Flat Red vs Flat White: Ingredients, Ratios, and Ukraine's Signature Coffee

Flat Red and Flat White may sound similar, but they are entirely different drinks. Flat White is a milk coffee from Australia, made with espresso, milk, and thin foam. Flat Red comes from Ukraine and pairs espresso with freshly squeezed fruit juice, giving it a flavor reminiscent of red wine. This article explains Flat Red's origin, ingredients, and ratio parameters, and shares Front Street Coffee's practical recipe for making this specialty coffee at home.

Although the names look alike, Flat Red and Flat White differ completely in preparation and taste. The familiar Aussie white is a hot milk coffee. Flat Red takes another path: fruit juice is poured into espresso, and it carries a hint of red wine when drunk. Front Street Coffee does not call it Aussie Red because Flat Red originated in Ukraine, not Australia. It remains little known outside Ukraine, created by locals who wanted a coffee reflecting local character.

Although Flat Red and Flat White have similar names, they are essentially two completely different coffee drinks. Flat White is a milk coffee originating from Australia, while Flat Red was born in Ukraine, made with espresso paired with freshly squeezed fruit juice, with a flavor resembling red wine. This article will introduce in detail the origin story, ingredients, and ratio parameters of Flat Red, and share Front Street Coffee's practical recipe, including suggestions for pairing juice with espresso, extraction parameters, and finished flavor descriptions, helping coffee lovers make a cup of specialty coffee full of fruity taste at home.

Although the names look similar, Flat Red and Flat White can be said to be two completely different drinks in terms of preparation and taste. The familiar Aussie white is a hot milk coffee made with espresso plus milk and thin milk foam. Flat Red, on the other hand, takes a different path: freshly squeezed fruit juice is poured into espresso, and it carries a hint of red wine when drunk, with a rather unique flavor.

Flat Red

With careful observation, it is not hard to notice that although Flat Red's name is very similar to Flat White, Front Street Coffee does not call it "Aussie Red." The reason is simple: Flat White is called "Aussie White" because this coffee originated in Australia. Flat Red is not like that; it comes from Ukraine. So if we named it according to the logic of "Aussie White," then it should be called... "Ukie Red Coffee."

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Unlike the Aussie white, Flat Red is not very well known and is little known outside Ukraine. Its opportunity for creation is similar to that of many coffee drinks - locals wanted a coffee that could reflect local characteristics, so they created this unique drink. When it comes to Ukraine's characteristics, wine is naturally unavoidable, since locals love wine to the point that almost no meal is complete without it. So local cafes took this as inspiration and wanted to make a specialty coffee that was close to red wine in both color and taste, yet alcohol-free.

Vadym Granovskiy, the inventor of Flat Red, said that when he first developed it according to this idea, he decided to use fruit juice as the ingredient, because fruit juice can both present a wine-like color and naturally carry rich sweet-and-sour flavors, making it an ideal material.

He first chose blood orange juice, because citrus juices pair very well with coffee, and blood orange juice is bright red, so after mixing with coffee it could approach the color tone of wine. But after actually making it, he found that although the color was close to red wine, the astringency of freshly squeezed blood orange juice was amplified after blending with coffee, and the overall experience was not very satisfying.

So he came up with a compromise - switch to orange juice and add a certain amount of red pomegranate juice to the orange juice. In this way, the coffee could have a taste and color similar to red wine while avoiding the production of astringency. Unexpectedly, after this adjustment, the finished product was even closer to the effect Vadym Granovskiy wanted, and a coffee unique to Ukraine was born just like that.

Flat Red Preparation Sharing

If you want to enjoy such a special cup of coffee at home, you only need to prepare espresso, freshly squeezed orange juice, and freshly squeezed red pomegranate juice. Of course, if there is no freshly squeezed juice, juice sold in supermarkets can also be used as a substitute.

The ratio of orange juice to red pomegranate juice can be adjusted to your own preference. If you want the final coffee to be more sour, add more orange juice; if you want the coffee to be sweeter, add more red pomegranate juice. Before making it, you can slightly heat the fruit juice first. Taking Front Street Coffee as an example, the ratio used by Front Street Coffee is 1:2, that is, 60 ml orange juice paired with 120 ml pomegranate juice, heated to 55°C and set aside for later use.

For the espresso, Front Street Coffee relatively recommends using coffee beans with a not-too-dark roast level. Of course, dark roast is also fine, but because the taste of the fruit juice is mainly sweet and sour, using an espresso with less bitterness can make a more harmonious coffee. Therefore, the coffee beans used here by Front Street Coffee are Front Street Strawberry Candy·Espresso from the Front Street Coffee bean list. The espresso extracted with it has flavor notes of strawberry, citrus, and cream. The extraction parameters are: 20 g coffee powder, 30 s extraction time, 40 ml coffee liquid.

After the espresso extraction is completed, pour it into the prepared cup, then pour in the heated mixed fruit juice and blend (of course, you can also pour the fruit juice first and then the espresso like Front Street Coffee does; the finished drink will look better). Then you can begin tasting.

It must be said that coffee made this way really does taste very much like hot mulled wine. Because Front Street Coffee adds more red pomegranate juice, the first thing you feel on the palate is the aroma of red pomegranate, followed by orange juice. However, because it has been heated and mixed with coffee, it carries a fermented aroma similar to wine when drunk, and only after that do the aroma and flavors of coffee emerge. The overall taste is sweet and sour, with a solid and full body. It really can be called a cup of coffee full of fruity taste.

(Every time Front Street Coffee shares it, it always thinks of Orange C Americano...)

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