What Are the Essential Differences Between Latte, Cappuccino, and Flat White? Can Flat White Be Served Iced?

People have always been accustomed to comparing flat whites and lattes. Hey! Have you forgotten about the classic cappuccino? In this article, we'll take out these three coffees and conduct a comprehensive comparison!

"Latte" comes from the Italian word for milk (Latte), and when combined with espresso, it becomes the widely popular milk coffee. Because milk accounts for a larger proportion, reducing the coffee's concentration, latte has become the first espresso coffee that most people try and experience. It can be said that the latte, suitable for all ages, is everyone's first step into the world of coffee!

"Cappuccino," on the other hand, originates from the color formed by the fusion of milk foam and espresso, which greatly resembles the dark robes worn by monks. At that time, people named the coffee "Cappuccino" after this garment. Although cappuccino and latte both belong to the most popular Italian milk coffees, latte is not a coffee beverage unique to Italy, while cappuccino is an authentic Italian coffee.

The original name of "Flat White" is actually "Flat White," which is a local specialty formed after Italian coffee was introduced to Australia. Australian baristas researched and improved upon the original Italian system, modifying it into the current cup of coffee that suits local Australian tastes. There has always been great controversy over the cup size of flat whites, with different places having different understandings of it. Until recently, everyone has almost tacitly agreed that a flat white is a small cup of coffee.

The Fundamental Differences Between the Three Coffees

1. Cup Size

Let's start with cup size. According to FrontStreet Coffee's serving standards, the latte has the largest cup size among the three, using a 300ml wide-mouthed ceramic cup (the wider, the better for latte art! If you don't believe it, try using a large bowl~). The cappuccino uses a 240ml narrow-mouthed ceramic cup, while the flat white uses a 240ml narrow-mouthed glass cup.

2. Coffee Composition

Latte is composed of 40ml of double espresso plus 260ml of steamed milk and milk foam; Cappuccino also uses 40ml of double espresso, plus 170ml of steamed milk and thick milk foam; Flat white is slightly different - it uses only the front and middle extraction of double espresso (30ml), plus 190ml of steamed milk and thin milk foam.

3. Milk Foam Thickness

The thickness of milk foam has always been an important characteristic of these three coffees, and it's particularly emphasized in teaching videos and coffee-related books. Among these three, the flat white has the thinnest foam, only about 0.3 centimeters. When poured, the liquid surface is basically level with the cup, which is why it's named "flat white coffee." After the flat white took away the thinnest title, the latte could only come to the middle position. A thickness of about 0.5 centimeters is very suitable for latte art, smooth and with good integration. Cappuccino has the thickest foam - the characteristic brought by about 1.5 centimeters of thickness is "11 parts full," meaning that the cappuccino foam will be higher than the cup, presenting a "hamburger shape" like dark roast during blooming.

(FrontStreet Coffee used a glass cup to make a more intuitive comparison)

4. Taste Differences

All three essentially belong to milk coffees - coffee beverages born from mixing espresso with milk. But the essence they each embody is different.

For example, latte coffee is dominated by using a large amount of milk to neutralize the strong bitter taste of coffee, thus presenting a gentle coffee. The milk taste will be more prominent but not abrupt, because the coffee flavor and milk can perfectly blend, neither masking the other's taste, which also makes latte widely popular.

Cappuccino mainly emphasizes a dense and full texture, thanks to the rich and delicate milk foam. After being mixed with coffee, it appears particularly soft and smooth. Its coffee taste will be stronger than latte because cappuccino uses less milk and won't dilute the espresso too much, so it's relatively stronger and more suitable for people who need coffee to refresh themselves.

If you want to drink a sweeter and richer coffee, then the first choice must be a flat white! The extraction of only the front and middle sections of espresso almost eliminates bitterness, and a small amount of milk at moderate temperature only serves to better highlight the coffee's sweetness - very sweet, rich! But not bitter! This is also one of the reasons why it has become a star product in recent years~

It's worth mentioning that among the traditional preparation methods of these three coffees, only latte has an iced version, while the other two only have hot versions. Although there is iced cappuccino on the market, it was developed later by people to meet consumers' demand for more choices. So why hasn't anyone developed an iced version of flat white? Probably because in the iced category, "dirty" has already replaced its function.

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FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee)
No. 10, Bao'an Qianjie, Yandun Road, Dongshankou, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province

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