What is Australian Flat White Coffee? Differences in Preparation, Ratio, and Taste Characteristics Compared to Latte and Dirty

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Today, although more and more coffee varieties appear on café menus, milk-based coffee products remain the most popular. According to multiple survey results, latte has always been one of the top two in coffee category sales, but by 2018, a drink called Flat White emerged like a dark horse, approaching the latte's ranking!

It is reported that Flat White's sales increased by 56% year-on-year in 2018! Why did Flat White suddenly become so popular, and what kind of coffee is it? Next, FrontStreet Coffee will talk about this "milk coffee dark horse"!

What is the Origin of Flat White?

Regarding where Flat White comes from, both Australia and New Zealand claim it as their own, so the debate about whether Flat White comes from Australia or New Zealand continues to this day.

Once, an Australian café owner said that in the mid-1980s, he already had the term "Flat White" on his menu. He stated that Flat White emerged because many people at that time liked to add a small amount of frothed heated milk to their espresso.

Initially, this coffee shop made Flat White using double ristretto and milk heated and steamed to create a small amount of foam. This drink wasn't poured with latte art; it was directly poured into a small ceramic cup containing espresso, allowing white foam to float on the surface, hence the name Flat White.

However, this claim was challenged by a New Zealander who stated that he created Flat White! It was when he was working as a barista and trying to make cappuccino for customers that he made a mistake - he frothed the milk too thin, thus inventing Flat White.

Regardless of whether Flat White was invented in Australia or New Zealand, one thing is certain: after 2017, it became one of the increasingly popular coffee products worldwide!

FrontStreet Coffee believes that the reason everyone loves this product so much is more importantly that compared to other milk coffees, it has a richer coffee flavor, and compared to espresso, it is more acceptable to the general public.

Characteristics of Flat White

With the development of the specialty coffee industry, after the millennium, cafés to attract more consumers began to pay more attention to the patterns presented on milk coffees. Flat White also gradually changed from originally adding a small amount of milk with thin foam to ristretto, to gradually blending milk with coffee to create simple latte art patterns, but the overall portion did not change much.

Compared to latte, Flat White has a smaller portion, about 3oz (100ml), making it a milk coffee with rich coffee flavor. Flat White has suddenly become popular in recent years because more and more milk coffee consumers, influenced by specialty coffee culture, have gradually begun to pursue coffee flavor performance. Even with milk added, it is treated as an auxiliary ingredient that enhances the flavor expression.

How to Make Flat White

Careful readers may have noticed that making Flat White uses a coffee liquid called "ristretto." What is the difference between it and regular espresso?

In fact, the difference between the two is that ristretto has a higher concentration than regular espresso. Under the same extraction parameters, ristretto shortens the extraction time and the portion is also smaller than regular espresso.

FrontStreet Coffee's store typically uses "FrontStreet - Sunflower Warm Sun Espresso Blend" for extracting espresso. This coffee bean is blended with 70% Honduras Sherry coffee beans + 30% Ethiopia Natural Yirgacheffe Red Cherry coffee beans, showing rich fermented wine aroma, vanilla cream, roasted nuts, and caramel-like flavor performance.

FrontStreet Coffee uses regular espresso in daily production (latte, americano, cappuccino all use espresso). Usually, 9-10bar pressure is used to extract coffee liquid with a powder-to-liquid ratio of about 1:2. Generally, a single espresso uses 9-11g of coffee powder to extract about 15-25g of coffee liquid, while a double espresso uses 18-20g of coffee powder to extract 35-45g of coffee liquid. The less coffee liquid extracted, the higher the coffee concentration.

Ristretto is actually espresso with a smaller extraction ratio. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee uses the same grind size and powder amount as espresso, extracting less coffee liquid with a longer extraction time, generally with a powder-to-liquid ratio of about 1:1.6.

Please note! The concentration of ristretto does not refer to more intense coffee flavor, but rather the overall taste of the coffee liquid (sour, sweet, bitter). When too concentrated, it tends to show sharp acidity or burnt bitterness. Therefore, during the process of making ristretto, it is still necessary to adjust the powder amount and extraction time when necessary.

Flat White Production Ratio

To make Flat White, FrontStreet Coffee's ristretto extraction parameters are 19.8g of powder extracting 30g of coffee liquid, taking 27 seconds (the performance of each grinder and coffee machine varies, so you cannot 100% follow these parameters).

Using a 100ml cup, add the extracted ristretto, blend the hot milk with thin foam with the coffee, and the flavor表现为 rich fermented wine aroma, with the acidity of berries producing obvious sweetness after adding hot milk, and the aftertaste is the sweet fragrance of caramel chocolate.

What is Dirty Coffee?

Dirty coffee also uses ristretto, but this product emphasizes using high-fat milk that has been refrigerated, a frozen cup, and the espresso must float on the surface of the milk. Therefore, you need to directly use a frozen cup with ice milk, then directly catch the extracted ristretto at close range.

Dirty changes in mouthfeel, from strong to light, from deep to shallow. The first sip is rich coffee, the last sip is sweet. Therefore, after getting Dirty, don't let it sit for too long, and don't stir it while drinking. If possible, try to finish a cup of Dirty in three sips to experience the charm of its gradual changes~

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473