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The Flat White: A Delicate Small-Cup Milk Coffee

"Flat White" is a refined small-cup milk coffee that has become widely beloved by coffee enthusiasts due to its rich and sweet distinctive experience. What distinguishes it from lattes and cappuccinos, besides the delicate and light milk foam, is its essential base ingredient—the "Ristretto."

Due to the overwhelming number of Ristretto preparation methods circulating online, beginners often find themselves confused and unable to truly understand the extraction significance of Ristretto. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee is here today to discuss this "Ristretto"—what it is and how it's made.

What is Ristretto?

"Ristretto" literally translates to "Ristretto," and looking at these two terms alone, you might find it difficult to imagine what kind of coffee it is. So let's look at its other nicknames: "Strong Espresso" and "Refined Concentrated Coffee."

See? Suddenly it becomes clear, doesn't it? These completely different terms all refer to the same type of coffee—"concentrated." However, "this concentrated is not that concentrated." Ristretto is quite niche; although it belongs to the same category of concentrated coffee extracted by espresso machines as Espresso, it's so niche that among dozens of espresso drinks, only the Flat White uses it as a base.

With the exception of the Flat White, nearly all other espresso-based drinks use Espresso! The reason for this lies in the fact that Ristretto's preparation method didn't exist independently but was instead derived from Espresso's preparation method as an extraction model!

Ristretto itself carries a meaning of "restriction," which as the name suggests: since it's derived from Espresso's extraction method plus the concept of restriction, we can understand it as adding certain restrictions during Espresso extraction.

This restriction doesn't mean controlling certain parameters, but rather limiting the substances extracted during the coffee preparation. It's obvious that in coffee extraction, the most crucial elements are coffee grounds and liquid, so what must be limiting the extracted substances is the "liquid"! So let's next see how this "liquid" is restricted.

What Coffee Beans Are Best for Italian Ristretto?

FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) generally first understands the flavor profiles of different coffee varieties from around the world before creating coffee blends. Beans have different characteristics depending on their origin. Different coffee beans have distinct personalities due to different varieties and origins, with subtle differences in acidity, bitterness, sweetness, aroma, and body. Single-origin coffee beans often emphasize the unique characteristics of a particular coffee type. Blended coffee beans are commonly used for espresso drinks such as Espresso, Americano, Latte, or Cappuccino, resulting in more balanced, smoother, and more stable flavors that appeal to a broader audience.

If you want to enjoy a cup of Italian ristretto with rich body and full aroma, FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) recommends using their premium blended beans, which feature a dual-origin formula of Colombia + Brazil in a 3:7 ratio. The blended flavor profile offers a sweet taste. Using medium-dark roast, when making espresso, it presents soft micro-acidity, clear sweetness, nutty aftertaste, with an overall feel that isn't too stimulating—mellow and balanced, with moderate crema.

Ristretto Preparation Methods

Currently, there are mainly two methods for extracting Ristretto. The first is to directly limit the liquid output of Espresso, preventing it from extracting the latter-stage substances. For example, FrontStreet Coffee's Espresso recipe is: use 20g of beans, spend 30 seconds, and extract 40ml of liquid.

To make Ristretto, you need to discard the latter-stage extraction and only keep the front and middle stages of Espresso—that is, extract 70% of the total 40ml, which is 28ml.

The benefit of this extraction method is that it "cuts off" the point where bitter substances are released in large quantities in the later stages, reducing the proportion of bitter compounds and increasing the proportion of sweet and sour compounds, allowing the coffee to showcase more sweetness!

In addition, there are many similar extraction concepts: for example, some coffee shops only extract 2/3 of the total espresso volume, or use a 1:1 coffee-to-liquid ratio for extraction, etc. So we don't need to be rigid about certain parameters—we just need to understand the principle, and any method can be correct!

Then there's the second method: "controlling the flow rate of the coffee liquid!" By adjusting the grind to be finer to control the flow rate, thereby obtaining a more concentrated espresso!

Still using FrontStreet Coffee's Espresso recipe as an analogy: use 20g of beans, spend 30 seconds, extract 40ml of liquid. If making Ristretto, we need to adjust the grind to be finer, then still use 20g of beans, spend 30 seconds, and extract 70% of the original total volume, which is 28ml!

The benefit of this extraction method is that it achieves high concentration through layering. Compared to the former method, this approach makes it easier for people to distinguish between Ristretto and Espresso, as it essentially designs a completely new extraction recipe! The mouthfeel will also be richer than the former method, with fuller flavors! However, in terms of practicality, the first method is superior!

As mentioned at the beginning, most espresso-based drinks use Espresso as their base, while Ristretto is currently only widely used in Flat Whites. If implementing the second method for preparation, to ensure that other espresso drinks and Flat Whites can be served simultaneously, coffee shops would need to equip an additional grinder, and also spend time and materials on grind adjustments—significantly increasing costs!

Shop owners can't possibly use just one grinder and constantly "jump back and forth" between coarse and fine grinding—that's unrealistic (unless for personal use). Therefore, rather than using the latter method to give themselves a "professional" label, shop owners mostly adopt the first extraction method, which is convenient, tastes good, and also reduces waste.

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