What's the Difference Between Flat White and Latte Coffee: Which Tastes Better? Introduction to Flat White's Taste, Ratio and Characteristics

For most coffee enthusiasts, the first encounter with Flat White came in 2015 when Starbucks introduced it as "Fu Rui Bai" and added it to their permanent menu. Subsequently, various coffee brands launched their own Flat White, giving this Southern Hemisphere beverage various names: Starbucks' "Fu Rui Bai," Costa's "Chun Yi Bai," and the emerging chain Luckin Coffee's "Ao Rui Bai." Meanwhile, the baristas at FrontStreet Coffee prefer to call it Australian White Coffee.

Australian White Originates from Southern Hemisphere Countries

If you want to drink milk coffee in Italy, you would order a latte, but in Australia, baristas will make you a Flat White, because that's what milk coffee is called there. In the 1980s, Italians who immigrated to Australia brought espresso machines to New Zealand, Australia, Melbourne, and other countries. At that time, traditional specialty coffees were mainly lattes and cappuccinos, but Australians preferred a stronger coffee flavor with thinner foam, so the Flat White was born. "Flat" means "level," and "White" refers to white coffee with milk added. Soon after, Flat White appeared on permanent menus in European and American countries, becoming a standard beverage in major coffee shops.

Friends who frequently drink milk coffee should know that the focus of a latte is on the milk, so the cup size is usually large, typically above 250ml. For example, FrontStreet Coffee serves a hot latte in a 300ml capacity coffee cup, with a double espresso of about 40g as the base, then adds 260ml of fresh milk, so you always feel full after drinking it.

Compared to lattes, Flat Whites use milk to highlight the coffee flavor—coffee is the protagonist, and milk is just auxiliary. Therefore, in terms of taste, Flat Whites have more sufficient and intense coffee flavor. Additionally, the thin upper foam layer ensures that every sip of concentrated coffee liquid comes with a velvety smooth foam layer. The moderate temperature and smaller cup size allow for quick consumption before the foam layers separate. New Zealand baristas present Flat Whites in smaller cups—coffee amount remains unchanged, milk amount decreases accordingly, increasing the coffee ratio and naturally making the coffee flavor more intense.

What are the Differences Between Australian White and Latte?

According to the characteristics of Australian White Coffee, like cappuccinos and lattes, it is composed of espresso, hot milk, and foam, with the difference lying in the varying proportions of milk and foam thickness.

Typically, cappuccinos are made with one shot of espresso and thick foam, usually presenting a 1-2cm thick "hamburger-style" layer, requiring you to inhale a large mouthful of foam before drinking the coffee liquid. Latte foam is thinner, about 0.5cm thick, while Flat White foam is the thinnest, controlled within 0.3cm, otherwise it's difficult to achieve the "flat" liquid surface. Regarding specific foam thickness, each coffee shop has its own approach. Some baristas, to allow customers to fully taste the upper coffee crema, directly heat milk without frothing and inject it into the espresso. FrontStreet Coffee, however, wants customers to experience the creamy smoothness of Flat White without it being too "watery," so they retain a 0.3cm foam layer.

When making lattes, coffee shops have their own coffee-to-milk ratio, while Flat Whites typically determine milk amount based on the cup size. To present a more intense coffee flavor, New Zealand baristas serve Flat Whites in 150-180ml small cups—coffee amount remains unchanged, milk amount decreases accordingly, increasing the coffee ratio and naturally making the coffee flavor more intense. Therefore, Flat Whites are also known as "small lattes."

Additionally, with the arrival of the specialty coffee era, people began applying more single-origin coffees to espresso extraction, which is what we often hear as SOE (Single Origin Espresso). Compared to large-cup lattes and thick-foam cappuccinos, Flat Whites are better suited to express the regional flavor characteristics of coffee beans themselves. In Melbourne coffee shops, baristas replace the espresso base with double Ristretto, incorporating foam thickness similar to lattes in 150ml capacity cups.

In Italian, "Ristretto" means "restricted." Ristretto can be seen as a "restricted" version of espresso, using only the front and middle portions of the espresso extraction. Since Ristretto only contains the front and middle portions of espresso, its concentration is higher than espresso, with a stronger coffee taste and more concentrated flavors, presenting a richer texture when mixed with milk. FrontStreet Coffee needs to remind you that each coffee bean has slightly different extraction parameters, which are adjusted daily by baristas before opening, based on the "Sunflower Warm Sun Blend" used in the store.

FrontStreet Coffee's Australian White Recipe

FrontStreet Coffee believes that the derivation of Flat White stems from everyone's pursuit of the flavor and texture of specialty coffee beans, therefore there are many preparation methods, depending on the coffee beans used by the coffee shop and the barista's understanding of Flat White. Generally, baristas approach the unique texture of Flat White from aspects such as small cup size, thin foam, and refined espresso base.

FrontStreet Coffee uses its own house-roasted "Sunflower Warm Sun Blend" espresso, composed of 70% Honduras Sherry coffee and 30% Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry coffee. The whiskey, vanilla, and cream flavors of the sherry, combined with the tropical fruit and fermentation notes of the red cherry, create rich coffee aroma and smooth texture in the cup.

For the coffee base, FrontStreet Coffee chooses double refined espresso (Double Ristretto), extracting 30g of coffee liquid from 20g of coffee grounds, with an extraction time of 22-24 seconds. However, FrontStreet Coffee reminds you that each coffee bean has slightly different extraction parameters, which are adjusted daily by baristas before opening, based on the "Sunflower Warm Sun Blend" used in the store.

Pour the extracted coffee liquid into a pre-prepared cup, then pour 150ml of milk into a milk pitcher for frothing. The milk needs less air incorporation than lattes, creating a thinner and denser foam layer, with temperature best controlled at 55-60 degrees Celsius for better mouthfeel. Finally, pour the frothed milk into the coffee—art is optional. Due to the thin foam not making the liquid level flush with the coffee cup, its appearance looks relatively flat.

FrontStreet Coffee's Flat White presents aromas of vanilla, chocolate milk, whiskey-filled chocolates, and berry tartness, with a smooth, mellow entrance and a very lingering aftertaste.

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Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

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