Is the Starbucks Flat White Different From the Aussie Original?

A Flat White sits between a latte and a cappuccino. It uses a double shot of espresso like a cappuccino, then adds finely textured microfoam that is thinner and glossier than a latte's. Starbucks added the drink to its menu in 2020, which introduced many customers to the style and drove its spread far beyond Australia and New Zealand.

The difference comes down to milk texture, foam thickness and the espresso-to-milk balance. A Flat White needs careful steaming and pouring so the foam blends with the crema rather than sitting on top; small errors leave the coffee flavor weak or the layers separate. That skill requirement helps explain why some shops price it above a latte and why comparisons to Starbucks piccolo and similar drinks come up.

On the menus of major coffee shops, Americano, Latte, and Flat White have long become familiar choices. In particular, after Starbucks launched the Flat White in 2020, this drink quickly captured the hearts of many coffee lovers. So, what exactly is a Flat White? Is there a difference between it and an Aussie White? This article will break down this classic milk coffee that sits between a latte and a cappuccino from multiple angles, including its conceptual definition, historical origins, and preparation methods, and share the specific parameters and blend choices used by Front Street Coffee when making Flat White in-store.

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Walking into any coffee shop, there are always a few familiar names on the menu: Americano, Latte, Aussie White or Flat White... The widespread recognition of these drinks in the Chinese market owes much to Starbucks' promotional efforts. Since Starbucks added the Flat White to its menu in 2020, this coffee quickly won the favor of Starbucks fans worldwide. What exactly makes the Flat White so popular? Today, Front Street will introduce you to this rising star in the coffee world.

What Exactly Is a Flat White?

The Flat White is actually a coffee drink positioned between a latte and a cappuccino. It also uses espresso as its base, with milk added for blending. It inherits the cappuccino's characteristic of using a double shot of espresso, while also having the latte's fine microfoam with a slight sheen on the surface, except this layer of foam is thinner and more gently covers the coffee's surface. The Flat White possesses both the rich aroma of a cappuccino and a lighter, silkier foam texture than a latte, making it an almost perfect ratio in the minds of many milk coffee lovers.

Although it doesn't sound complicated, making a Flat White that simultaneously presents all the above qualities is, according to Front Street, quite a test of a barista's skill, especially in controlling the details during preparation. Once any step deviates, either the coffee's rich flavor isn't prominent enough, or the milk and crema struggle to fully integrate. Simply put, if one lacks experience, this cup of coffee can easily turn out much worse than expected, which also explains why some coffee shops price Flat Whites higher than lattes and cappuccinos.

The Origins of Flat White Coffee

Without understanding the cultural background behind the Flat White, it might be easy to simply classify it as just another milk-plus-espresso drink.

In fact, the Flat White was born in the 1980s in Australia and New Zealand, regions that emphasized specialty coffee culture. After World War II, a large number of European immigrants brought espresso to this area. Thereafter, the coffee culture in this region developed independently from the mainstream European and American systems, while also embracing the spirit of the third wave coffee movement, gradually developing coffee derivative drinks with their own characteristics, such as the Flat White, ristretto, piccolo, and other uniquely styled items.

Specialty coffee emphasizes origin and processing methods, typically using light roasting to preserve the unique fruity aromas and flavors of coffee beans from different origins, and is mostly prepared by manual brewing, thus placing higher demands on a barista's skill and latte art techniques. Throughout the entire process from roasting to extraction, any subtle difference can bring about different flavor expressions. Even the same batch of coffee beans will present flavors with personal style due to different baristas' operations.

The birth of the latte may have been intended to use the sweetness and creaminess of milk to reduce the bitterness of espresso. The emergence of the Flat White, on the other hand, aims to use the sweetness and creaminess of milk to further enhance the coffee's own flavor and mouthfeel.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) believes that the popularity of the Flat White reflects the continuous improvement of coffee quality and people's unremitting pursuit of specialty coffee, while also reflecting that more and more consumers are beginning to pay greater attention to the flavor expression of the coffee itself.

How to Make a Flat White?

There are two common ways to make a Flat White. The first uses a smaller amount, mixing 20g of espresso liquid with 80ml of hot milk steamed to a thin foam (about 0.5cm thick), ultimately creating a rich milk coffee of about 100ml.

The other method uses a larger amount, mixing 30g (double shot) of ristretto espresso liquid with 150-160ml of hot milk steamed to a thin foam (about 0.3cm thick), ultimately yielding a finished milk coffee of about 200ml.

The method used by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) stores when making Flat White is similar to Starbucks, also using a double shot of ristretto espresso. Front Street daily selects a Sunflower Warm Sun blend coffee bean composed of 30% sun-dried Yirgacheffe blended with 70% Honduras Sherry to extract espresso. After cupping confirmation by Front Street, this blend can present fermented wine aroma, vanilla, berry sweetness and acidity, chocolate aroma, and caramel-like sweetness.

When extracting ristretto espresso, Front Street uses a 1:1.6 coffee-to-liquid ratio, using 19-20g of coffee grounds to extract 30-32g of coffee liquid, with extraction time controlled at around 27-32 seconds. Paired with steamed fresh milk, it presents a mouthfeel similar to vanilla milkshake and chocolate milk, very unique.

Of course, if you don't like coffee with any acidity and prefer the bitter, roasted taste of dark-roasted coffee, Front Street recommends using the classic Italian blend coffee beans to make a Flat White. This coffee blend combines three major origins—Brazil, Indonesia, and Vietnam—and is produced using a post-roast blending method, allowing the essence of each bean to be better showcased while perfectly blending in the cup.

When using Front Street's classic Italian blend to make a Flat White, we use a double shot of espresso as the base, adopting a 1:2 coffee-to-liquid ratio, using 20g of coffee grounds to extract 40g of coffee liquid, with an extraction time of about 28-32 seconds. Then, 150g of steamed fresh milk with thin foam is fused with the dense crema, and a nice little pattern is poured, completing a rich, sweet, and caramelized Flat White.

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