What's the Difference Between Luckin's Premium Flat White and Regular Flat White - Why Can Flat White Coffee Only Be Served Hot? Top 10 Best-Tasting Drinks at Luckin Coffee

Top 10 Best-Tasting Luckin Coffee Drinks: Coconut Latte, Cheese Latte, Velvet Latte, Iced Americano, Okinawa Brown Sugar Velvet Latte, Sea Salt Cheese Thick Milk Latte, Coconut Cloud Latte, Yirgacheffe Dirty, Flat White and Caffè Latte.

Some readers have messaged FrontStreet Coffee privately to say, "I cannot tell the difference between a Flat White and a Caffè Latte, and I would like FrontStreet Coffee to explain it." So in this piece we will do just that, and explain the differences in plain terms.

We all know that Caffè Latte is a common milk-based coffee in the espresso system, and "latte" means milk in Italian. Almost every coffee shop has a Caffè Latte on its menu, and anyone who has been to a cafe knows what it is.

Flat White was originally called "Flat White," a local specialty coffee from Australia. It is a milk coffee that Australian baristas developed within the espresso system after Italian coffee arrived, adapting it to local tastes. Australia's Flat White was at first similar to France's Café au Lait, a regional specialty milk coffee, while Caffè Latte became a global drink thanks to the worldwide popularity of Italian coffee.

Today Flat White is available in major coffee shops across China, and FrontStreet Coffee credits large chains such as Starbucks for that. In 2015 Starbucks introduced a drink in China called "Fu Rui Bai," which was in fact Flat White, with "Fu Rui" being a phonetic rendering of "flat." That made Flat White quickly famous in China, and it has become a popular coffee drink able to compete on equal terms with Caffè Latte.

Because Starbucks registered the Chinese trademark "Fu Rui Bai," other domestic merchants cannot use that name for promotion, so Flat White is commonly called "Ao Bai Coffee" in Chinese, meaning milk coffee from Australia. Some merchants also render it as "Ping Bai Coffee" or "Xiao Bai Coffee" from its meaning. Luckin also launched its own Flat White, called "Ao Rui Bai Coffee."

What Are the Differences Between Them?

Caffè Latte and Flat White are both milk coffees, made by combining espresso with milk. The most fundamental difference lies in flavour and texture. Caffè Latte emphasises a balance between coffee and milk, so that you taste both the coffee and the sweet, mellow taste of milk, the two complementing each other without masking one another.

Flat White, by contrast, adds milk in order to highlight the coffee, so the coffee is the protagonist and the milk only a supporting role. Flat White therefore has a stronger, more intense coffee flavour. Because the two express different flavour priorities, they also differ in appearance, ratio and preparation method in order to achieve that effect.

Coffee Beans

In Australian coffee shops, baristas use blended beans to make a Caffè Latte in the authentic Italian style, while for Flat White they use another bean with a special flavour or a lighter roast. Because Flat White aims to highlight the coffee, baristas want customers to taste a distinctive, rich and sweet coffee flavour rather than a balanced bitterness.

Domestic coffee shops, which started later, have the advantage of arriving late without the burden of tradition, and can absorb innovative methods from around the world. Many shops stock several styles of espresso bean, letting customers choose freely whether they want a Caffè Latte or a Flat White. In China, the difference between Flat White and Caffè Latte is more a matter of preparation.

Flat White Has a Smaller Cup Size

If you often drink Caffè Latte and one day decide to try a Flat White, and the staff hand you a smaller cup, do not mistake it for the shop being stingy, because the Flat White's cup size is smaller than the Caffè Latte's. Taking FrontStreet Coffee's service as an example, the standard cup for a Caffè Latte is 350 ml, while the standard cup for a Flat White is 200 ml.

Flat White's Coffee Base Is Stronger

A Caffè Latte uses a standard Espresso as its base within the espresso family, while a Flat White uses Ristretto, which is stronger than Espresso. Ristretto can be seen as extracting only the middle and early stages of an Espresso, giving a more concentrated coffee liquid. Drawing only those stages also enhances the coffee's acidity and roasted flavours while reducing the extraction of high-molecular-weight carbohydrates, which in plain terms improves the sensory flavour.

In FrontStreet Coffee's preparation, the Espresso parameters are 20 grams of grounds extracting 40 grams of coffee liquid. Ristretto parameters are 20 grams of grounds extracting 28-30 grams of coffee liquid.

Flat White Uses Less Milk

A Caffè Latte adds milk to reach a balanced state with the coffee base, so more milk goes in; a Flat White adds less milk in order to highlight the coffee's flavour.

Taking FrontStreet Coffee's service as an example, a Caffè Latte is 2 shots of espresso (40 g) plus 260 ml of milk; with so much milk, the overall expression is milk with a coffee flavour. A Flat White is 2 shots of Ristretto (30 g), stronger than espresso, plus 170 ml of milk, and the cup expresses a more intense, full-bodied coffee flavour.

Flat White's Foam Is Thinner and Finer

Foam thickness is the easiest way to tell the two apart. Flat White's foam is thinner and finer than Caffè Latte's.

The "Flat" in Flat White describes the finished state of the drink. "Flat" means level, because Flat White's foam is so thin that its surface tension is not enough to make it rise, so it can only sit level with the cup's rim, which is why it is called "Flat." Caffè Latte's foam is about 1 cm thick, while Flat White's is about 0.5 cm.

Flat White Is Not Served Iced

A Caffè Latte can be made hot or iced, but there is no such thing as an iced Flat White. Perhaps that is because a coffee called Dirty has taken over that role.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

The coffee base decides how a milk drink behaves, and a Yirgacheffe makes a striking Dirty precisely because its acidity and florals cut through the milk. FrontStreet Coffee Washed Yirgacheffe Daily Bean is the most familiar expression of the region: white jasmine florals, bright citrus and lemon acidity and a tea-like body, at a friendly price, and for many people it is the first specialty coffee they ever taste. It is the bean behind the Yirgacheffe Dirty in that top-ten list.

Yirgacheffe itself is a small town in the Sidama zone of southern Ethiopia at roughly 1,700-2,100 meters, with coffee trees planted above 1,800 meters, making it one of the highest coffee regions in the world. Its fame grew so large that the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange finally separated it from the Sidamo region in 2010, which is how Yirgacheffe became a name in its own right.

For a more refined washed lot, FrontStreet Coffee Yirgacheffe Gotiti Cooperative comes from the Gotiti village team in the Woka area of southeastern Yirgacheffe, known for its mature processing and unusually clean, delicate cup. The washed process brings out jasmine and bright citrus to the fullest, and at a medium-light roast it unfolds into green tea and honey, working as pour-over, cold brew or espresso. If you prefer the sweeter side, FrontStreet Coffee Natural Red Cherry is a whole-cherry natural that keeps the classic Yirgacheffe profile while adding tropical fruit, a berry-juice sweetness, honeyed sweetness and a creamy smoothness.