It can be said that latte, flat white, and cappuccino are the "three musketeers of milk coffee" that now permanently reside on café menus. Although they are all made from a combination of coffee and steamed milk, their different ratios give each of them their own distinct characteristics. And it is precisely by relying on these distinct characteristics that we can find the optimal golden ratio for making them.Front Street Coffee has already shared in previous articles the golden ratios for making latte and cappuccino among the "three musketeers of milk coffee," so what we want to share today is the last one to join the "three musketeers," the flat white, and what ratio of coffee to milk is most suitable for making it. This is also a question friends often ask in the backend, because compared with the previous two, the making of a flat white is not so uniform!What are the characteristics of a flat white?As Front Street Coffee mentioned earlier, if we want to make a good cup of coffee, we first need to understand what characteristics it actually has. Only in this way can we set a direction and then, according to that direction, find the best golden ratio to achieve the goal.For example, the characteristic of a latte is a balanced taste, without too much coffee bitterness, so when making it we use more milk, until it can achieve balance with the taste of the coffee; the characteristic of a cappuccino is a strong coffee taste, and when drinking it you can clearly feel the dense texture brought by the milk foam, so when making it we use thicker milk foam to create a dense texture, and reduce the amount of milk used to highlight the coffee taste.The flat white also has two characteristics. The first is that the mouthfeel is very smooth, and the second is that the coffee taste is strong but not bitter. The mouthfeel characteristic is mainly achieved by reducing the thickness of the milk foam. When the milk foam is steamed thinner, the fluidity of the surface is higher, and the mouthfeel experience when tasting it will also be smoother.As for the taste characteristic, we can achieve it just like with latte and cappuccino by adjusting the amount of milk. But in addition to that, we can also adjust it by changing the type of espresso.
For example, replacing the regular espresso with ristretto(Ristretto)to make a flat white. This can not only make the resulting flat white strong but not bitter, but also(flat white)further widen the difference between it and the previous two! It is just that the use of ristretto will cause the ratio to change. Precisely because of this, the making of a flat white is not as uniform as latte and cappuccino. The way each coffee shop makes a flat white varies according to the shop's different understanding, and the ratios therefore differ.Here, in order to prevent some beginners who have just started and do not yet know the difference between the two, Front Street Coffee will first briefly share the differences between ristretto and our regular espresso extraction.(This is only a brief introduction. Those who need a detailed understanding can search and move to Front Street Coffee's previous tweets.)The biggest difference between espresso and ristretto actually lies in the amount of extracted liquid! Espresso usually uses a coffee-to-liquid ratio of about 1:2 for extraction. For example, 20g of coffee powder will extract 40ml of coffee liquid. The coffee-to-liquid ratio of ristretto, however, is about 1:1.5, roughly a quarter less than espresso. For example, 20g of coffee powder extracts only 30ml of coffee liquid. The difference in liquid amount affects the quantity of dissolved substances, and this affects the intensity of the coffee's taste.
Compared with ristretto, espresso, because of its larger liquid amount and relatively more complete extraction, will have relatively higher taste intensity. Because the substances in the tail end are also dissolved out in an appropriate amount, the sourness, sweetness, and bitterness of the whole cup are very balanced, and when drinking it you can better perceive the coffee flavors. But relatively speaking, its concentration will be a bit lower;Ristretto, on the other hand, because of its smaller liquid amount, will have a relatively less complete extraction than espresso, so its taste is not as strong as espresso. Because there is not enough water to dissolve out the bitter substances in the tail end, the taste of the whole cup is mainly sour and sweet, and it does not taste very bitter.When we use ristretto to make a flat white, this milk coffee will have higher sweetness because of the reduction in bitterness. It should just be noted that when making ristretto, it is best not to simply lower the liquid amount based on the original espresso parameters, because this can easily result in a cup of coffee that is highly acidic and under-extracted.(For the specific method of making ristretto, you can move to"Portal"this article to learn more.)Alright, once we know the difference between the two, we can then begin to find the optimal ratio needed for making a flat white.What is the ratio of coffee to milk?Actually, it is also very easy to find. Since the coffee taste of a flat white lies between latte and cappuccino, manifesting as strong but not bitter, then when using espresso as the base to make a flat white, the ratio of coffee to milk is naturally between the ratios for latte and cappuccino. Here Front Street Coffee will use the Front Street Classic Blend from its bean list to demonstrate!
The Classic Blend is a medium-dark roasted Italian-style bean composed of Indonesia, Brazil, and Vietnam. The espresso made with it will have rich, mellow flavors such as chocolate, cream, and caramel. And when we want to use this medium-dark roasted espresso to make a cup of latte, in order to let the taste of the milk achieve balance with the coffee, we will use a ratio of about 1:5~5.5. If the espresso is 40ml, then the milk is about 200ml(medium milk foam); and to make a cappuccino with a strong coffee taste, the ratio is about 1:4, that is, 40ml of espresso paired with 160ml of milk(thick milk foam).Then the ratio for a flat white is between them, that is, about 1:4.5. In other words, 40ml of espresso needs to be paired with 180ml of steamed milk(remember to steam a portion of thin milk foam).Although a flat white differs from the ones before and after it(cappuccino, latte)by only 20ml of milk, the taste and texture of the coffee have already undergone a very big change. When drinking it, you can feel a rich coffee taste, and the flavors of chocolate, cream, and butter cookies are all very obvious! But it is not as bitter as cappuccino, and has higher sweetness. Moreover, because the overall concentration is higher than latte, it has a fuller body than latte. Paired with thin milk foam, it has a very silky mouthfeel!And if we use ristretto to make it, then the ratio needs to be appropriately reduced a bit, to about 1:4, that is, 30ml of coffee paired with 120ml of milk. Because, as Front Street Coffee said, ristretto extracts a smaller amount of liquid, so fewer bitter substances are dissolved, and the taste intensity of the coffee is not so high. The flavor performance of the ristretto extracted with Front Street Classic Blend is cream, nuts, cocoa, and caramel!After using a 1:4 ratio to make a flat white, its sweetness is even more outstanding than the former! As soon as the coffee enters the mouth, you can clearly feel sweetness similar to maple syrup, followed by cream, chocolate, and the aroma of toasted bread! Similarly, the mouthfeel is also very smooth because of the thin milk foam.It should be noted that the ratios recommended above by Front Street Coffee are only suitable for medium-dark roasted coffee beans. If the coffee beans we use are medium or medium-light roasted, then the ratio may need to be larger.For example, the Front Street Strawberry Candy · Geisha Blend from Front Street Coffee's bean list. The espresso made with it will have flavors similar to strawberry gummy candy, white floral notes, and berry-type flavors. Although these flavors sound very tempting, because they all belong to the relatively fresh type and their taste intensity is not so high, the amount of milk used cannot be as much as when pairing with dark-roasted beans.Otherwise, the taste of the milk can easily cover the coffee's flavors, or achieve balance with the coffee's taste, and then the flat white becomes a latte with thin milk foam. Therefore, when we use medium or medium-light roasted coffee beans to make a flat white, it is best to increase the ratio a bit more.For example, when Front Street Coffee uses Strawberry Candy to make a flat white, the ratio used is 1:3.8, that is, 40ml of espresso paired with about 150ml of milk. A flat white made this way can allow you to taste a very obvious coffee aroma: strawberry milk, berries, raisins, and elegant floral notes. Excellent sweetness, smooth mouthfeel, very good~ The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
