Methods for Making Starbucks Flat White - Introduction to the Differences Between Flat White and Flat White Coffee

What is Flat White Coffee?

Flat White coffee has been translated from "Flat white," and domestically in China, some people also translate it as Little White Coffee, Fu Rui Bai, Chun Yi Bai, Ao Rui Bai, and other names.

Flat White coffee is a coffee beverage that originated in Australia, but some argue that Flat White actually originated in New Zealand.

In addition to disputes about its origin, the preparation methods for Flat White coffee also vary.

Flat White is a milk coffee beverage with a richer 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.

How does Flat White coffee differ from other milk coffees?

When it comes to Flat White coffee, we always compare it with Latte and Cappuccino. Since they are all milk coffees, what are their differences?

First, let's look at Flat White coffee. As mentioned earlier, Flat White is a coffee that emphasizes coffee flavor.

Latte, on the other hand, is a coffee beverage with a large amount of milk added, while Cappuccino is a milk coffee with thicker milk foam.

In terms of milk foam thickness, Cappuccino has the thickest, followed by Latte, and Flat White has the thinnest foam.

Therefore, Flat White feels more like a coffee with milk; Latte is like milk-flavored coffee; and Cappuccino is like a milk foam coffee with dense foam.

Why is Flat White coffee so popular?

We can't help but wonder why Flat White coffee is so popular in China and even worldwide. Flat White coffee is a permanent fixture on almost every coffee shop's menu.

As we learned earlier, compared to Latte and Cappuccino, Flat White has thinner foam and less milk, which makes the coffee flavor more prominent. Therefore, Flat White coffee is more selective in its choice of coffee beans.

If a high-quality coffee bean is chosen as the base for Flat White coffee, it will produce a Flat White that better highlights the inherent flavors of the coffee itself.

Conversely, if a bean of poor quality is selected as the base to make Flat White coffee, its flaws will be easily noticeable.

Flat White is therefore better than Latte at showcasing the quality of coffee beans and is more suitable for expressing the flavors of the coffee's origin region, much like the currently very popular SOE (Single Origin Espresso), which caters to the characteristics of the third wave of coffee culture that emphasizes coffee origins and traceability.

However, ultimately, as long as you choose high-quality coffee beans and milk, the resulting Flat White, Latte, or Cappuccino will all be very delicious coffees.

Since most people have some experience with these three milk coffees, FrontStreet Coffee will briefly introduce the origins of these three milk coffees~

Modern Latte and Cappuccino both originated from Italy and are the most common and popular milk coffees in Italian coffee culture.

Latte is a transliteration of the Italian word "latte," which means "milk." Latte coffee is therefore milk coffee, and Italian Latte is a beverage that combines espresso with milk.

As for Cappuccino, it's a transliteration of "Cappuccino," and "Capuchin" refers to the small white cap on the Franciscan habit. Cappuccino got its name because the white milk foam on the coffee's surface resembles a monk's hat.

Flat White coffee is more widely known by its original name "Flat White."

Fu Rui Bai, Ao Rui Bai, Ping Bai Coffee, and Little White Coffee are all translated names for Flat White.

Flat White originated from Oceania (though there is controversy as to whether it's from Australia or New Zealand). Flat White can be seen as the Australian version of Latte.

To distinguish between Latte, Cappuccino, and Flat White, FrontStreet Coffee plans to compare them based on ingredient composition and cup size, milk foam thickness, and flavor profile.

First is cup size. According to FrontStreet Coffee's standards, Latte is served in a 300ml wide-mouth ceramic cup, Cappuccino in an 180ml narrow-mouth ceramic cup, while Flat White is served in a 210ml glass cup.

Next, let's distinguish the components of these three coffees. Latte consists of 2 shots of espresso (40g) plus 260ml of steamed milk with foam. Cappuccino consists of 1 shot of espresso (20g) plus 160ml of steamed milk with foam. Flat White consists of 2 shots of ristretto (30g) plus 180ml of steamed milk with foam. Ristretto is the front middle portion of espresso extraction, with a richer and more intense flavor.

