Luckin Coffee Flat White: Milk Ratio, Flavor Profile and Preparation Method

Professional Coffee Knowledge Exchange

For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style)

For more premium coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on WeChat: qjcoffeex

The Origins of Flat White Coffee

Compared to other types of coffee, Flat White is a relative newcomer, having emerged around the 1980s to 1990s. The origin of Flat White has always been a controversial topic, with both Australia and New Zealand claiming to be the inventors, leading to considerable debate between them.

Australia claims that Flat White was first invented by Derek Townsend in 1984 at the DKF café. Because many consumers wanted to drink milk coffee with a strong coffee flavor, some cafés launched a very small portion, creating a milk coffee with a coffee-to-milk ratio of about 1:1, producing a fresh milk espresso of only about 3oz.

New Zealanders counter that the true inventor was Fraser McInnes, who created the term "Flat White" to describe a cappuccino with abnormal foam made in 1989 at the Bodega Café.

This controversy exists because during World War II, Italians immigrated to both New Zealand and Australia, bringing coffee culture with them. Due to the strong flavor of Italian coffee, local people wanted to make these intense coffees acceptable to everyone. Both countries also had abundant milk production, so different combinations of Italian milk coffee products began to emerge. Depending on the coffee concentration, the amount of milk added, and the thickness of the foam, different names might be used.

Characteristics of Flat White Coffee

But regardless of which country first invented the Flat White, it's certain that both countries discovered this new coffee at almost the same time. The common point is that regardless of which version, Flat White is a milk espresso with a strong coffee flavor.

Compared to latte, Flat White has a stronger coffee flavor; compared to cappuccino, Flat White has thinner foam. Flat White is a coffee with a rich flavor, where the light foam adds a velvety texture to the coffee.

Authentic Flat White coffee is not served iced～

Lattes can be made hot or iced, but there's no such thing as iced Flat White. If you want to try something similar, a dirty coffee might satisfy your craving for the taste of iced Flat White!

However, most chain coffee brands have launched cold versions to meet different consumer demands. Compared to the hot version, the cold version of Flat White coffee is relatively lighter. If you want to drink a rich Flat White coffee, FrontStreet Coffee recommends choosing the hot version～

Is Flat White Coffee the Same as Flat White?

When Flat White coffee entered the European and American market in earlier years, Starbucks introduced this product to their menu, naming it "Flat White" in China～By extracting richer Ristretto (also known as concentrated espresso) and mixing it with milk. Although it looks similar to latte, it's stronger than latte! Different milk coffee enthusiasts exclaimed after drinking it that they would only drink Flat White in the future, wanting to shout "Flat White is the best" on public display.

Because "Flat White" was registered as a trademark by Starbucks, other coffee brands and cafés can only use the name Flat White. Therefore, chain coffee shops like Luckin, Manner, or other specialty coffees will call this rich milk coffee Flat White coffee.

Actually, they are the same type of coffee. As long as you recognize the famous name "Flat White," no matter how fancy the Chinese nickname is, it's definitely it! A good Flat White coffee should have fine, minimal foam on top, while still being able to see the espresso crema. This way, the throat-feel is rich with milk aroma, while the coffee aroma brought by the crema is distinct and pleasant.

How Flat White Coffee is Made

- Flat White has a smaller cup size

If you often drink lattes and one day decide to try a Flat White, and the staff hands you a smaller cup, don't mistake it for the shop being stingy, because Flat White coffee cups are smaller than latte cups. Taking FrontStreet Coffee's offerings as an example, the standard cup size for latte is 300ml, while the standard cup size for Flat White is 200ml.

- Flat White has a stronger coffee base

Lattes use the standard espresso as the base, while Flat White uses Ristretto, which is stronger than espresso, as the base.

Ristretto can be seen as extracting only the middle and front portions of espresso. The coffee liquid obtained this way is richer, and extracting only the middle and front portions also enhances the acidic flavors and roasted flavors of the coffee, reducing the extraction of high-molecular carbohydrates. In simple terms, it improves the sensory flavors.

FrontStreet Coffee makes Flat White using double ristretto (35g), pouring hot milk with thin foam from the middle without dispersing the espresso. This approach creates a gradient flavor presentation. The first sip reveals the rich fermented wine aroma of the espresso, the second sip presents a strawberry milkshake flavor from the fusion of espresso and milk, and the third sip offers a roasted nut flavor from the fusion of a small amount of coffee and milk.

- Flat White's foam is thinner and finer

The thickness of the foam is the most easily distinguishable characteristic between these two. Flat White's foam is thinner and finer than latte's foam.

The "Flat" in Flat White expresses the finished state of Flat White coffee. "Flat" means flat, because Flat White's foam is very thin, so its tension is not enough to support the foam to rise, it can only be level with the cup mouth, so it's called "Flat" (flat). The foam thickness of latte is about 1cm, while the foam thickness of Flat White is about 0.5cm.

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473