and a thin layer of microfoam, so the coffee flavor stays forward and the drink is smaller than a latte. A latte uses more milk and a softer foam, while a cappuccino is named for its cap-like foam top and carries a lighter coffee presence.

Origin is disputed: Australia and New Zealand both claim flat white, and the espresso base differs, with New Zealand baristas favoring a double ristretto and Australian baristas a single espresso. The drink is usually served hot, since ice dilutes its strength, and milk-to-foam ratio decides the final texture.

In the large family of espresso drinks, latte, cappuccino, and mocha are already well known, while flat white (also called 馥芮白) often makes enthusiasts curious: is it really Australian white coffee? What is the essential difference between it and a latte? Starting from the production standards of Front Street Coffee, this article sorts out the controversy over the origin of flat white, the choice of espresso base, the ratio of milk to milk foam, and compares it with latte in terms of cup volume, foam thickness, and flavor. It also includes recommendations for Front Street classic blend, commercial blend, and Strawberry Candy espresso, as well as extraction parameters for commercial espresso machines, to help readers make a qualified cup of flat white at home.

Friends familiar with espresso all know that this category of drinks has quite a rich range of variations. Taking the Front Street Coffee store as an example, the menu includes latte, mocha, and cappuccino, as well as flat white and dirty coffee that are not on the regular menu. Their underlying logic is similar: they are all combinations of espresso and milk, and the differences are mainly reflected in the proportions of each component. Latte and mocha are already very familiar to everyone, so what exactly is flat white? Is it the same thing as 馥芮白? Does it literally mean Australian white coffee? Next, Front Street Coffee will explain them one by one.

What is flat white?

In fact, the 馥芮白 and Australian white coffee mentioned earlier by Front Street Coffee both refer to flat white; there are only differences in how people call it, and in essence it is the same espresso drink.

Flat white is a coffee drink that originated in Australia, so it is also called Australian white coffee, though some people believe its true origin is in New Zealand. In addition to the debate over its place of origin, the methods of making flat white also vary. Overall, flat white is a milk coffee with a stronger coffee flavor, less milk, and a thinner layer of milk foam. Regarding the espresso base, New Zealand baristas prefer to use a double ristretto, while Australian baristas are more accustomed to using a single espresso.

Also, according to Front Street, in Australia flat white is usually only served hot. Once ice is added, the drink loses its essence, because the ice dilutes the overall strength, so from a certain perspective, an iced flat white is equivalent to a latte.

So how do you make flat white?

Because different stores use different models of espresso machines, the extraction parameters also need to be adjusted accordingly. Below, Front Street Coffee uses its own store’s production parameters as an example to introduce how to make flat white.

The flavor direction of flat white is largely determined by the coffee beans chosen. If you want to present a traditional style, you can choose Front Street classic blend or Front Street commercial blend, which during extraction bring aromas of butter, nuts, spices, and dark chocolate; their strong character and rich crema are their most prominent labels;

If you prefer a fresh, low-bitterness expression, Front Street Strawberry Candy espresso blend is the first choice. It is composed of three single-origin coffees from different regions. In addition to its own rose aroma, when made as an Americano you can feel the aromas of grapes and dried blueberries, and when combined with milk to make a latte or flat white, it presents flavors of sweet orange and fruit candy.

The specific production process is as follows:

Front Street Coffee uses a commercial espresso machine when making espresso, and the extraction parameters are as follows:

Pressure: 9 bar

Temperature: 90.5~96°C

Time: 20~30 sec

Dose-to-yield ratio: 1:1.7~1:2

Dose: 12g (single espresso) 20g (double espresso)

Extracted espresso yield: 20ml (single) 40ml (double)

Recommended milk-to-coffee ratio for flat white

Milk: whole fresh milk (Front Street uses Vitasoy fresh milk)

Milk steaming temperature: 50-60°C (if the temperature is too low, the release of lactose in the milk cannot be stimulated; if the temperature is too high, the proteins in the milk will be damaged, producing a grainy texture)

Milk foam thickness: 5mm (1cm of milk foam is used to make latte, and 1.5cm-thick milk foam is used to make cappuccino)

Espresso amount: 40ml

Milk amount: 140ml

The above is Front Street Coffee’s explanation of the flat white production process. However, according to Front Street Coffee’s observation, many enthusiasts, with a slight misstep, end up making flat white into latte. So how should one distinguish flat white from latte?

To distinguish flat white from latte, the key lies in the espresso ratio of the two. Because each store’s flat white and latte recipes differ, here we take the latte produced by Front Street Coffee as an example:

Front Street Coffee’s latte standard: use a 300ml ceramic coffee cup, with a 40g espresso base and a total of 260ml milk plus milk foam. The milk foam thickness is about 1cm (steaming degree: steam milk from 5 parts full to 7 parts full of milk foam).

Front Street Coffee’s flat white standard: use a 220ml glass cup, with 30g espresso as the base and 190ml milk plus milk foam. The milk foam thickness is about 0.5cm. (Steaming degree: steam milk from 5 parts full to 5.5-6 parts full of milk foam).

Differences: In terms of cup volume, latte is larger than flat white; from the appearance, latte’s milk foam is slightly thicker and has a slight dome on the surface, while flat white’s milk foam is thinner and flat. In terms of flavor, latte is more dominated by the milk taste, while flat white makes the coffee taste more prominent. So Australians often joke that latte is coffee-flavored milk (essentially milk), and flat white is milk-flavored coffee (essentially coffee).

It can be seen from this that flat white and latte can be distinguished by the thickness of the milk foam. Therefore, when making latte and flat white at home, what everyone needs to focus on controlling is the milk foam thickness, as well as the ratio of espresso to milk.

The above is the knowledge about flat white compiled by Front Street Coffee. We hope it can help enthusiasts who want to understand flat white, so that in the future they can also make a flat white at home that satisfies them.

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