Milk foam thickness has always been an important feature for distinguishing between Latte, Cappuccino, and Flat White.

Among these three, Cappuccino has the thickest foam (about 1-1.5cm), with its most obvious characteristic being "11 parts full," meaning the foam is higher than the cup, creating a prominent hamburger-like shape;

Flat White has the thinnest foam (about 0.3cm). Due to the thinness of Flat White's foam, the liquid surface is basically level with the cup, hence the name "flat white coffee";

While Latte's foam thickness is between these two (0.5cm). Latte's foam thickness is very suitable for latte art, and one of the reasons for choosing a wide-mouth cup is to better create latte art patterns.

In terms of flavor and mouthfeel, Latte has the most prominent milk flavor because it contains the most milk; while Flat White, with its ristretto base and less milk, highlights the rich aroma of coffee. Cappuccino falls somewhere in between.

In terms of mouthfeel, Cappuccino has the fullest texture, due to its fine and rich foam, combined with the integration of coffee oils, making it exceptionally smooth and full. This is followed by Flat White, and finally Latte.

To add one more point: Only Latte offers both iced and hot options. Traditional Cappuccino and Flat White don't have iced versions~

Piccolo Latte and Flat White have become favorites on many people's "checklist." Both are rich, hot milk coffees, but what are the differences between them?

What is Piccolo Latte?

The original name of Piccolo Latte is "piccolo latte." In Italian, "piccolo" means small, and "latte" means milk. In English, "piccolo" means piccolo (a small flute), and "latte" refers to milk coffee latte. So the original meaning of Piccolo Latte can be understood as a small latte. How small? Traditional piccolo coffee is made with 15-20ml of espresso added to steamed milk, and now people generally习惯 to pour the coffee into a 100ml specialty cup for drinking.

How to make Flat White coffee?

For the base of making Flat White coffee, FrontStreet Coffee uses Sunflower Warm Sunshine Blend beans to extract double ristretto coffee liquid, with extraction parameters of 20g of coffee grounds to extract 35g of coffee liquid, with an extraction time of 26 seconds.

(FrontStreet Coffee needs to remind here that the extraction plan for each coffee bean will have slight differences, so the final extraction plan needs to be adjusted according to the actual situation)

Milk frothing part:

The milk foam thickness for Flat White coffee is about 1cm. Besides richness, the soul of Flat White lies in the silky feeling of the foam entering the mouth.

The milk should be frothed to a temperature between 55℃-65℃. Too high a temperature will not only destroy the nutritional value of the milk but also cause the milk to have a grainy texture.

FrontStreet Coffee makes Flat White with a milk-to-coffee ratio of 1:5, so chooses a 200ml cup as the serving container.

Finally, mix the frothed milk evenly with the extracted espresso liquid.

How to make Piccolo Latte?

According to traditional Piccolo Latte, the portion is 3-4 ounces. In the 2015 World Coffee Championship, winner Sasa made piccolo coffee using a 3-ounce cup with a milk-to-coffee ratio of 1:2 for integration,

and topped with a layer of light foam. The reasonable ratio of coffee to milk allows the coffee flavor to be expressed without being too intense.

The base for making Piccolo Latte also uses Sunflower Warm Sunshine Blend beans to extract single shot espresso.

FrontStreet Coffee's extraction parameters are 12g of coffee grounds to extract 30g of coffee liquid, with an extraction time of 23 seconds. (This also needs to be adjusted according to the actual situation)

Milk frothing part:

FrontStreet Coffee uses a 350ml milk pitcher, pours in 100ml of milk (too little milk is difficult to froth) for frothing. Piccolo Latte has thinner foam than Flat White, about 0.5cm thick, and the milk frothing temperature is also between 55℃-65℃.

FrontStreet Coffee uses a 100ml cup to make Piccolo Latte this time. After frothing the milk, first inject 60ml to fully integrate with the coffee liquid, then top with a layer of light foam, or inject milk for integration and then create latte art.

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

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on private WeChat (FrontStreet Coffee), 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