Starbucks Flat White vs Latte: Key Differences and Step-by-Step Brewing Guide

As the specialty coffee market continues to mature, Flat White has become one of the essential milk espresso drinks on specialty coffee shop menus. Many people have asked FrontStreet Coffee: aren't they all just milk plus coffee? What's the difference between Flat White and Latte? So what exactly is a Flat White? FrontStreet Coffee will explain in detail what Flat White is and how to make it.

What is Flat White?

Simply put, compared to Latte, Flat White is an espresso drink with less milk proportion and more coffee proportion. To put it simply in FrontStreet Coffee's words, Flat White is much stronger and more intense than Latte~ In previous years, many coffee shops didn't offer Flat White, possibly because the concept, standards, and characteristics of Flat White were not well-promoted, and another reason was that in coffee shops already offering Latte and Cappuccino, adding another milk coffee choice seemed somewhat redundant.

As specialty coffee beans become more abundant, many coffee shops' coffee bean blend qualities have improved significantly, eliminating the previous burnt bitterness typical of espresso. Everyone is more willing to showcase their espresso's unique characteristics through a higher coffee-to-milk ratio. Some have begun using single-origin coffee beans to create SOE (Single Origin Espresso) for Flat White, demonstrating the fusion of regional flavor characteristics with milk lactose, creating wonderful taste experiences.

For example, when FrontStreet Coffee makes milk-based espresso, they typically use Ethiopian natural-process red cherries and Honduras Sherry coffee beans in a 3:7 ratio blend for espresso extraction. This blend, after high-pressure extraction, produces rich wine aroma, gentle fruit acidity, and nutty cocoa-like aftertaste. By heating milk to stimulate its lactose and mixing it with espresso, the lactose in milk and berry-like acidity create milkshake-like sweetness, but without overpowering the wine aroma, making people "addicted" after just one taste.

In Australia, milk coffees are typically served in wide-mouth cups, so generally, a Flat White's foam thickness is only about 5mm. Also, because of better fusion with coffee, a good Flat White should have a silky, rich mouthfeel. If Cappuccino and Latte pursue a light, airy "fluffiness," then Flat White seeks a silk-like "smoothness."

The Origin of Flat White

Regarding the origin of Flat White, some say it appeared in Sydney in the 1980s, while others claim it emerged in Melbourne in the 1970s. Life in Australian cities like Melbourne and Sydney is actually not easy due to extremely high prices (housing costs remain high), but drinking coffee remains a quite common daily habit, usually not expensive. Australian coffee also maintains a very high standard, typically with at least one quality coffee shop in every neighborhood, nourishing the spirit and taste buds of local residents.

In fact, Australia has always been a cultural melting pot composed of immigrant communities. Thanks to numerous European immigrants, coffee culture gradually took root in Australia after World War II. Today, on the world coffee map, major cities like Sydney and Melbourne have long established their presence. Even more so, coffee drinks like milk-based coffees have even made inroads into North America, causing Starbucks to remove "Cappuccino" from its menu after selling it for over 30 years, replacing it with Flat White (Starbucks calls Flat White "Fu Rui Bai"). Subsequently, coffee shops in the UK, Germany, and others have gradually introduced Flat White, Piccolo Latte, Long Black, and other strong Italian-style coffee drinks with Australian-specific names.

How to Make Flat White?

FrontStreet Coffee uses the Faema E98 espresso machine with the following extraction parameters:

Pressure: 9 bar
Temperature: 94°C
Time: 20-30 seconds
Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:1.7-1:2
Dose: 12g (single espresso) 20g (double espresso)
Extraction yield: 20ml (single) 40ml (double)

Recommended Milk and Coffee Ratio for Flat White

Milk: Whole fresh milk (FrontStreet Coffee uses Kowloon Dairy fresh milk)
Milk frothing temperature: 50-60°C (too low temperature cannot activate milk lactose, too high temperature will destroy milk proteins, resulting in grainy texture)
Foam thickness: 5mm (1cm foam for Latte, 1.5cm foam for Cappuccino)
Espresso content: 40ml
Milk content: 140ml

FrontStreet Coffee maintains the characteristics of small cup size, thin foam, and double ristretto as the base when serving Flat White. FrontStreet Coffee uses a smaller ceramic cup of about 200ml capacity for Flat White compared to hot Latte, pouring freshly extracted double Ristretto. FrontStreet Coffee believes milk shouldn't be too much, otherwise it would overpower the coffee's rich aroma, so the coffee-to-milk ratio here is 1:5, meaning about 150ml of fresh milk.

FrontStreet Coffee hopes customers experience a creamy, smooth mouthfeel that isn't too "watery," maintaining a 0.3cm foam layer, so milk frothing requires less air incorporation than Latte to achieve such thin foam. FrontStreet Coffee believes the best milk temperature should be controlled between 55-60°C, which both highlights sweetness and isn't too hot. Finally, the frothed milk is evenly integrated into the espresso liquid for tasting.

FrontStreet Coffee's Flat White presents aromas of vanilla, cream, chocolate milk, whiskey-filled chocolate, and berry sweetness and acidity. The entrance is smooth, fragrant, and rich, with a very long-lasting aftertaste.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473