For more specialty coffee knowledge, please follow: Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee)

Today, although more and more coffee categories are appearing on cafe menus, milk-based coffee products are still the most popular. According to multiple survey results, latte has always been among the top two best-selling coffee categories, but by 2018, a drink namedFlat whitecame out of nowhere like a dark horse, closing in on latte's ranking!

It is reported thatFlat whitesaw a year-on-year sales increase of 56% in 2018! Why did Flat white suddenly become so popular, and what kind of coffee is Flat white? Next, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) will talk about this "dark horse of milk coffee"!

What exactly is Flat white?

As to where Flat white comes from, both Australia and New Zealand claim it as their own, so whether Flat white comes from Australia or New Zealand will be a long-lasting debate.

An Australian cafe owner once said that back in the mid-1980s, he already had "Flat White" on his menu. He said that Flat White came about because many people at the time liked to add a small amount of steamed and heated milk to espresso.

At first, this cafe made Flat white using a double ristretto and milk that was heated with steam and textured with a small amount of foam. This drink was not poured with latte art, but poured directly into a small ceramic cup containing espresso, leaving white milk foam floating on the surface, which is why it was named Flat white.

However, this claim was questioned by a New Zealander, who said that Flat white was created by him! It was when he was working as a barista and tried to make a cappuccino for a customer that he made a mistake, texturing the milk foam too thin, and thus invented Flat white.

Regardless of whether Flat white was invented in Australia or New Zealand, one thing is certain: since 2017, it has become one of the increasingly popular coffee products around the world!

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) believes that the more important reason everyone loves this product so much is that compared with other milk coffees, it has a richer coffee taste, and compared with espresso, it is easier for the general public to accept.

Flat white's characteristics

With the development of the specialty coffee industry, after the millennium, cafes paid more attention to the patterns presented on milk coffee in order to attract more consumers. Flat white also gradually changed from the original version of adding a small amount of milk with thin milk foam to ristretto, to blending milk and coffee to create simple latte art patterns, but the overall volume did not change much.

Compared with latte, Flat white has a smaller volume, about 3oz (100ml), so it is a milk coffee with a rich coffee taste. Flat white suddenly became popular in recent years because more and more milk coffee consumers, under the influence of specialty coffee culture, have gradually pursued coffee flavor expression, and even when milk is added, it serves as an auxiliary ingredient that elevates the flavor expression.

How to make Flat white

Readers who have paid close attention to the article may have noticed that making Flat white uses a type of coffee liquid called "ristretto." How is it different from regular espresso?

In fact, the difference between the two is that ristretto is more concentrated than regular espresso. Under the same extraction parameters, ristretto shortens the extraction time and also yields a smaller volume than regular espresso.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) stores usually use "Front Street - Sunflower Warm Sun Espresso Blend Coffee Beans" to extract espresso. This coffee bean blend is made from single-origin coffees from Honduras and Ethiopia, and has a rich fermented wine aroma, vanilla cream, roasted nuts, and caramel-like flavor expression.

For those who like mellow coffee, Front Street Classic Espresso Blend Coffee is recommended. This is a recipe composed of beans from three origins: Brazil, Indonesia, and Vietnam. It uses a dark roast, which can maximize the mellow aroma of the coffee and also allow everyone to easily extract rich and dense crema. It is very suitable whether for making an Americano diluted with water or a latte paired with milk.

In daily service, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) uses regular espresso (latte, Americano, and cappuccino are all made with Espresso). Usually, a pressure of 9-10 bar is used to extract coffee liquid at a coffee-to-liquid ratio of about 1:2. Generally, a single espresso uses 9-11g of coffee grounds to extract about 15-25g of coffee liquid, while a double espresso uses 18-20g of coffee grounds to extract 35-45g of coffee liquid. The less coffee liquid extracted, the higher the coffee concentration.

Ristretto is actually espresso extracted at a smaller ratio. Therefore, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) uses the same grind size and dose as espresso, but extracts less coffee liquid, and the extraction time is also longer. Generally, the extracted coffee-to-liquid ratio is about 1:1.6.

Note this! The concentration of ristretto does not mean the coffee flavor is richer, but rather the overall taste of the coffee liquid (sourness, sweetness, bitterness). If it is too concentrated, it easily shows sharp acidity or burnt bitterness. Therefore, when making ristretto, it is still necessary to adjust the dose used and the extraction time when needed.

The ratio for making Flat white

To make Flat white, Front Street's ristretto extraction parameters are 19.8g of grounds extracting 30g of coffee liquid in 27 seconds (the performance of each grinder and coffee machine varies, so these parameters cannot be followed 100%).

Using a 100ml cup, add the extracted ristretto, then blend steamed hot milk with thin milk foam into the coffee. Its flavor expression is a rich fermented wine aroma, and the acidity of berries produces an obvious sweetness after the hot milk is added, with a finish of caramel chocolate sweetness.

What isDirty coffee?

Dirty coffee also uses ristretto, but what this product emphasizes is using refrigerated milk with a higher milk fat content, a chilled cup, and espresso floating on top of the milk, so you need to directly use an iced cup filled with cold milk and then catch the extracted ristretto from a very close distance.

The mouthfeel of Dirty changes from strong to light, from deep to mild. The first sip is rich coffee, and the last sip is sweet, so after getting a Dirty, do not leave it for too long and do not stir it while drinking. If possible, try to finish a cup of Dirty in three sips and experience the charm of its gradual transition～

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