How does a flat white differ from a latte or cappuccino?

A flat white is an espresso-and-milk drink with stronger flavor, less milk, and thinner milk foam than a latte or cappuccino. Its origin is disputed between Melbourne and New Zealand, and chain cafés sell it under different names. Two styles exist: the New Zealand version uses a double ristretto, the Australian version a single espresso with a thin layer of foam.

The Australian white coffee style and the magic both sit close to the flat white in build, differing mainly in shot strength and milk volume. Front Street Coffee's classic Italian blend, a dark roast of Brazil, Indonesia and Vietnam, produces dense crema and works for both an Americano and a milk drink. The cappuccino origin of name relates to its foam and color.

Even though it's also espresso with milk, Flat White goes by different names across chain brands—such as 馥芮白, 澳瑞白, and 醇艺白. So how exactly does it differ from a latte or a cappuccino? This article starts with the controversy over Flat White's origins, sorts out the differences between the New Zealand and Australian styles, and, combined with Front Street Coffee's classic Italian blend coffee beans, explains milk foam thickness, milk ratio, espresso extraction parameters, and the resulting flavor, helping you understand how a delicious Flat White should be made and tasted.

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Flat White is an Italian-style milk coffee made with espresso and milk, and it is often translated under different names at different shops—for example, Luckin calls it 澳瑞白, Starbucks calls it 馥芮白, and Costa names it 醇艺白. Today, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) will introduce you to what Flat White coffee actually is.

What Is Flat White?

The birthplace of Flat White is disputed; one theory says it comes from Melbourne, Australia, while another holds that it was born in New Zealand. Either way, it is a drink with an extremely high order rate in cafés in New Zealand and Australia. Apart from the dispute over its origin, the ways of making Flat White also vary from place to place. Front Street believes that the core characteristics of Flat White are: a milk coffee with stronger flavor, less milk, and thinner milk foam.

Around these characteristics, the industry has developed two typical approaches. The New Zealand style uses a double ristretto as the base, then pours in steamed fresh milk, highlighting a strong and solid mouthfeel; the Australian style uses a single espresso, mixed with a layer of thin milk foam to make a milk coffee. Which method is used often depends on the coffee beans used by the shop and the flavor direction it wants to present.

We use Front Street's classic Italian blend coffee beans. This recipe is composed of three origins—Brazil, Indonesia, and Vietnam—and uses a dark roast, which maximizes the coffee's rich aroma and makes it easier to extract abundant, dense crema. Whether making an Americano diluted with water or a latte paired with milk, it is very suitable.

The Differences Between Flat White, Latte, and Cappuccino

Compared with the common latte and cappuccino, the biggest difference of Flat White is reflected in the milk foam and milk ratio.

The "Flat" in Flat White means flat, which is to say that in a properly made Australian white coffee, the milk foam layer must be thin enough to be level with the rim of the cup and must not bulge above the edge. Among the three common hot milk coffees, cappuccino has the thickest milk foam, usually 1–2 cm; Australian white has the thinnest, generally 0.3–0.5 cm; latte milk foam mostly forms a dome of 0.5–0.7 cm, while Australian white's milk foam can only be controlled below 0.5 cm, otherwise it is hard to form a "flat" liquid surface.

As for the specific thickness of the milk foam, coffee shops differ in their methods. Some baristas, in order to let you feel the upper layer of coffee crema to the greatest extent, simply do not steam milk foam and only heat the milk before pouring it into the espresso. Front Street hopes that the Australian white coffee guests drink is dense and smooth, so it retains a milk foam layer of about 0.3 cm.

An Australian white coffee pursuing a rich mouthfeel will add a smaller proportion of milk to the espresso, with the specific amount depending on the cup size served by the shop. You can imagine that if the same milk ratio as a latte were used, the overall drink would taste more like coffee-flavored milk. For example, Front Street stores serve Australian white coffee in a 180 ml ceramic cup, using two ristrettos totaling 30 grams as the base, then adding 150 grams of hot milk, in order to present a richer and fuller coffee flavor.

How to Make a Delicious Flat White?

For the coffee base, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) chooses a double ristretto: 20 grams of coffee powder extracted into 30 grams of coffee liquid, with the extraction time controlled at 22–24 seconds. But Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) also reminds you that each coffee bean's extraction plan will have slight differences; this plan is a parameter adjusted by baristas before opening each day according to the Warm Sun blend used in the store.

Pour the extracted coffee liquid into a pre-prepared cup first, then take 150 ml of milk, pour it into a milk pitcher, and steam it. When steaming the milk, the amount of air introduced should be less than for a latte, the foam layer should be thinner and denser, and the temperature is best controlled at 55–60°C, so that it feels more comfortable when drinking.

Finally, pour the steamed milk into the coffee. Because the milk foam is thin, the liquid surface will not rise above the coffee cup, and the appearance looks relatively flat, so it also has the name flat white coffee.

The espresso extracted by Front Street from "Front Street Classic Italian Blend Coffee Beans" presents rich aromas of dark chocolate, butter, and macadamia; the Australian white coffee after blending with milk brings a mouthfeel like chocolate milk and caramel biscuits, smooth and mellow on the palate, with a very lasting finish.

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