A Guide to Making a Flat White

The flat white is a milk coffee that highlights the flavor of espresso. It uses more espresso and less milk than a latte, with a thinner layer of milk foam. This article explains the origin debate, espresso base choices, recommended milk-to-coffee ratio, and how to judge milk temperature and foam thickness when steaming. It also covers how whole, low-fat, and skim milk behave when steamed, so you can make a velvety milk coffee at home.

Making Italian-style milk coffee requires espresso and milk. The milk coffee family includes latte, mocha, cappuccino, and others, each with different ratios. This article shares the flat white ratio from Front Street Coffee's hidden menu, and the degree to which milk should be steamed. Flat white is also called Australian white coffee, though some argue it originated in New Zealand. Regardless, it is a milk coffee with a stronger coffee flavor, less milk, and thinner foam.

Flat white is a milk coffee that emphasizes the true flavor of coffee. Compared with a latte, it has a higher espresso content, less milk, and thinner milk foam. In this article, Front Street Coffee will systematically explain the controversy over the origin of flat white, the choice of espresso base, the recommended ratio of milk to coffee, and how to judge the temperature, thickness, and condition of milk foam when steaming. It will also explain the differences among whole milk, low-fat milk, and skim milk when steaming, helping coffee lovers, after understanding the principles, consistently make a cup of Italian-style milk coffee at home with ample aroma and a velvety texture.

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

Making Italian-style milk coffee is inseparable from espresso and milk, and the milk coffee family has many members, such as latte, mocha, cappuccino, and so on, each using different ratios of espresso to milk. In this article, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) will share the ratio recipe for flat white from Front Street's hidden menu, as well as the degree to which the milk should be steamed.

What is Flat white coffee?

Flat white is a coffee beverage that originated in Australia, so it is also called Australian white coffee, but some people argue that Australian white coffee actually originated in New Zealand. Apart from the controversy over its origin, the methods for making Australian white coffee also differ. Australian white coffee is a milk coffee drink with a stronger coffee flavor, less milk, and thinner milk foam. Regarding the choice of espresso base, New Zealanders prefer to use a double ristretto to make Australian white coffee, while Australian baristas prefer to use a single espresso.

And according to Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), in Australia, people only make Australian white coffee hot, because once ice cubes are added, it becomes an Australian white coffee that has lost its soul, as the ice cubes will dilute the overall strength, so it can also be understood that making Australian white coffee iced turns it into a latte.

How is flat white coffee made?

Latte is a coffee drink made with a large amount of milk. The biggest characteristic of Australian white coffee is that when the milk is poured into the coffee, it is not combined with the coffee by swirling, but instead poured in a thin stream from the center, ensuring that the crema on the surface of the espresso is not broken apart when the milk is poured in, thereby forming a small white circle in the center.

First, Front Street believes that flat white is a coffee that highlights coffee flavor. The espresso content used in Australian white coffee is greater than in latte. When making Australian white coffee, Front Street also uses a double espresso, but the amount of milk poured in is 100 ml less than in a latte. In terms of steaming milk foam, it is also thinner than the milk foam of a latte, so that with your first sip you can take in all the milk foam and the unbroken crema of the espresso.

The following is the ratio recipe used by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) when making flat white coffee:

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) uses a Pegasus E98 espresso machine to make flat white coffee, and the espresso beans used are Front Street's classic espresso blend. The extraction parameters are as follows:

Pressure: 9 bar Temperature: 90.5~96°C Time: 20~30 sec Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:1.7~1:2 Dose: 12g (single espresso) 20g (double espresso) Extracted espresso yield: 20ml (single) 40ml (double)

Recommended milk-to-coffee ratio for Australian white coffee

Milk: whole fresh milk (Front Street uses Vitasoy fresh milk) Milk steaming temperature: 50-60°C (too low a temperature cannot stimulate the lactose in milk to develop, while too high a temperature will destroy the protein in milk and create a gritty texture) Milk foam thickness: 5mm (1cm of milk foam is for making latte, and 1.5cm-thick milk foam is for making cappuccino) Espresso content: 40ml Milk content: 140ml

Above, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) provided the preparation parameters for espresso and the milk ratio amounts. Next, the most important step is to steam the milk into milk foam, which is also one of the essences of Italian-style milk coffee. So next, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) will teach everyone how to steam milk foam.

