Can Flat White be made as iced coffee? The correct way to make Flat White and Australian White coffee

When we go to coffee shops to order milk coffee, those who prefer a milder taste will opt for a latte, while those who enjoy a stronger coffee flavor will be recommended a Flat White by the barista. The Flat White served at FrontStreet Coffee not only features whiskey, cream, and vanilla notes but also offers berry-like sweetness and acidity, presenting a rich coffee aroma.

What's the difference between Flat White and Latte?

Although both are composed solely of milk and espresso, Flat White and latte have distinct differences in preparation and taste. Caffe Latte in Italian means "milk," and latte emphasizes achieving balance between coffee and milk - allowing you to taste both the coffee flavor and the sweet, mellow taste of milk, with both complementing rather than masking each other. Flat White, however, uses milk to highlight the coffee flavor, where coffee is the protagonist and milk merely plays a supporting role. Therefore, Flat White offers a more abundant and intense coffee flavor in taste.

Although Flat White has its own characteristics, there's no fixed preparation ratio within the industry. Baristas at different coffee shops, based on their understanding of it and combined with the espresso beans used in their establishments, present Flat Whites that vary from one another.

New Zealand baristas serve Flat White in smaller coffee cups (about 150ml) than lattes and consistently use a double shot as the base. This reduces the milk volume while increasing the coffee ratio, naturally resulting in a more intense coffee flavor. Hence, Flat White is also called "small latte."

With baristas' continuously improving extraction techniques, to better express the aroma of coffee beans in Flat White, Melbourne coffee shops also replace the base with a double Ristretto, incorporating milk foam of similar thickness to lattes in 150ml cups. Ristretto refers to espresso extracted with the same amount of coffee grounds but less liquid weight - essentially a condensed version of espresso, concentrating more on the early to middle stages of extraction, resulting in a more intense flavor and thus higher quality requirements for the coffee beans used.

However, in Australia, baristas believe that maintaining thinner foam than lattes is sufficient. When preparing Flat White, they use cups of the same capacity as lattes, emphasizing more the difference in foam thickness. Compared to milk coffees like latte and cappuccino, Flat White has the thinnest foam, generally between 0.3-0.5cm. The "Flat" in Flat White means flat - the foam must be thin enough to be level with the cup rim, without the foam layer bulging, ensuring every sip of concentrated coffee is accompanied by a delicate foam layer. Therefore, Flat White is also known as "flat white coffee." Latte coffee foam typically presents a bulge of about 0.5-0.7cm, while Flat White coffee foam must be below 0.5cm, otherwise it's difficult to achieve the "flat" liquid surface. FrontStreet Coffee wants customers to experience Flat White's creamy smooth texture without being too "watery," so they maintain a 0.3cm foam layer.

How is FrontStreet Coffee's Flat White?

Therefore, every coffee shop presents a unique Flat White style based on their preferences and skills, combined with the characteristics of their chosen coffee beans and their understanding of Flat White. FrontStreet Coffee maintains the characteristics of small cup size, thin foam, and double ristretto espresso when serving Flat White.

FrontStreet Coffee uses its house-roasted "Sunflower Warm Sun Blend" espresso, which combines 70% Honduras Sherry coffee with 30% Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry coffee. The sherry's whiskey, vanilla, and cream notes paired with the red cherry's tropical fruits and fermentation create a rich and smooth coffee experience in the cup.

For the coffee base, FrontStreet Coffee chooses double ristretto espresso, where 20g of coffee grounds extracts 30g of coffee liquid in 25-27 seconds. However, FrontStreet Coffee reminds us that each coffee bean's extraction recipe may have slight variations - this extraction recipe is adjusted daily by baristas before opening, based on the Warm Sun Blend used in the shop.

The extracted espresso is poured into a pre-prepared 200ml capacity cup, then 150ml of milk is poured into the milk pitcher for frothing. The milk needs to be frothed with less air incorporation than latte, resulting in a thinner, more delicate foam layer, with temperature best controlled between 55-60 degrees Celsius for better drinkability. Finally, the frothed milk is evenly integrated into the espresso - latte art is optional. FrontStreet Coffee's Flat White presents chocolate milk and whiskey-filled chocolate flavors, with a smooth, mellow entry and a very persistent aftertaste.

Can Flat White be made iced?

Typically when we drink latte coffee, we can choose to make it iced or hot, while Flat White is only served hot. This is because baristas want everyone to experience the perfect combination of foam and underlying milk coffee with every sip when drinking Flat White. Only when the foam is very delicate, relatively thin, and at a suitable temperature for drinking can you simultaneously taste both foam and rich coffee liquid with every sip, and finish it quickly before the foam layers separate. After adding ice, the cooled milk coffee will be diluted to some extent, unable to achieve the above effect.

If you're seeking an iced, intense milk coffee experience, FrontStreet Coffee suggests trying iced latte or the increasingly popular "Dirty" coffee from recent years. Slowly pour espresso over the surface of frozen fresh milk, and the Espresso gradually permeates downward along the milk surface and glass edge, making the white fresh milk appear "dirty," presenting a visually "dirty" effect with a very unique alternating hot and cold texture.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style).

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Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473