The Characteristics of Piccolo Latte Popular in Sydney, Australia: How to Make Australian Short Piccolo Latte

Walk into a coffee shop today and you will see all kinds of drinks. Milk and coffee alone yield a long list: latte, cappuccino, flat white, dirty, piccolo. The first four are probably familiar to everyone, but what exactly is this seemingly niche piccolo?

Piccolo Coffee Also Known as "Small Latte"

Australians are deeply influenced by Italian coffee culture, and baristas there combined local taste preferences with traditional Italian espresso to create matchless drinks, such as the Flat White that Starbucks later popularized worldwide. Unlike a Flat White, a piccolo is more compact and mini, with only half the cup size of a latte, so it can be finished in just two or three sips.

Piccolo latte is translated from "piccolo latte," where piccolo names the small piccolo instrument in English but means "small" in Italian. It came about because, when roasting and dialing in, roasters and baristas would taste coffee both as straight espresso and mixed with milk to judge whether it met the standard. Since a regular latte is a large serve, they would end up discarding it after a couple of sips. Not wanting to waste it, they cut the milk ratio, and the drink gradually evolved into a mini latte, a good choice for anyone who does not want too much caffeine or to feel overly full.

What Are the Specifics of Making Australian-Style Piccolo Coffee?

Baristas debate the recipe for piccolo. Some hold that a piccolo is espresso with a small amount of frothed milk, while others insist it should be made with ristretto and a small amount of frothed milk foam. There is no fixed ratio in the trade today, so a piccolo is built around the flavor profile of the beans in use and the barista's understanding of the drink.

The flavor of the coffee comes from the beans. The espresso served at FrontStreet Coffee's store is extracted from FrontStreet Coffee's own roasted "Sunflower Warm Sun Blend Coffee Beans," made up of 70% Honduras Sherry coffee and 30% Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry coffee. The whiskey, vanilla and cream of the Sherry combine with the tropical fruit and fermentation notes of the Red Cherry to give the cup a rich, smooth mouthfeel.

FrontStreet Coffee makes piccolo in a small cup of about 90-100ml, with a coffee-to-milk ratio of 1:5, preheated for the best drinking experience. A single shot of ristretto is used as the base. Ristretto means "restricted" in Italian and is also called restricted espresso; it typically takes only the front and middle sections of an espresso, making it taste stronger with more concentrated flavor. FrontStreet Coffee uses 20 grams of grounds to extract 28 grams of coffee liquid in 20-25 seconds, with a single ristretto being 14 grams, poured into the cup first.

The milk frothing takes more care, since less milk is harder to froth. FrontStreet Coffee chooses a 350ml milk pitcher and pours in 100ml of milk. A piccolo does not need the flat-white effect of sitting level with the cup rim, so it keeps a foam layer similar to a latte's, about 0.3-0.5cm thick. The frothing temperature is held between 55°C-60°C so the drink will not burn the mouth. The milk should be mixed with the ristretto as evenly as possible, and the latte art pour begins when the cup is seven-tenths full. A piccolo tastes best drunk immediately after it is made.

How to Drink Piccolo Coffee?

FrontStreet Coffee's piccolo shows aromas of vanilla, cream, chocolate milk and whiskey-filled chocolates, along with a berry sweetness and tartness. The coffee is full-bodied, the milk smooth and fragrant, and the aftertaste remarkably long-lasting.

As noted above, piccolo comes in a very small cup, mainly to highlight the beans' flavor, and it is meant to be savored slowly. When tasting, FrontStreet Coffee first gently smells the faint aroma of the espresso liquid carried by the milk. From the first sip, let the coffee fill the mouth and feel the texture of the foam and the thickness of the coffee. After swallowing, notice the aftertaste left behind, and finally take a little water, as the sweet finish gradually becomes clear.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Because a piccolo foregrounds the espresso and keeps the milk in a supporting role, the beans need a strong flavor memory, and FrontStreet's Classic Blend is a good fit. It is a medium-dark espresso blend with a mellow, low-acid profile, full and fine crema, and, alongside milk, an exceptionally rich, full texture. Built for espresso and moka pot brewing, it does best in drinks like this where the coffee has to hold its own.

If you prefer floral and fruity notes, FrontStreet's Strawberry Candy espresso blend is the first choice. With very little bitterness, it brings a full grape and blueberry flavor on extraction, sweet and sour in good measure, and combined with fresh milk for a piccolo it takes on a strawberry-milkshake quality that stays with you. Whatever the bean, milk matters too: if the milk is too thin the piccolo tastes hollow, and if it is too strong it masks the coffee's aroma, so prioritize chilled fresh milk, which releases more milk sweetness and aroma once steamed and pairs with espresso especially well.