What is the best condition and degree for steaming flat white milk foam?

As Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) said above, flat white coffee is composed of two parts: espresso and milk. And what needs to be added is steamed milk, and the operation of steaming milk foam is a great test of a barista's milk-steaming skills. Therefore, making Australian white coffee is divided into three parts: the first part is extracting espresso, the second part is steaming milk, and the third part is combining the steamed milk with the espresso and doing latte art.

How do you steam milk?

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) mainly relies on the coffee machine's steam wand to steam milk. Pour an appropriate amount of milk into the milk pitcher. For example, the cup used by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) for latte service is 300 ml, and 280 ml of milk can be poured in, because after steaming the milk expands due to the gas incorporated into it. Before starting to steam the milk, slightly open the steam switch and purge it briefly to release excess water from the steam wand, then submerge the steam tip of the steam wand into the milk surface and open the switch. Finally, combine the steamed milk with the extracted espresso and do latte art.

So what degree of milk steaming is needed for latte art? According to Front Street Coffee's (FrontStreet Coffee) practical experience, milk foam can be said to be the most important factor. The fineness of the milk foam directly affects how long the milk foam remains stable. The finer the milk foam, the slower it breaks down. Steaming milk foam can be divided into two stages: aeration and texturing. Texturing means making the already-aerated rough milk foam fine and smooth. Specifically, the steam wand can be inserted deeper into the milk foam layer, about 1 cm below the surface, with all steam holes buried inside the milk, and through a vortex in one direction the milk foam is textured until fine and smooth. Generally, qualified milk foam has no large bubbles on the surface, appears glossy, and has good flow.

Of course, the temperature of the milk also affects the speed at which the milk foam breaks down (separates). The ideal temperature for steaming milk is between 55-65°C. If it is lower than this temperature, the sweetness of the milk cannot be stimulated as much as possible; if it is higher than this temperature, too much protein will denature. That is, it will accelerate the breakdown of the milk foam.

What kind of milk is used for steaming milk foam? Next is a common question Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) often hears from customers about steaming milk foam: what kind of milk is used to steam milk foam? Generally, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) recommends whole milk. So can other kinds of milk not be used to make milk coffee, or will the conditions for making milk coffee be somewhat raised?

First, everyone should know that milk is composed of three main components: protein, carbohydrates, and fat. Protein accounts for 3.3% of milk. Protein can be broken down into two elements: casein and whey protein.

Whey protein has nine essential amino acids, and they coagulate or deteriorate when heated to high temperatures. Casein, however, forms "micelles" (micelles refer to when a surfactant dissolves in water and, when its concentration is low, is dispersed as single molecules or adsorbed on the surface of the solution, thereby lowering surface tension). When milk is steamed with steam, the formation of micelles is interrupted, and casein molecules wrap around air bubbles, protecting them from bursting, thereby forming milk foam.

The protein levels contained in different kinds of milk affect the durability of the latte art decoration on the surface of a latte. Whole milk has a richer mouthfeel and thicker milk foam, while low-fat milk is more likely to produce large bubbles when steamed.

Therefore, when making milk coffee, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) chooses whole milk with better foaming ability. So whether it is whole milk, low-fat milk, or skim milk, all can be used to make milk coffee. It is just that these milks differ in fat and protein content, so the difficulty of making milk coffee also differs, and of course there are also considerable differences in taste. Because whole milk has high fat and protein content, the milk foam steamed from it is dense, long-lasting, and good in taste, so it is the first choice, but other kinds of milk also have their own advantages, depending on what choice is made in different situations.

The above is the related content compiled by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) on how to make flat white and how to steam milk foam. At the same time, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) also hopes to help coffee lovers who want to understand related knowledge, so that in the future they can also easily make a cup of aromatic Italian-style milk coffee at home.

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