What is Flat White Australian White Coffee: Differences in Production, Taste, and Characteristics between Flat White, Latte, and Dirty Coffee

Now when you walk into a specialty coffee shop, you can always find milk coffees like Flat White, Latte, and Cappuccino on the Italian coffee menu. Some even offer Dirty or the relatively niche Piccolo Latte. Among these dazzling coffee options, the differences between Flat White and Latte, and between Flat White and Dirty have become a point of confusion for many people~ FrontStreet Coffee will now explain what Flat White coffee is, what Latte coffee is, and what Dirty coffee is! And what are the differences between them?

What is Latte Coffee?

The "Latte" in Latte coffee is transliterated from the Italian "latte," meaning "milk." Literally translated, we can understand Latte coffee as "milk coffee." Because of the high milk content, the milk flavor is more prominent than the coffee flavor, and the small amount of milk foam gives Latte coffee a delicate and smooth texture.

The moderately thick milk foam in hot Latte coffee brings a silky texture to the overall experience, and! You can also see handsome guys or beautiful girls creating latte art—it's truly a dual enjoyment of oral tactile sensation and visual pleasure.

What is Flat White Coffee?

Flat White coffee is a coffee drink that originated in Australia, but some people argue that Flat White coffee actually originated in New Zealand. Besides the dispute over its origin, the preparation methods for Flat White coffee also vary. Flat White coffee is a milk coffee beverage with a stronger coffee flavor/less milk and thinner milk foam. In terms of espresso base selection, New Zealanders prefer to use Double Ristretto to make Flat White coffee, while Australian baristas prefer to use Single Espresso.

In Australia, people only make Flat White coffee hot because once you add ice cubes, it becomes a Flat White coffee that has lost its soul, as the ice cubes dilute the overall concentration. We can understand that making Flat White cold is essentially making a Latte~.

What is Dirty Coffee?

Dirty Coffee is typically served in a glass cup that can showcase the beautiful liquid, without ice. The emphasis is on the espresso liquid slowly flowing into the pure white milk, gradually permeating and blending, forming a beautiful layered effect. As time passes, the pure white milk is gradually "contaminated" by the rich Espresso. Seen through the glass cup, the beverage appears dirty.

Dirty coffee can only be made iced~ Because the greatest characteristic of Dirty lies in its tasting experience of "ice and fire coexisting"!

So from the brief introduction to Latte coffee, Flat White coffee, and Dirty coffee above, FrontStreet Coffee roughly summarizes the ranking of their milk content, coffee content, and overall richness:

Milk content: Latte > Flat White > Dirty

Coffee content: Dirty > Flat White > Latte

Overall richness: Dirty > Flat White > Latte

After reading the rankings, I believe everyone now has a preliminary understanding of these three coffees. So how are they different in the production process? FrontStreet Coffee will now teach everyone how to make Latte, Flat White, and Dirty coffee~

How is Latte Coffee Made?

Making a qualified Latte coffee first requires extracting qualified espresso, with normal flow rate and flawless flavor. In the espresso extraction part, each coffee shop uses different amounts of espresso. Most coffee shops choose to use double espresso for their Latte coffee, while some use single espresso. For example, FrontStreet Coffee uses single espresso for their Latte coffee.

Next is the milk steaming part. Whether you can steam perfect milk is one of the factors in judging whether a barista is qualified. The milk foam in Latte coffee is relatively thin, making it smooth and delicate to drink. Therefore, when steaming milk for Latte coffee, it cannot be too thick. The steamed milk should have a glossy surface, no obvious large or small bubbles, and be overall delicate and beautiful. After extracting the espresso and steaming the milk, you can carefully blend them to complete the Latte coffee.

Blending is also a very important part of making Latte coffee. Good blending can make the Latte coffee smooth and comfortable to drink, without any mixed sensations. Only with moderate milk foam thickness and good coffee-milk blending can you create a comfortable and clean milk foam pattern~

How is Flat White Coffee Made?

First, for Flat White coffee, as FrontStreet Coffee just introduced, Flat White coffee is a coffee that highlights the coffee flavor, while Latte coffee is a coffee beverage with a large amount of milk added. The biggest characteristic of Flat White coffee is that when milk is poured into the coffee, it doesn't blend through rotational motion, but instead uses a thin water stream poured from the middle, ensuring that the crema on the espresso surface isn't dispersed during the milk pouring, thus forming a small white circle in the middle.

Flat White uses more espresso than Latte coffee. FrontStreet Coffee also uses double espresso when making Flat White coffee, but the amount of milk poured is 100ml less than in Latte coffee. In terms of milk foam, it's also thinner than Latte coffee's milk foam, so that when you take the first sip, you can take in both the milk foam and the undispersed espresso crema.

How is Dirty Coffee Made?

Dirty coffee should preferably use whole fresh milk, which ensures full flavor while also guaranteeing enough protein in the milk to "hold" the subsequently poured espresso. Secondly, the milk temperature should be low. Because no ice cubes are added to avoid diluting the milk's concentration, the milk must be kept at a low temperature, otherwise you lose the soulful texture of "ice and fire coexisting."

FrontStreet Coffee's ratio for making Dirty is 150 grams of milk to 40 grams of espresso. First, take out the pre-chilled glass cup, ensure the glass is free of water, and pour in the iced milk. Then attach the filled coffee portafilter, place the glass cup with iced milk under the splitter spout (for bottomless portafilters, place it directly under the liquid outlet). The distance from the liquid outlet to the liquid surface shouldn't be too far—if too far, the coffee's own gravity will have stronger penetrating power and easily "blend." A distance of about 1cm is recommended. Qualified espresso will have a uniform flow rate, slowly flowing into the milk surface and "floating" on top, gradually sinking, creating a dirty feeling.

FrontStreet Coffee's suggestion for drinking Dirty coffee: Drink it in one go! The prepared Dirty doesn't need stirring—just drink it in one go, and you'll find that the hot espresso on top hasn't been melted by ice yet, and the milk below hasn't been "contaminated." That transformation from rich chocolate-flavored hot coffee to milky, light iced coffee is simply wonderful.

After reading FrontStreet Coffee's introduction to the differences between Latte coffee, Flat White coffee, and Dirty coffee, has everyone learned how to choose the milk coffee they want to drink?

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

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