How does an italian latte differ from a flat white?

The flat white is espresso plus milk, but it uses thinner microfoam and less milk than a latte, and some versions switch to a double ristretto base so the coffee flavor leads. The common preparation ratio is about 1:5. It emerged after World War II, when Italian cafés took root in Australia and drinkers found lattes too foamy and too weak on coffee flavor.

Australia and New Zealand began as British and Irish colonies, where home-style brewing produced simple black coffee and white coffee, the latter being coffee with milk added. Italian immigrants from the more industrialized north brought espresso traditions with them and adapted the drinks to local tastes, the same pattern seen when Italians opened cafés in the United States and created the americano.

It's also espresso plus milk, so why does the Flat White stand apart as its own style? Its birth actually hides a history of immigrants negotiating with local tastes. From post-WWII Italian cafés taking root in Australia, to Australians finding lattes too thick on foam and too weak on coffee flavor, the Flat White was born. With thinner microfoam, less milk, and even a switch to a double ristretto base, it lets the coffee flavor take center stage. This article sorts out the origins of the Flat White, how it differs from the latte and the fuhua bai, and the common 1:5 preparation ratio, to help you understand the ins and outs of this milk coffee in one go.

Italians' creativity with fancy coffee really is impressive—if pouring espresso over ice cream can create something new, what can't they do? That's right: adjusting the ratio of coffee to milk can likewise give rise to a new product—this is the Flat White.

Some might ask: wasn't the Flat White invented by Australians or New Zealanders? That's roughly how it goes. In the early years, Australia and New Zealand were colonies of British and Irish immigrants, some of whom were in the habit of drinking coffee and brought their coffee culture along with them. But what they drank then wasn't the espresso-based coffee of today's cafés, but a simple home-style brew, and the names weren't complicated either—just Black coffee and White coffee. Black coffee is black coffee made by brewing with water and then filtering; White coffee is black coffee with milk added, turning the coffee's color from black to milky white—the so-called white coffee.

After World War II ended, Europe was battered and riddled with holes in the physical sense, Italy plunged into unemployment, and large numbers of Italians went to Latin America and Australia to make a living. These people mostly came from northern Italy (northern Italy was more industrialized and urbanized, while southern Italy was mainly agricultural), and they brought the Italian coffee tradition to wherever they settled.

Any specialty product entering a new market has to undergo local adaptation, or it will struggle to survive. The United States is a ready example: when Italians went to America to open espresso cafés, they initially copied the domestic approach wholesale, but Americans simply couldn't get used to such strong coffee, so the Italian system spawned the "Americano." Even the Italian latte drunk in America has a larger ratio of espresso to milk, precisely to keep the coffee flavor from being too pungent.

Turning to Australia, Italian cafés were likewise "educated" by the market and gradually figured out what kind of latte Australians wanted: more coffee flavor, and no mouthful of milk foam after drinking (otherwise it's easy to be embarrassed). The solution wasn't complicated—use a little less milk and steam the foam a little thinner. But change the recipe and you have to change the name, so consumers feel it's a different product. Because the foam became thinner, it could no longer pile up to the traditional eleven-tenths full and at most sat level with the rim, hence the name "Flat White." Flat means "level," and White refers to the white coffee with milk added.

Later, the native-born second generation of Italian descent, as the times evolved, gave the Flat White a more distinctive character than other milk coffees. For example, many cafés keep two or more espresso beans on hand: for classic lattes and cappuccinos they use an Italian-style blend, while for Flat Whites they choose single-origin beans, or a blend different from the traditional Italian flavor, to highlight the Flat White's coffee flavor.

In choosing the espresso base, some coffee shops no longer limit themselves to the standard espresso extraction method, but adopt a more intense approach—taking only the front-to-middle portion of the espresso, that is, ristretto. Taking only the front-to-middle portion makes it stronger, but the amount is also smaller, and after adding milk the coffee flavor is still hard to bring out. The solution is quite direct: if one shot isn't enough, use two, so that the amount of double ristretto is about the same as espresso.

It should be stressed that a Flat White doesn't necessarily have to be based on double ristretto; some coffee shops choose espresso, and ultimately it's decided by the taste of the finished product. It's just that later everyone was eager to distinguish lattes from Flat Whites, so the difference in espresso base became one of the commonly used distinguishing points.

So, a currently more common set of Flat White preparation parameters is: double ristretto weighing about 30 grams, milk added at 1:5, that is, 150 milliliters, and the milk foam steamed as thin as possible. Served in a 200-milliliter cup, after the espresso, milk, foam, and crema mix, it just reaches level with the rim.

A friend said: "I only wanted to know the coffee-to-milk ratio of the Flat White, and you told me a whole bunch of stories!"

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