There is no doubt that when we usually see Australian White, Fuli White, Australian White, Chunyi White... they all refer to the same coffee drink - Flat White. It is also milk coffee, why is this drink so popular? Let’s talk about this popular milk coffee in Front Street.
Flat whiteDid it originate in New Zealand or Australia?
forFlat whiteThe origin of the drug, which both Australians and New Zealanders insist comes from their respective countries, is a debate that has no clear winner. Before the 1970s, Australian coffee shops used methods such as French presses and manual drip filters to brew black coffee. In the early 1970s, the Italians brought espresso machines to Australia, officially starting a new wave of coffee trends. Compared with traditional latte coffee, Australians are pursuing milk drinks with thinner milk foam and stronger coffee flavor. Since the 1980s, Australians have put Flat White on their regular menus, and soon it spread to cafes in Europe, the United States and other countries.
Whether the drink was invented in Australia or New Zealand, one thing is for sure: it's grown in popularity around the world ever since. Flat White has become a popular product in China because Starbucks introduced it in 2015 and named it "Fulibai"As one of the flagship drinks, this milk coffee has become mainstream.
Why is flat white so popular?
The original intention of the birth of Flat White is to hope that everyone can drink the perfect combination of milk foam and coffee milk underneath every sip. Only when the milk foam is very dense and thin, and the temperature of the milk coffee is slightly lower, can you drink the milk foam in every sip, and drink it up quickly before the milk foam separates. Therefore, Flat White is very particular about the quality of coffee beans and the whipping of milk. If low-quality coffee beans are used, espresso does not reach the ideal extraction, or the milk foam is too rough, a small cup of Flat White will easily expose these shortcomings.
With the advent of the specialty coffee era, people are beginning to apply more and more single-origin coffee to the extraction of espresso, which is what we often hear about SOE (Single Origin Espresso), which is espresso made from coffee beans from a single origin. Compared with large cups of latte and cappuccino with thick milk foam, Flat White is more suitable for expressing the flavor of the coffee bean's own production area. In pursuit of a richer aroma and taste of coffee, everyone naturally prefers a small cup of rich Flat White.
What is the difference between flat white and latte?
Also composed of only milk and espresso, there is a clear difference in the taste of flat white and latte in terms of production and taste. Caffe Latte means milk in Italian. Latte is about achieving a balance between coffee and milk. You can not only drink the taste of coffee, but also taste the sweet and mellow taste of milk. The two complement each other and do not cover up the taste of each other. Flat white highlights the flavor of coffee by adding milk. Coffee is the protagonist and milk is only an auxiliary. Therefore, Fuli Bai has more coffee flavor and richer flavor.
The flat white produced by New Zealand baristas is presented in a coffee cup smaller than a latte (about 150ml), and the base uses double concentrate. In this way, as the amount of milk decreases, the proportion of coffee increases, and the coffee flavor naturally becomes stronger. The Melbourne barista will also replace the base with a double Ristretto and put milk foam about the same thickness as a latte into a 150ml cup. Ristretto refers to an espresso with less liquid weight extracted from the same amount of powder. It can be said to be a smaller version of espresso. It is more concentrated in the front and middle parts of the extraction and has a richer taste. Therefore, higher quality requirements are required for the coffee beans used.
However, in Australia, baristas believe that it is enough to keep the milk foam thinner than that of a latte. When they produce Australian White, they use a cup with the same capacity as a latte, emphasizing more on the difference in the thickness of the milk foam. Compared with latte, cappuccino and other milk coffees, the milk foam of Fuli White is the thinnest, generally 0.3~0.5cm. The milk foam must be thin enough to be flush with the mouth of the cup, and the milk foam layer cannot be allowed to bulge, so that every sip of espresso liquid will have a dense foam layer.
Can I make flat white at home?
Many friends have equipped their homes with supercharged espresso machines and grinding equipment because of their love for Italian coffee. They hope to make a rich and delicious cup of Flat White at home, and then come to FrontStreet Coffee to inquire about the parameters for making Flat White.
Front Street believes that Flat White is derived from everyone's pursuit of the flavor and taste of specialty coffee beans. Therefore, each coffee shop presents a unique Flat White style based on the coffee beans it uses and its own understanding. For example, the Italian blend used in Front Street is the "Sunflower Warm Blend" roasted in-house, which is composed of 70% Honduran sherry coffee and 30% Yirgacheffe sun-dried red cherry coffee. The whiskey, vanilla, and cream flavors of sherry are combined with the tropical fruits and fermentation of red cherries, giving the coffee in the cup a rich and soft taste.
For the coffee base, FrontStreet Coffee will choose Double Ristretto. 20 grams of coffee powder will extract 30 grams of coffee liquid. The extraction time is 22-24 seconds, but FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) will Coffee) needs to be reminded that the extraction plan of each coffee bean will be slightly different. This extraction plan is the extraction parameter adjusted by the barista before opening every day, and is based on the Nuanyang blend used in the store.
Pour the extracted coffee liquid into the cup prepared in advance, pour 150ml of milk into the milk jug and beat. Whipping milk requires less air intake than latte coffee, and the foam layer is thinner and denser. The temperature is best controlled at 55 to 60 degrees Celsius, which makes it easier to drink. Finally, just pour the whipped milk into the coffee, either latte or latte. Since the thin milk foam does not make the liquid level and the coffee cup even, its appearance looks flat, so it is also called flat white coffee.
Flat White presentation on Front StreetThe taste of chocolate milk and whiskey center chocolate, the sour and sweet berries, the mouth-mellow aroma, and the long-lasting aftertaste.
Of course, if you don’t like coffee with any acidity and prefer the burnt and bitter taste of dark roasted coffee, it is recommended to use Front Street Classic Italian Blend Coffee to make Furui White. This coffee combines the three major production areas of Brazil, Indonesia, and Vietnam, and is produced by roasting first and then blending, so that the essence of each bean can be better expressed and can be perfectly integrated in the cup.
When using Front Street's classic Italian blend to make Australian White Coffee, we will use double espresso as the base, that is, a powder-to-liquid ratio of 1:2. 20g of coffee powder will extract 40g of coffee liquid. The extraction time is 28-32 seconds. Then, 150g of whipped fresh milk with thin milk foam will be blended with dense oil, and a nice little pattern will appear. In this way, a cup of rich, mellow, and caramelized Australian White Coffee wine is completed.
You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.
The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.
FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.
FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473
