How exactly do you pronounce Flat White on the Starbucks menu? How does this milk coffee, which originated in Australia, differ from a latte and a cappuccino? This article starts with the historical origins of the Flat White, sorts out the different ways it is made in Australia and New Zealand, explains why Starbucks registered it as the trademark "馥芮白," and compares the milk foam differences between lattes and cappuccinos. At the same time, Front Street Coffee will share how to use espresso blend beans to make a delicious flat white, including extraction parameters, milk steaming temperature, and flavor performance, and recommend three blended coffee beans suitable for making a Flat White.
Starbucks has a milk coffee that many people cannot even pronounce by name, and that is 馥芮白 (Flat White). The correct pronunciation is: 馥 (fù) 芮 (ruì) 白 (bái).
Flat White originated in Australia
Before the 1970s, Australian cafes mainly relied on French presses and manual pour-over to make black coffee. In the early 1970s, a large number of European immigrants poured into Australia, and Italians brought the espresso machines they depended on for their livelihood to Melbourne, setting off a new wave of coffee culture. At that time, cafes mainly served Long Black, Latte, and Cappuccino, which are today's Americano, latte, and cappuccino on the menu.
Compared with the traditional latte, Australians preferred milk drinks with thinner milk foam and a stronger coffee taste, so this small cup of coffee with thin milk foam and rich coffee aroma gradually took shape. Entering the 1980s, Australians began to put Flat White on their regular menus, and it subsequently spread to cafes in Europe and the United States.
For a long time, Flat White was considered a niche choice, until Starbucks added it to its product line in 2015, named it "馥芮白," and promoted it around the world. Only then did Flat White leap to become one of the most popular drinks in the mainstream coffee market. On the Starbucks menu, "馥芮白" has a "TM" mark in the upper right corner, indicating that the name has been registered as a trademark. Therefore, other coffee shops can only use other names: COSTA calls it 醇艺白, luckin coffee calls it 澳瑞白, and in China there are also different names such as 澳白, 平白, and 小白.
When you order a Flat White in a coffee shop, the barista will first extract espresso and pour it into a cup of about 150–200 ml, then combine steamed hot milk with it, ultimately presenting a drink in which every sip lets you taste both the milk foam and the coffee-milk beneath. At this point, some people may ask, isn't this just a small hot latte?
Is a Flat White just a small hot latte?
In Italy, "Caffè Latte" refers to coffee made by adding milk to espresso made with a moka pot, and Latte means milk. A latte emphasizes the balance between coffee and milk: you can taste the coffee flavor and also the sweet, mellow taste of milk, with the two complementing each other without masking each other's flavors. A cappuccino, on the other hand, is made from a cup of espresso and thick milk foam, usually with a 1–2 cm thick "hamburger-style" milk foam, and before drinking the coffee liquid you must first take a big sip of the foam.
In Australia, baristas believe that a Flat White only needs to maintain thinner milk foam than a latte, and it is served in the same cup size as a latte, placing more emphasis on the difference in foam thickness. Compared with milk coffees such as lattes and cappuccinos, Flat White has the thinnest milk foam, generally 0.3–0.5 cm. The milk foam must be thin enough to be level with the rim of the cup and must not bulge above it, so that every sip of the strong coffee liquid carries a dense layer of foam.
New Zealand baristas do not agree with this. They believe that to make the coffee stronger, the ratio of coffee to milk should be adjusted, and it should be served in a smaller coffee cup than a latte (about 150 ml), with a double shot used as the base. In this way, the amount of milk is reduced, the proportion of coffee is increased, and the coffee flavor is naturally stronger.
Melbourne baristas also replace the base with a double Ristretto and blend it in a 150 ml cup with milk foam of a thickness comparable to that of a latte. Ristretto refers to extracting espresso with the same dose of coffee grounds but a smaller liquid yield. It can be understood as a reduced version of espresso, more concentrated in the early and middle stages of extraction, with a richer mouthfeel, and therefore placing higher demands on coffee bean quality. At present, many coffee shops in China use higher-quality single-origin coffee beans for espresso extraction. In order to highlight the coffee's regional flavor, these baristas follow the Melbourne method when serving Flat White.
What coffee beans make a better-tasting Flat White?
We often distinguish Flat White from other milk coffees by milk foam thickness, but milk foam thickness only affects the mouthfeel to a certain extent and does not determine how the coffee tastes. Front Street believes that a delicious Flat White depends on whether high-quality espresso coffee beans are selected for making it.
The espresso served at Front Street stores uses its own roasted "Sunflower Warm Sun Blend," which is composed of 70% Honduras Sherry coffee and 30% Yirgacheffe natural Red Cherry coffee. Sherry's whiskey, vanilla, and cream flavors combine with Red Cherry's tropical fruit and fermented notes, making the coffee in the cup rich in aroma and soft in mouthfeel. For the coffee base, Front Street Coffee chooses a double Ristretto, extracting 30 grams of coffee liquid from 20 grams of coffee grounds, with an extraction time of 22–24 seconds. This extraction plan is the parameter adjusted by baristas every day before opening, based on the Warm Sun Blend used in the store.
Pour the extracted coffee liquid into a pre-prepared cup, then pour 150 ml of milk into a milk pitcher and steam it. The milk should be aerated less than for a latte, with a thinner and denser foam layer, and the temperature is best controlled at 55–60°C, making it easier to drink. Finally, pour the steamed milk into the coffee. Latte art is optional. Because the thin milk foam does not bring the liquid surface level with the coffee cup, its appearance looks somewhat flat. Front Street's Flat White presents aromas of vanilla, chocolate milk, and whiskey-filled chocolate, along with the sweet-tartness of berries. It is smooth, fragrant, and mellow on the palate, with a very long finish.
In addition to the gentle-style Warm Sun Blend, Front Street's espresso bean list also includes three highly cost-effective blended coffee beans. Their mellow mouthfeel and rich aroma are equally suitable for making flat white coffee. These are blended products that Front Street has compared and tested many times, covering the fine flavors of different coffee-producing regions and also helping to ensure extraction stability.
1. Classic mellow type — Front Street Commercial Blend Coffee Beans
Washed Robusta coffee beans (10%) + washed Colombian coffee beans (30%) + semi-washed Brazilian coffee (60%)
The espresso has rich golden crema and a nutty aroma. When combined with milk to make flat white coffee, it has a roasted coffee bitterness, but what accompanies it is more of a creamy, full-bodied mouthfeel. After swallowing, the bitterness also dissipates, leaving a lingering fragrance on the lips and teeth.
2. Slightly acidic and mellow type — an espresso coffee bean recommended by many baristas: Front Street Black Cocoa Blend Coffee Beans
Washed Yunnan small-bean coffee (30%) + semi-washed Brazilian coffee beans (70%)
Yunnan small-bean coffee brings a soft acidity, paired with the mellow aroma of Brazilian Cerrado coffee. The espresso has caramel, nuts, and a soft plum acidity. The overall effect is balanced and gentle, and when paired with milk it presents a balanced taste of sweetness, acidity, and bitterness.
3. Balanced and aromatic type — Front Street Specialty Blend Coffee Beans
Washed Colombian coffee beans (30%) + semi-washed Brazilian coffee beans (70%)
Colombian coffee is added to the nutty notes of classic Brazilian coffee. The espresso presents dark chocolate flavor, caramel sweetness, and a full roasted aroma. When paired with milk, it has a solid chocolate aroma, and on the palate it is rich and silky like hot cocoa.
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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
