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Coffee is gradually becoming more widespread nowadays, and more and more consumers are getting to know about coffee. On one hand, industry giants still maintain their leading position; on the other hand, independent niche cafés are slowly increasing across the country. On every café's espresso menu, there is always a cute-sounding name that appears among our choices—Flat White. Today, Front Street will explore what Flat White coffee is.
　　

The Origin of Flat White Coffee

Flat White is the abbreviation, with the full name being "Australian-style white coffee." It originated in Melbourne, Australia in 1980, and then quickly became popular between New Zealand and Australia, even leading the milk coffee trend in both places at the time. In making Flat White coffee, New Zealanders prefer to use a double ristretto, which makes the Flat White relatively rich and intense.
 

Australians, on the other hand, use a single espresso, which makes the Flat White relatively closer to a latte, with the difference being the thickness of the milk foam. The biggest difference between Flat White coffee and cappuccino or latte is the thickness of the milk foam—Flat White has the thinnest foam among the three. Next is that Flat White coffee is more intense in flavor compared to cappuccino and latte.
 

Whyis Flat White coffee also called Fu Rui Bai coffee?

Fu Rui Bai is actually one of the translated names for "Flat white." Starbucks, in making its Fu Rui Bai coffee, follows the New Zealand method, using a double ristretto. As for the Flat White coffee currently appearing in domestic niche cafés, Front Street has noticed that the preparation method leans more towards the Australian style. For this extraction of espresso, we are using our own roasted Front Street Classic Italian Blend coffee beans, which are a blend of three coffees: Brazilian Cerrado, Indonesian Mandheling, and Vietnamese washed. The extracted espresso has a relatively rich and solid flavor, so when making Flat White coffee, a double ristretto is used.
 

What is the difference between ristretto and regular espresso?
Ristretto is a type of coffee with a shorter extraction time and less liquid volume than espresso. The production process is basically the same as espresso, but ristretto is obtained by reducing the ratio and shortening the extraction time. For example, with 20 grams of coffee grounds, regular espresso extracts 40 grams of coffee liquid, while ristretto extracts 30 grams of coffee liquid, with a time of about 23 to 25 seconds.
 

The first half of the espresso provides the main flavors of the coffee, while the second half has very little flavor and generally serves to adjust the concentration and provide body. Generally speaking, the first compounds extracted from coffee are small-molecule acids, then sweetness, and finally large-molecule bitterness, so the coffee liquid from the early stage of extraction often tastes very sour. Compared to a normal-ratio espresso, ristretto has reduced extraction of the later stage, resulting in lower bitterness and possibly lower body, but due to the reduced ratio, the concentration is higher and the flavor compounds are more concentrated.

What is the difference between Flat White coffee made with espresso and ristretto?
Flat White coffee has less milk content than latte or cappuccino. The ratio of coffee to milk is usually 1:1.6 to 1:1.7. The optimal temperature for steamed milk is 55-60 degrees Celsius.
 

Without further ado, Front Street will now use a double ristretto to make a cup of Flat White coffee. The parameters are: 20g coffee grounds extracting 30ml espresso, with an extraction time of 25 seconds. The flavor profile of the espresso is: rich dark chocolate, caramel, cocoa aroma, with a roasted hazelnut finish. After 30ml of double espresso is fully mixed with 145ml of hot milk, the Flat White coffee's flavor profile is: cocoa cookie, dark chocolate milk, and an almond-like finish. By the second to third sip, the nutty sweetness becomes more pronounced.
 

SinceFlat Whitemainly emphasizes preserving the crema of the espresso and the visual effect of layered gradation, when choosing coffee beans, one should not use types with too light a roast level, as this will makeit appearvery thin. In order to letespressorelease rich golden crema and have a mellow mouthfeel, we recommend these four dark-roasted coffees: Front Street Classic Italian Blend, Front Street Specialty Blend, Front Street Dark Cocoa Blend, and Front Street Commercial Blend. Besides their roasted aroma, the key point is their abundant crema.

Front Street Classic Italian Blend coffee is a recipe combining beans from three origins: Brazil, Indonesia, and Vietnam. It uses a dark roast, which maximizes the coffee's rich aroma and allows everyone to easily extract rich and dense crema. Whether making an Americano diluted with water or a latte paired with milk, it is very suitable. It is currently available for purchase at the Front Street Taobao store or the Front Street Tmall flagship store.

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