What is Piccolo Coffee and How to Make It? What's the Difference Between Piccolo Latte and Flat White, and Which Tastes Better?

Introduction to Milk Coffee Varieties

When it comes to milk coffee, the latte is probably the drink everyone has been enjoying, while the flat white has become hugely popular in recent years. Unlike the latte, the flat white hails from Oceania. But the flat white isn't the only milk coffee Australia gave the world, today, FrontStreet Coffee introduces another one.

What is Piccolo Latte?

The piccolo latte originated in Australia and is said to have taken off in Melbourne. The name "Piccolo" is Italian for "small." It uses a single shot of espresso topped with a thin layer of milk foam, served in a small transparent glass of about 100ml (a standard latte cup holds 200-300ml). It may be called a "small latte," but pulling off a great piccolo is no simpler than making a regular one.

What's the Difference Between Piccolo Coffee and Latte?

The latte was born in Italy but found its fame in Seattle, Washington in the 1980s, riding the global expansion of a certain international brand. The word "Latte" is Italian for milk.

The difference between piccolo and latte comes down to the espresso-to-milk ratio: roughly 1:2 in a piccolo versus about 1:6 in a latte. That makes the piccolo latte taste noticeably richer than a regular latte, while being lighter on both volume and calories. For anyone who doesn't want too much caffeine or milk in one sitting, it's a genuine find.

What's the Difference Between Piccolo Coffee and Flat White?

Like the piccolo, the flat white comes from Oceania. Whether it originated in Australia or New Zealand, however, is contested, written records exist, but both sides claim it.

So how do piccolo and flat white differ? For milk coffee lovers, the Australian way of making a flat white lets you taste the coffee within the milk and the silkiness of the milk within the coffee. In a flat white, the foam layer should settle to a thickness of 0.5cm.

As FrontStreet Coffee sees it, for Australians the latte is coffee for people who love milk. If you want to truly taste the character of the beans and how perfectly they pair with milk, the flat white's ratio comes closer to ideal. Alongside the flat white, Australians also invented the so-called "small latte", the Piccolo Latte, for serious coffee drinkers. The piccolo is essentially a miniature of a complete latte, matching it in flavor and coffee concentration. That similarity can cause some confusion at the counter.

The flavor differences among all milk coffees mostly come down to how much espresso they contain, the espresso proportion is the crucial factor. In a latte, espresso makes up only about one-tenth of the drink: roughly 30-40ml of espresso in a 300ml cup.

That means if we use the same 30ml standard single shot to build a 100ml piccolo latte, the espresso flavor becomes far more pronounced and intense.

So a piccolo latte makes it much easier to taste the beans themselves, it even amplifies their characteristics. If a latte feels like too much milk but straight espresso is too concentrated and bitter for you, the piccolo might be exactly your drink. It goes down smooth, served at a moderate 55-60°C that coaxes out the milk's lactose sweetness. And because the milk content is modest, you can still taste the coffee's sweetness, richness, and finish, and you won't feel stuffed after finishing the whole cup.

FrontStreet Coffee Teaches You How to Make a Standard Piccolo Latte

To give the piccolo latte a rich, solid body, here we use FrontStreet Coffee's Classic Italian blend. It follows the classic "Mamba formula", Brazilian and Mandheling as the backbone, with a small amount of Robusta, designed to deliver rich, caramel-like coffee flavor and full crema at home. Next, FrontStreet Coffee makes both a latte and a piccolo latte so you can spot the differences yourself.

Latte

After multiple rounds of dialing in, FrontStreet Coffee settled on 20g of grounds extracting 40g of espresso in 28 seconds. FrontStreet stores serve lattes in 300ml cups, so they add 220g of milk and steam it to 55-60°C. The foam is moderate, about 0.5cm, and after steaming, the milk surface is glossy, bubble-free, and flowing. Finally, the steamed milk is poured with the espresso for latte art.

Piccolo Latte

For the piccolo, FrontStreet Coffee uses a small cup of about 90-100ml, preheated for the best drinking experience. It's built from a single shot of espresso (15-20ml) plus 60ml of steamed milk with thin foam (less than 0.5cm). Beyond the mini cup size, the piccolo's structure doesn't differ much from a regular latte, but because the vessel is half the size, the difficulty is considerably higher.

And since it's still called a "small latte," latte art is a must. But the smaller cup means less canvas for the barista: the whole drink scales down, and the barista must steam just 60ml of milk into silky, dense foam, blend it evenly with the coffee, and still keep the polished look of a hot milk coffee. That's why the piccolos you see in cafes almost always feature simple patterns, tulips, small leaves, or hearts.

Why is Latte More Famous Than Flat White and Piccolo Latte Among Milk Coffees?

FrontStreet Coffee suspects it comes down to flavor and marketing. The latte became a household name as Starbucks expanded globally. It also carries a higher milk proportion, which greatly dilutes espresso's concentrated intensity and makes it more approachable. As flat whites and piccolo lattes appear on more and more cafe menus, these Australian-born milk coffees are steadily winning new fans.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If you want to practice latte art at home, bean choice makes all the difference. Here are the FrontStreet blends we recommend:

FrontStreet Classic Blend, For anyone learning latte art at home, the FrontStreet Classic Blend is the pick. It's a medium-dark espresso recipe combining three origins, its design inspired by the old-school "Mamba" pairing of Mandheling and Brazil. A small amount of Robusta is added for extra aroma and crema. When extracted, it gives off distinct notes of butter, toasted bread, and caramel biscuit, bold in flavor, solid in body, with fine crema and very stable extraction. It's the essential home coffee for beginners.

FrontStreet Specialty Blend, Also a medium-dark espresso roast, for those who love rich, nutty flavors. It pairs washed Colombian beans with pulped-natural Brazilian beans, showing nuts, dark chocolate, and caramel as espresso. Whether you pull an Americano or milk drinks like lattes and flat whites, it highlights the smooth aromas of cream, almond, and cocoa, crema that loses nothing to cafe output, with plenty to spare for latte art practice. Especially well suited to anyone dreaming of opening a shop or learning at home.

FrontStreet Commercial Blend, If the Specialty and Classic Blends are made for beginners, FrontStreet Coffee's Commercial Blend is tailored for friends about to open a shop. It's a traditional espresso recipe built on the Specialty Blend with a small addition of Robusta, adding more deep-brown fine crema and a heavier body. Americano, latte, or mocha, it carries nuts, cocoa, and caramel, and makes latte art effortless.