How to Make Flat White Coffee: Milk-to-Coffee Ratio and Milk Foam Characteristics and Consistency

Everyone knows that making espresso-based milk coffee requires espresso and milk, and there are many types of milk coffee such as latte, mocha, cappuccino, etc., each using different ratios of espresso to milk. In this article, FrontStreet Coffee will share the recipe ratio and milk frothing level for the Flat White coffee from FrontStreet Coffee's hidden menu.

What is Flat White Coffee?

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

According to FrontStreet Coffee's understanding, in Australia, people only make Australian White coffee hot because once ice is added, it becomes an Australian White coffee that has lost its soul, as ice cubes dilute the overall concentration. Therefore, it can also be understood that an iced Australian White is essentially a latte.

How to Make Flat White Coffee?

Latte coffee, on the other hand, is a coffee beverage with a large amount of milk added. The biggest characteristic of Australian White coffee is that when milk is poured into the coffee, it doesn't blend through rotation but instead is poured in a thin stream from the center, ensuring that the crema on the espresso surface isn't dispersed during the milk pour, thus forming a small white circle in the middle.

First, FrontStreet Coffee believes that Flat White coffee is a coffee that highlights the coffee flavor. Australian White uses more espresso content than latte coffee. FrontStreet Coffee also uses double espresso when making Australian White coffee, but the amount of milk powder injected is 100ml less than latte coffee. In terms of milk frothing, the foam is also thinner than latte coffee foam, so that when you take the first sip, you can take in all the foam and undispersed espresso crema.

Here is the recipe ratio that FrontStreet Coffee uses when making Flat White coffee:

FrontStreet Coffee uses the Feima E98 espresso machine to make espresso, using Sunflower Warm Sun Italian blend beans, with extraction parameters as follows:

Pressure: 9 bar

Temperature: 90.5~96°C

Time: 20~30 sec

Coffee to water ratio: 1:1.7~1:2

Coffee amount: 12g (single shot espresso) 20g (double shot espresso)

Espresso yield: 20ml (single) 40ml (double)

Australian White Coffee Milk to Coffee Ratio Recommendation

Milk: Whole fresh milk (FrontStreet Coffee uses Kowloon Dairy fresh milk)

Frothed milk temperature: 50-60°C (too low temperature cannot stimulate the lactose in milk, too high temperature will destroy the protein in milk, resulting in a grainy texture)

Foam thickness: 5mm (1cm foam is for making latte coffee, 1.5cm thick foam is for making cappuccino coffee)

Espresso content: 40ml

Milk content: 140ml

The above information from FrontStreet Coffee provides the production parameters for espresso and the milk ratio content. The second most important step is to froth the milk into foam, which is also one of the essences of espresso milk coffee. Next, FrontStreet Coffee will teach everyone how to froth milk.

What State of Milk Foam is Best for Flat White?

As FrontStreet Coffee mentioned above, Flat White coffee is composed of two parts: espresso and milk. And it requires the addition of frothed milk. The operation of frothing milk is very demanding on the barista's milk frothing skills. Therefore, when making Australian White coffee, it's divided into three parts: the first part is extracting espresso, the second part is frothing milk, and the third part is blending the frothed milk with the extracted espresso and creating latte art.

How to Froth Milk?

FrontStreet Coffee mainly relies on the coffee machine's steam wand to froth milk. Pour an appropriate amount of milk into the milk pitcher. For example, FrontStreet Coffee's latte serving cup is 300ml, so you can pour 280ml of milk because the milk expands after frothing due to the injection of air. Before starting to froth milk, slightly open the steam switch to spray steam briefly, draining excess water from the steam wand. Then immerse the steam wand's steam head below the milk surface and turn on the switch. Finally, blend the frothed milk with the extracted espresso for latte art.

So what is the appropriate milk frothing level for coffee latte art?

According to FrontStreet Coffee's practical experience, milk foam can be said to be the most important factor. The fineness of the foam directly affects its stability time. The finer the foam, the slower it decomposes. Milk frothing can be divided into two stages: frothing and refining. Refining means making the already created coarse foam finer. The specific operation can be to insert the steam wand deep into the foam layer, about 1cm from the surface, with all steam holes buried inside the milk, using a one-directional vortex to refine the foam until it's fine. Generally, qualified foam should have no coarse bubbles on the surface, have a reflective surface, and good fluidity.

Of course, milk temperature also affects the foam decomposition (layering) speed. The ideal temperature for milk frothing is between 55-65°C. If below this temperature, the sweetness of the milk is not fully stimulated; if above this temperature, it will cause excessive protein denaturation, which will accelerate the foam decomposition speed.

What Milk to Use for Frothing?

Another common question that FrontStreet Coffee often hears from customers is what milk to use for frothing. Generally, FrontStreet Coffee recommends whole milk. But does this mean other types of milk cannot be used to make milk coffee, or that the conditions for making milk coffee will be more demanding?

First, everyone should know that milk is composed of three main components: protein, carbohydrates, and fat. Protein accounts for 3.3% of milk. Protein can be broken down into two elements: casein and whey protein.

Whey protein contains nine essential amino acids, and they coagulate or deteriorate when heated to high temperatures. Casein forms "micelles" (micelles refer to surfactants dissolved in water, which appear as single molecule dispersion or are adsorbed on the solution surface to reduce surface tension when their concentration is low). When frothing milk with steam, the formation of micelles is interrupted, and casein molecules wrap around bubbles, protecting them from breaking, thus forming foam.

The protein content in different milks affects the persistence of latte art decoration on the surface of lattes. Whole milk will have a richer texture and thicker foam, while low-fat milk more easily produces large bubbles when frothed.

Therefore, when making milk coffee, FrontStreet Coffee chooses whole milk with better foaming rate. So whether it's whole, low-fat, or skim milk, all can be used to make milk coffee. It's just that the fat and protein content in these milks are different, making the difficulty of making milk coffee vary, and of course, there are also significant differences in taste. Because whole milk has high fat and protein content, the resulting foam is dense, persistent, and has good texture, making it the first choice. However, other milks also have their own advantages, depending on what choices are made when facing different situations.

The above is the content compiled by FrontStreet Coffee about how to make Flat White and how to froth milk. At the same time, FrontStreet Coffee also hopes to help coffee enthusiasts who want to understand related knowledge, so that they can easily make a cup of aromatic espresso milk coffee at home in the future.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on private WeChat, WeChat ID: kaixinguoguo0925

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473