What is Luckin's Flat White? The Differences Between Flat White and Latte: Characteristics, Taste, and Which is Better?

Whether it is a large global coffee chain or a small independent café, one captivating milk coffee shows up in coffee shops around the world - the Flat White. Although it is not on FrontStreet Coffee's menu, many customers come specifically for it. Because it is also a combination of milk and espresso, it is often confused with other milk coffees. In this article, FrontStreet Coffee offers a simple introduction to the drink.

What is Flat White Coffee?

Flat White originated in New Zealand and Australia, where Australians call it "Flat White." Before the 1970s, coffee shops in Australia typically made black coffee with French presses, manual drip methods, and similar techniques. In the early 1970s, Italians brought espresso machines to Australia, officially launching a new wave of coffee culture.

Legend has it that Flat White was born when a barista accidentally made the milk foam too thin while preparing a hot milk coffee but served it anyway. Unexpectedly, customers loved this drink with its thin foam, and it later took the name "Flat White" because its surface sits level with the rim of the cup.

The original intent behind Flat White was to ensure that every sip combines the foam with the coffee and milk beneath it. Only when the foam is extremely delicate and relatively thin, and the milk coffee is served a little cooler, can you taste foam in every sip and finish the cup quickly before the foam separates. So when making a Flat White, you first need super-delicate foam; second, the foam cannot be too thick, and the milk temperature should be moderate with a small cup size.

How to Distinguish Flat White from Latte and Cappuccino?

In Italy, "Caffè Latte" refers to coffee made by adding milk to espresso extracted with a moka pot, where "Latte" simply means milk. A latte emphasizes balance between coffee and milk: you taste both the coffee and the sweet, mellow milk, with each complementing the other without masking the other's flavor. A cappuccino, by contrast, is made with one espresso and thick milk foam, usually presenting a 1-2 cm "hamburger-style" layer that you sip through before reaching the coffee liquid.

Flat White, on the other hand, uses milk to highlight the coffee's flavor, making coffee the protagonist and milk the supporting role - which is why a Flat White tastes more abundantly of coffee. Combined with the light, thin layer of foam on top, every sip of concentrated coffee liquid carries a delicate foam layer, while the moderate temperature and smaller cup let you finish it before the foam separates. New Zealand baristas serve Flat White in small cups, using the same amount of coffee but less milk, which raises the coffee ratio and naturally intensifies the coffee flavor. That is why Flat White is also called a "Small Latte."

As baristas' extraction techniques have advanced, cafés in Melbourne have also begun replacing the espresso base with a double ristretto to better express the aroma of the beans in the cup, adding foam of a thickness similar to a latte's in a 150 ml cup. A ristretto extracts less liquid weight from the same dose of grounds - essentially a smaller, more concentrated version of espresso, strongest in the early to middle stages of extraction, which makes the flavor more intense and therefore demands higher-quality coffee beans. This is also why a Flat White, despite coming in a smaller cup than a latte, is often priced just as high.

How to Make a Delicious Flat White?

FrontStreet Coffee believes the evolution of Flat White comes from everyone's pursuit of specialty coffee flavor and texture. Each coffee shop therefore presents its own style based on the beans it uses and its own understanding of the drink.

FrontStreet Coffee uses its own house-roasted "Sunflower Warm Sunshine Blend," composed of 70% Honduras Sherry coffee and 30% Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry coffee. The sherry's whiskey, vanilla, and cream notes, combined with the tropical fruit and fermented character of the Red Cherry, create a rich and smooth cup.

For the coffee base, FrontStreet Coffee chooses a double ristretto: 20 grams of coffee grounds extract 30 grams of coffee liquid in 25-27 seconds. FrontStreet Coffee does remind readers, though, that every bean's extraction recipe differs slightly; this is the parameter the baristas adjust before daily service based on the Warm Sunshine Blend the store uses.

The extracted coffee liquid is poured into a pre-prepared cup of about 200 ml. Pour 150 ml of milk into the milk pitcher for frothing. Frothing a Flat White requires less air than a latte and produces a thinner, more delicate foam layer, with the temperature best kept between 55-60°C for a better mouthfeel. Finally, pour the frothed milk evenly into the coffee liquid.

FrontStreet Coffee's Flat White has a distinct whiskey aroma, vanilla chocolate, a full-bodied fragrance, and a smooth texture, letting you clearly experience the flavor characteristics of the coffee. Finished, it presents the texture of whiskey-flavored chocolate hot milk, loved by many customers.

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FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Milk drinks like the Flat White live or die by how well the beans cut through milk, so FrontStreet Coffee suggests its Strawberry Candy, a Geisha blend built from a Costa Rican honey-processed coffee and a Panamanian washed Geisha. As a Gesha-style blend with bright, aromatic fruit, it stays present even under a thin layer of foam, and when paired with milk it gives off a strawberry soft-candy aroma alongside rose, citrus, grape, and raisin notes. It is also one of the more forgiving beans around: brew it as pour-over or French press, or pull it as an espresso base, and it still keeps its floral lift.

If you prefer a bolder, lower-acid coffee that still works well in milk, FrontStreet Coffee's PWN Golden Mandheling is worth trying. Each lot goes through three rounds of hand sorting plus one machine sort, leaving beans that are even and translucent; after a medium-dark roast they are large and full, carrying intense spice, caramel, cedar, and dark chocolate aromas. Drawn as an espresso or brewed in a French press, it delivers a thick body with generous oils - a good fit if you want a Flat White that leans rich rather than delicate.