Every winter when the temperature drops, the hot milk coffee output at Front Street stores increases significantly, including lattes, cappuccinos, flat whites, and more. Compared to the other two classic drinks,Flat Whiteis considered a "new internet celebrity" in recent years. Most people got to know this drink through chain brands like Starbucks or Luckin, where it's called 馥芮白 on their menus,澳瑞白.
澳瑞白What kind of coffee is it?
The flat white originated in New Zealand and Australia, where Australians call it Flat White. Before the 1970s, coffee shops in Australia brewed black coffee using French presses, manual pour-over, and other methods. In the early 1970s, Italians brought espresso machines to Australia, officially kicking off a new wave of coffee culture.
It's said that the flat white was born when a barista accidentally steamed the milk foam too thin while making a hot milk coffee, but served it anyway—and unexpectedly, the customer loved this thin-foam coffee drink. Later, people named it Flat White based on its liquid surface being level with the rim of the cup.
The original intention behind the flat white was to let people enjoy the perfect combination of milk foam and the coffee-milk beneath it in every sip. Only when the foam is extremely fine, on the thinner side, and the milk coffee is at a slightly lower temperature can you taste the foam in every sip—and you need to drink it quickly before the foam separates. Therefore, when making a flat white, you first need super fine milk foam, then the foam shouldn't be too thick, along with a moderate milk temperature and a small cup size.
Flat Whiteis based on Ristretto
Front Street's espresso is made using its own roasted "Sunflower Sunshine Blend," which combines 70% Honduras Sherry coffee with 30% Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry coffee. The Sherry's whiskey, vanilla, and cream notes paired with the Red Cherry's tropical fruit and fermented character give the cup a rich yet gentle mouthfeel. Front Street retains the characteristics of a small cup size, thin milk foam, and a double ristretto base when serving its flat white.
Ristretto means "restricted" in Italian. A ristretto can be seen as a "restricted" version of espresso—that is, only extracting the front and middle portions of an Espresso. Since most espresso drinks at the store are based on Espresso, Front Street Coffee baristas use a standard-extraction Espresso as a reference before opening. Each coffee bean has slightly different extraction recipes—this recipe is the extraction parameter adjusted by baristas daily before opening, based on the Sunshine Blend used at the store.
Front Street Espresso extraction recipe: 20g coffee grounds extracting 40g coffee liquid in 28–30 seconds. For Ristretto, without changing the grind size or dose, also using 20g coffee grounds, extract 27g coffee liquid in 20–25 seconds. Since Ristretto only contains the front and middle portions of the espresso, it's more concentrated than Espresso, with a stronger taste and less caffeine, showing richer berry acidity, wine aroma, and caramel notes in flavor.
Pour the extracted coffee liquid into a pre-prepared cup of about 200ml capacity, then pour 150ml of milk into a milk pitcher to steam. The milk should be steamed with less air intake than for a latte, with a thinner and finer foam layer, and the temperature ideally controlled at 55–60°C for better drinkability. Finally, blend the steamed milk evenly into the coffee liquid—latte art is optional. Front Street's flat white presents aromas of vanilla, cream, chocolate milk, and whiskey-filled chocolate, along with the sweet-tartness of berries. It's smooth and mellow on the palate with a very lingering finish.
Which tastes better, a flat white or a cappuccino?
Friends who regularly drink milk coffee may have noticed that flat whites, hot lattes, and cappuccinos—these three common drinks—are all made from just espresso and steamed hot milk, yet they create different flavors, textures, and appearances.
Usually, the thickness of the milk foam is the main reference for distinguishing a flat white from other milk coffees. A barista makes a cappuccino with a shot of espresso and thick milk foam, typically forming a 1–2cm "hamburger-style" dome—you have to take a big sip of foam before reaching the coffee. A latte's foam is thinner, about 0.5cm, so you can taste the blend of coffee and milk foam in every sip.
To better enjoy the coffee liquid and emphasize a smooth, silky "velvet" texture, a flat white has the thinnest milk foam. Some baristas, hoping the flat white won't be affected by the taste of the crema, even filter out the foam layer and keep only the coffee liquid. So how thin the foam layer should be had no fixed numerical standard in the early days. As this drink grew more popular, people defined the thin foam thickness of a flat white at about 0.3cm–0.5cm to distinguish it from regular hot lattes and cappuccinos.
Front Street believes everyone has their own unique coffee preferences, so there's no saying which is better—just choose the type of coffee you like. If you want a balanced taste of coffee and milk, choose a hot latte; if you want to enjoy the full aroma of the coffee beans, order a flat white; and if you want both a rich coffee flavor and the texture of thick milk foam, a cappuccino is just perfect.
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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
