Among many baristas, there's a tacit consensus: to judge whether a café is good or bad, just order a Flat White and you'll know. If the Flat White is well made, the other coffees will basically be above standard too. When asked why, these baristas reply: because it's the milk coffee most prone to "mistakes."

The Most Controversial Espresso Drink

The Flat White can be said to be a coffee with no settled conclusions from its origins to its preparation. Regarding the true birthplace of the Flat White, the debate between Australia and New Zealand is still unsettled, but no matter who invented it, we only need to know it's a milk coffee from the Southern Hemisphere.

As for its definition, the Flat White likewise has no clear concept, so every café has its own "secret recipe," but no matter how it changes, it generally comes down to 3 key points: less milk, thin milk foam, and a strong coffee flavor. When making it, baristas typically reduce the milk and control the thin foam to highlight the aroma of the coffee beans, so compared to a Latte, a Flat White is not only smaller, but also has a stronger coffee flavor and a fuller mouthfeel—sounding more like an "advanced version of a Latte."

Hard to Control the Thickness of the Milk Foam

Like the Latte and Cappuccino, the Flat White's milk foam pursues smoothness and fineness, with the difference being that it also has to be thin.

Anyone who has steamed milk knows that controlling the thickness of the milk foam depends on the steam wand's air intake time (amount of air introduced). The Cappuccino, with the thickest foam, needs to support a dome at least 1.5 cm high, so it requires the longest air intake time for steaming the milk, about 4–5 seconds; the Latte, pursuing a balanced mouthfeel, is controlled at 0.5–1 cm thickness, with an air intake time of about 2–4 seconds;

while the Flat White's milk foam, because it needs to be light and thin, must not have too long an air intake time, otherwise it easily turns into a Latte, and you won't be able to taste more coffee crema on the first sip. To let customers drink a Flat White that is creamy and smooth but not too watery, Front Street Coffee standardizes the milk foam thickness at 0.3 cm when serving.

In this case, generally only 1–2 seconds of air intake are needed. After two "squeak—squeak" sounds, the steam wand can be submerged into the milk, then create a vortex as quickly as possible to steam the milk into a dense texture, until the temperature reaches 50–55°C. Because of the small amount of air intake, during steaming we'll hear a relatively sharp sound. When you swirl the milk pitcher, if the bubbles show a reflective surface, that means this batch of milk foam is up to standard.

Because the Foam Is Thin, Latte Art Is Hard

At Front Street Coffee we have a saying: an editor who can't do latte art is not a good barista. Even if we can't make every cup exquisite and beautiful, we must ensure the pattern is upright and clear before serving, and the Flat White is the coffee with the highest latte art failure rate.

As mentioned earlier, the Flat White's milk foam is the thinnest, with the aim of letting us better experience the mouthfeel brought by the fusion of coffee and milk. But in terms of preparation, the thinner the foam, the less supporting surface on top, and during fusion the milk liquid more easily sinks to the bottom, with the foam drifting along with the flow of the liquid, which leads to the pattern deforming during latte art.

For this reason, many baristas usually don't make Flat Whites with complex patterns, mostly simple designs, and only competition contestants or advanced players will show off their skills in this area.

Even Fusion of Milk and Coffee

A good dish requires good ingredients, and even more so a reasonable pairing. Similarly, an excellent Flat White first requires good beans and milk that matches them, and then the degree of fusion between the two.

Since the Flat White isn't masked by too much milk and highlights the coffee flavor more, we can immediately feel the quality and characteristics of the beans, and thoughtful coffee shops will also choose milk based on the style of their own espresso beans, then after repeated adjustments arrive at the best ratio.

For example, when using Front Street Coffee's specialty espresso blend to make a Flat White, we take only the front-to-middle portion of a double Ristretto as the base (parameters: 20g coffee powder extracting 30g of coffee liquid, extraction time 22–25 seconds), then pair it with 160ml Bright Fresh Milk.

When the espresso and hot milk are both ready, the next step is to let the two fuse evenly. Front Street Coffee first gently pours the hot milk into the coffee, then raises the milk pitcher to maintain a small stream, using the gravity of the milk liquid to evenly stir in circles on the crema, then lowers the milk pitcher and pushes out white lines with force—all steps in one smooth motion, and a Flat White is born.

A Flat White made this way has a smooth surface and a clean pattern, indicating a high degree of fusion. Even at the last sip, the latte art remains clearly visible, and the drinking temperature is moderate. You can taste the roasted hazelnut, dark chocolate, and baked toast flavors brought by Front Street Coffee's specialty blend. The rich aroma of the crema is accompanied by a slight sweetness from the milk—mellow but not too bitter, with a rich overall layering.

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