How to Drink and Make Starbucks Flat White Coffee - Recommended Espresso Beans for Flat White Coffee

In 2015, coffee giant Starbucks introduced Flat White, an Australian milk coffee, to its permanent menu under the name "Fu Rui Bai." This beverage subsequently became popular in coffee shops on streets and alleys everywhere. At FrontStreet Coffee, we call this drink Australian White Coffee.

White Coffee: The Australian Name for Milk Coffee

In Australia, coffee shops are ubiquitous on streets and alleys, showing Australians' particular love for coffee. Here, if you want black coffee, the barista will make you a Black Coffee; if you want milk coffee, they'll make you a Flat White, because milk coffee here is simply called White/White Coffee.

After World War II, large numbers of Italians immigrated to countries like America and Australia to make a living, bringing espresso machines with them. At that time, traditional specialty coffees were mainly lattes and cappuccinos. Compared to these milk coffees, Australians preferred drinks with stronger coffee flavors that could directly showcase the taste. Baristas began adjusting coffee base, milk ratios, and foam thickness, gradually developing "Flat White." Flat means "level," and White refers to white coffee with milk added.

The greatest characteristic of Flat White is that unlike cappuccino, you don't need to finish drinking the thick foam on top first and then drink the coffee liquid below. Instead, you can directly taste the rich aroma of coffee crema, experiencing the perfect fusion of espresso with hot milk that has velvet-like dense foam. Since the 1980s, Flat White has appeared on permanent menus in European and American countries, becoming a standard beverage in major coffee shops.

How to Make a Delicious Flat White

Compared to latte, Flat White uses milk to highlight the coffee's flavor—coffee is the protagonist, milk is just supporting. Therefore, in terms of taste, Flat White has more abundant and richer coffee flavor. Additionally, the upper foam layer needs to be light and silky, ensuring that every sip of concentrated espresso comes with a velvet-like dense foam layer. Moderate temperature and smaller cup size allow for quick consumption before foam separation.

FrontStreet Coffee believes the emergence of Flat White stems from everyone's pursuit of specialty coffee bean flavors and mouthfeel. Therefore, each coffee shop presents a unique Flat White style based on their own coffee beans and understanding. For example, FrontStreet Coffee uses its house-roasted "Sunflower Warm Sun Blend" for espresso, composed of 70% Honduras Sherry coffee and 30% Yirgacheffe natural red cherry coffee. The sherry's whiskey, vanilla, and cream flavors combined with the tropical fruit and fermentation notes of red cherry create a rich and smooth mouthfeel in the cup.

For the coffee base, FrontStreet Coffee chooses double ristretto, extracting 30g of coffee liquid from 20g of coffee grounds over 22-24 seconds. FrontStreet Coffee needs to remind everyone that each coffee bean's extraction recipe will have slight differences. This extraction plan is adjusted daily by baristas before business hours and is based on the Warm Sun Blend used in our shop.

Pour the extracted espresso into a prepared cup, then pour 150ml of milk into a milk pitcher for frothing. The milk needs less air incorporation than latte coffee, creating a thinner, denser foam layer, with temperature best controlled at 55-60°C for better drinkability. Finally, pour the frothed milk into the coffee. FrontStreet Coffee's Flat White presents chocolate milk and whiskey-filled chocolate flavors, with a smooth, mellow entry and a very lasting aftertaste.

Why Is There No Iced Flat White?

Usually when we drink latte coffee, we can choose it iced or hot, but Flat White is only available hot. This is because baristas hope that when drinking Flat White, every sip allows you to taste the perfect combination of foam and the milk coffee below. Only when the foam is very dense, thin, and at a suitable drinking temperature can you get both foam and rich coffee liquid in every sip, finishing it quickly before foam separation. After adding ice, the cooled milk coffee will be diluted to some extent, unable to achieve the above effect.

If you're pursuing an iced, rich milk coffee experience, FrontStreet Coffee suggests trying "Dirty," which has also been quite popular in recent years. Extracted espresso is dripped over chilled fresh milk, creating a "dirty" visual effect with a unique alternating hot and cold mouthfeel.

Recommended Espresso Beans for Making Flat White

Some friends hope to replicate a delicious Flat White at home. FrontStreet Coffee believes you should first choose the right coffee beans and extract quality espresso as the base. Since most home espresso machines aren't as stable as commercial ones and output is small, this tests our parameter control even more. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends choosing more stable espresso blends. Espresso blends combine flavors from different growing regions and use medium to dark roasting, giving us a higher margin for error in extraction.

FrontStreet Coffee's bean menu offers four espresso blends for everyone to choose from, ensuring only coffee roasted within 5 days is shipped, guaranteeing you receive it during its optimal flavor window. Besides the mellow Warm Sun Blend mentioned above, FrontStreet Coffee's espresso bean menu also features three cost-effective nut-toned blend coffees with rich mouthfeel and intense aroma equally suitable for making Flat White.

Balanced Rich Type—Frontsteet Specialty Blend Coffee Beans

Colombia Washed Coffee Beans (30%) + Brazil Semi-washed Coffee Beans (70%)
Adding Colombia coffee to the classic Brazil coffee's nutty notes, the espresso presents dark chocolate flavors and caramel sweetness with full roasting aroma. When incorporated with frothed hot milk, it presents chocolate, cocoa, and cream flavors, like drinking a sugar-free Ovaltine hot beverage.

Classic Full-bodied Type—Frontsteet Commercial Blend Coffee Beans

Robusta Washed Coffee Beans (10%) + Colombia Washed Coffee Beans (30%) + Brazil Semi-washed Coffee (60%)
The espresso has rich golden crema and nutty aroma. When made into Flat White with milk, you'll experience burnt coffee bitterness, but more prominently a cream-like full mouthfeel, and after swallowing, the bitterness dissipates, leaving a fragrant aftertaste.

Slightly Acidic Smooth Type—Frontsteet Basic Blend Coffee Beans

Yunnan Washed Small Bean Coffee (30%) + Brazil Semi-washed Coffee Beans (70%)
Yunnan small bean coffee's gentle acidity paired with Brazil Cerrado coffee's rich aroma, the espresso has caramel, nut, and gentle plum acidity flavors, presenting a relatively balanced and smooth mouthfeel when combined with milk.

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

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on private WeChat, ID: qjcoffeex

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473