How Does Flat White vs Latte Differ in Milk and Espresso?

A flat white is about 100ml and uses a ristretto shot, while a latte is larger and built on a standard espresso with more steamed milk. The flat white's high coffee-to-milk ratio keeps the espresso flavor visible instead of masked, which is the point of the drink. Both Australia and New Zealand claim its invention.

The flat white grew out of the third wave coffee movement, when baristas wanted milk-drinking customers to taste coffee's flavor layers. Heated milk brings its own sweetness, and mixing it with a ristretto shot produces a different cafe latte milk coffee ratio. Larger cafe versions, such as Luckin's, scale up the volume and change the balance.

Flat White has been appearing frequently on domestic café menus in recent years. Starbucks calls it 馥芮白, and there are also translations like 澳白 and 小白. This milk coffee originating from Australia or New Zealand features espresso with a small amount of hot milk, a product of the third wave coffee movement's pursuit of flavor layering. It differs noticeably from a latte in volume and espresso extraction method. An authentic Flat White is only about 100ml and uses Ristretto. This article uses Front Street Coffee's Sunflower Warm Sun blend as an example to explain the extraction parameters and flavor performance of Ristretto, and answers why Luckin's Flat White is larger and whether it tastes good.

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Flat White's rise onto the popular menus of domestic cafés in recent years owes much to Starbucks' push. Is it a bit surprising that you can't find this name on the Starbucks menu? It only has a product called 馥芮白. That's right, 馥芮白 (Flat White) is Flat White coffee, with various Chinese translations such as 澳白咖啡, 小白咖啡, and 馥艺白咖啡.

Beyond the name, Flat White's origins are as cross-regional as its name—it comes from Australia, but many people insist that New Zealand is the birthplace. Both regions claim Flat White as their invention, because both have the practice of using espresso with a small amount of steamed heated milk, with the main difference being the espresso extraction method. It is impossible to verify which café first made this rich milk coffee, but it is indeed extremely popular in Australia.

Why has Flat White coffee become popular?

It can be said that Flat White is a product born from the third wave coffee movement. As more and more people began to care about the flavor layers of coffee itself, some baristas wanted milk-loving customers to experience these layers too, so they created a recipe with a high coffee ratio and low milk ratio. Milk no longer masks the coffee flavor; instead, heated milk has its own sweet aroma. When mixed with coffee, you can taste the coffee's flavor layers, feel the milk's sweetness, and experience a brand-new taste created by the blend of the two.

For example, a certain coffee bean made into espresso may have a berry-like sweet and sour taste. When added to heated milk, it may present a strawberry milkshake-like flavor. In addition to a richer flavor experience, the fine, soft milk foam also adds more layers to the mouthfeel.

The difference between Flat White coffee and latte coffee

An authentic Flat White has a total volume of only 3oz (about 100ml), while a latte is usually around 10oz (about 300ml). In other words, a Flat White is like espresso with a small amount of hot milk added, while a latte is like a cup of milk with a small amount of espresso added.

The espresso used in the two milk coffees is also different in extraction. Latte uses Espresso (regular/standard espresso), while Flat White uses Ristretto. The biggest difference between the two is that with the same dose, grind parameters, and espresso machine, Ristretto has a shorter extraction time than Espresso, higher concentration, and more concentrated flavor.

How to extract Ristretto?

Take the "Sunflower Warm Sun Blend Coffee Beans" produced by Front Street Coffee stores as an example. This is an Italian-style blend composed of 70% Honduras Sherry coffee beans and 30% Ethiopian Yirgacheffe natural coffee beans.

When Front Street Coffee normally makes lattes or Americanos, the espresso extraction parameters are 19.5-20g of coffee powder, yielding 35-38g of coffee liquid, taking 25-30 seconds; when making Flat White coffee, the dose remains unchanged, only 30g of coffee liquid is extracted, and the time is also shortened by 3-5 seconds.

Don't underestimate the difference of 5g-8g of coffee liquid. After regular espresso extraction is completed, it often presents a rich fermented aroma, berry juice-like integrated sweet and sour, and vanilla cream and nutty caramel notes; Ristretto tends toward fermented wine aroma, lemon-like acidity, and vanilla and caramel flavors.

Ristretto's body is not as full as Espresso, but its acidity is higher. Paired with heated milk, the coffee's sweetness will be more prominent.

Why is Luckin's Flat White so large? Does it taste good?

To cater to consumer needs and accommodate the public's acceptance of coffee taste, chain coffee shops' Flat Whites usually come in larger cups and also offer iced versions, but to distinguish them from lattes, they still use Ristretto.

Compared with a 100ml Flat White, Luckin's Flat White is generally a bit lighter overall, but as an everyday drink, Luckin Coffee's Flat White is still quite good.

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