Italian latte vs flat white: what does cup size change?

The small flat white cup is not a shortcut. It comes from the drink's build: roughly two-thirds espresso to one-third milk with about half a centimeter of foam, so the coffee leads and the milk supports it. The italian latte runs about one-third espresso to two-thirds milk with a thicker foam cap, giving a smoother, milkier cup.

A flat white is not a coffee a master coined in Italy; it grew out of Australian cafe culture, where baristas reshaped the Italian espresso model for local taste. Cup size follows the ratio, so a small vessel keeps the coffee flavor forward. Shops such as luckin coffee list both, and the same bean choice and extraction time decide how each one tastes.

Among Luckin Coffee's many drinks, ten products such as Coconut Latte, Cheese Latte, and Velvet Latte have long been favored by consumers. But many people still can't distinguish the essential difference between Flat White and Latte, and even mistakenly think that the small cup size of a Flat White means the shop is cutting corners. This article systematically sorts out the differences between these two classic milk coffees from multiple dimensions such as coffee bean selection, cup size design, espresso base, milk ratio, and milk foam thickness, while also explaining why Luckin's Australian White uses a small cup, and the correct way to drink a Flat White. The article also combines Front Street Coffee's output parameters to give specific extraction suggestions and blended bean recommendations, helping coffee lovers make an ideal cup whether in a store or at home.

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Luckin Coffee's ten most popular drinks are, in order: Coconut Latte, Cheese Latte, Velvet Latte, Iced Americano, Okinawa Brown Sugar Velvet Latte, Sea Salt Cheese Thick Milk Latte, Coconut Cloud Latte, Yirgacheffe Dirty, Flat White, and Latte.

Previously, a reader left a message for Front Street saying that they had never been able to figure out what exactly the difference is between a Flat White and a Latte, and hoped we could help sort it out. In response to this friend's question, this issue will explain the difference between these two coffees in a relatively straightforward way.

As everyone knows, Latte is the most common type of milk coffee in Italian coffee, and "Latte" means milk in Italian. Basically, you can walk into any café and the menu will not lack a Latte. Anyone who has drunk coffee is also familiar with the taste of a Latte.

The original name of Flat White is "Flat White," and it is a native specialty coffee of Australia. After Italian coffee spread to Australia back then, local baristas adjusted the original espresso system to create a milk coffee style that suited local tastes. Australia's Flat White was initially similar to France's Cafe au Lait (Café au Lait); both were regional milk coffee varieties. Latte, on the other hand, gradually spread around the world as Italian coffee culture swept the globe, and was accepted by consumers everywhere.

Today, Flat White can be bought in major coffee shops across China. Front Street believes that large chain brands such as Starbucks played a key role in this. In 2015, Starbucks launched a product in China called "馥芮白," which is actually Flat White, and "馥芮" is precisely a transliteration of "flat." This drink quickly made Flat White well known to Chinese consumers and became a popular coffee capable of competing with Latte.

Because Starbucks has registered "馥芮白" as a Chinese trademark, other domestic businesses can no longer use this name for promotion. Therefore, the Chinese name for flat white is usually written as 澳白咖啡, meaning milk coffee from Australia. Some businesses also translate it literally as 平白咖啡 or 小白咖啡. Luckin also launched its own Flat White, named 澳瑞白咖啡.

What is the difference between Latte and Australian White/Flat White?

Latte and Flat White both belong to the category of milk coffee, and both are drinks made by mixing espresso with milk. The most fundamental difference between the two is reflected in taste and mouthfeel. Latte pursues a balance between coffee and milk; you should be able to taste the aroma of coffee as well as the sweetness and smoothness of milk, with the two complementing each other so that neither side's flavor overpowers the other.

Flat White, on the other hand, uses milk to highlight the coffee's own flavor. Coffee is the protagonist, and milk only plays a supporting role. Therefore, in terms of taste, Flat White has a stronger and heavier coffee presence. Precisely because the flavor priorities the two aim to present are different, they also differ in appearance, ratio, and production method.

- Coffee Beans

In Australian cafés, when making a Latte, baristas usually choose a comprehensive blend to restore the original taste of Italian Latte; when making a Flat White, they switch to another bean with a prominent flavor, or one with a relatively lighter roast level. Because Flat White is intended to highlight the coffee's own flavor, baristas want customers to taste a distinct, rich, and sweet coffee flavor rather than a balanced bitterness.

To make Flat White, it is recommended to use Front Street Classic Italian Blend Coffee. This is a recipe composed of beans from three origins: Brazil, Indonesia, and Vietnam. It uses a deep roast, which can maximize the coffee's mellow aroma and also allows everyone to easily extract rich and dense coffee crema. It is very suitable whether for making an Americano diluted with water or a Latte paired with milk, and can be purchased at the Front Street Taobao store or the Front Street Tmall flagship store.

Of course, domestic coffee shops that started later have the advantage of being latecomers, without the burden of tradition, and can broadly absorb innovative methods from around the world. Many coffee shops are equipped with a variety of Italian-style beans in different styles, so whether for Latte or Flat White, you can choose as you like. Domestic Flat White and Latte differ more in method. - Flat White has a smaller cup size

If you usually drink Latte often and one day on a whim order a Flat White, and find that the cup handed to you by the staff is one size smaller, do not think the shop is being stingy. The cup size of a Flat White itself is smaller than that of a Latte. Taking Front Street's output as an example, the standard cup size for Latte is 350ml, while Flat White is 200ml.

- Flat White's coffee base is stronger

Latte uses the basic Espresso commonly used in Italian coffee as its base, while Flat White uses Ristretto, which is stronger than Espresso, as its base. Ristretto can be understood as taking only the front and middle sections of the Espresso extraction, resulting in a higher-concentration coffee liquid; and because only the front and middle parts are extracted, the coffee's acidic flavor and roasting aroma are enhanced, while the extraction of high-molecular carbohydrate substances is reduced. In plain terms, the sensory flavor is more prominent.

Taking Front Street's Espresso parameters as an example, 20 grams of coffee grounds extract 40 grams of coffee liquid. The Ristretto parameters are 20 grams of coffee grounds extracting 28-30 grams of coffee liquid.

- Flat White has less milk added Latte adds milk to form a balance with the coffee base, so the amount of milk is relatively larger; Flat White, in order to highlight the coffee flavor, adds less milk.

Taking Front Street Coffee's output as an example, a Latte is 2 servings of espresso (40g) plus 260ml of milk. The amount of milk is large, and the overall expression is milk with a coffee flavor. Flat White is 2 servings of Ristretto (30g), which is richer than espresso, plus 170ml of milk. This cup expresses a richer and fuller coffee flavor.

- Flat White's milk foam is thinner and finer Milk foam thickness is the easiest characteristic by which to distinguish the two. Flat White's milk foam is thinner and finer than Latte's.

The "Flat" in Flat White expresses the finished state of the Flat White. "Flat" means flat, and because Flat White's milk foam is very thin, its tension is not enough to make it bulge, so it can only be level with the rim of the cup. That is why it is called "Flat." Latte's milk foam thickness is about 1cm, while Flat White's milk foam thickness is about 0.5cm.

- Flat White is not served iced Latte can be made both hot and iced, but there is no such thing as an iced Flat White. Perhaps it is because a coffee called dirty has replaced its function!

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