How to make a Flat White | Basic Coffee Skills

The mysterious Flat White Coffee. Where did it come from? How do you make it? Should you put on an Australian accent when ordering it? Is it just a Latte in disguise?

In this video, Josh answers most of these questions, as well as breaking down a step-by-step process for making it.

Sections in this video:
0:00 Where did the Flat White come from?
1:45 How we make the Flat White
2:59 Flat White vs Latte
3:25 The Process: Step by Step
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[coffeewithcarl]

Flat white is absolutely one of my favourite espresso milk drinks! (After espresso macchiato) A cappuccino can be a bit to much with all the foam and I'm not a big fan of the amount of milk in lattes. It's the best of both worlds!

[jodm]

I work as a barista in a small coffee shop in England. We do our flat whites with two shots so it’s 1/2 coffee, 1/4 milk, 1/4 foam with art on top. Basically a scaled down latte but much stronger

[louisanelson]

I used to be a huge fan of lattes but then I started working as a barista and got bored with them. I went down a coffee drink rabbit hole and stumbled upon flat white. I think ultimately I wanted a stronger coffee flavor and a flat white does that perfectly!

[DrJum]

During iso I've been getting too deep into coffee...
To me it all comes down to the milk : espresso ratio. Extract your coffee as best you can without any astringency or extra bitterness. Typically with a modern roast intended for milk drinks this will look like 20g in 40g out in 28 seconds or so at 93.5c, depending on the roast and equipment used. If you use a supermarket dark roast a double ristretto style shot may give you a more favorable extraction. Once you've textured and heated your milk put your cup with espresso on a scale and weigh the amount of milk you use. I find around 55g of milk to 10g of espresso to be a good starting point. For example that would be 220g milk for a 40g shot. A larger amount of milk will typically hide the "toasty" flavours and brings out the more delicate fruity floral notes.
Happy brewing

[YTDLW]

At home, I use a Moka Pot with Dark Espresso Coffee. I don’t have a milk steamer, but use an electric milk froth machine. After the initial milk froth which does not put a lot of air into the milk, but I do tap the milk container on counter top - it tends to make milk foam more dense rather than more bubbles - prior to pour into coffee cup.

[mansouraldhalaan]

In Saudia Arabia we serve the flat white in a 150ml cup with double shot of espresso and as you said a sligh amount of foam. Here it is more popular than the regular cappuccino.

[hannahyun]

There is a Cafe called Cafe Melbourne in Santiago, Chile. In their menu, it says we also server 'Flat White'. I was so impressed after 6 months travelling in South America from Melbourne last year. It felt like at home!

[bradaden]

I’d like to say exposing me to a Flat White is the single positive thing Starbucks has added to my life. They make a crappy, inconsistent Flat White without question, but I’m still glad they marketed it in the U.S. as it’s now been my go to drink since that moment. Nice video, I need to start making these at home.

[Presso]

My daily coffee is between Cappuccino and flat white.
Dose in 18g
Dose out 36-40g
Steam milk is 100ml
Milk texture is fine (similar to Latte milk)

The result and tastes are excellent.

[balazs]

The coffee shop/franchise’s standard where I work, is made using a triple shot, extracted on a special ‘flat white’ mode, giving up about 1/3 coffee making it really strong and concentrated. Then make a similar to latte milk and finish it off with some latte art on top! :)

[testdasi]

It seems in England, a flat white is just a double-shot half-milk cafe latte in a smaller cup. Some places do try to make the milk flat but not the big chains.
Factoid: if you go to Vietnam, you will find a coffee drink that is sort of a reverse flat white. Half-coffee, double-milk, usually with ice. It's called "Bạc xỉu".

[Georginahhh]

I work at a cafe in Manchester and we use 2 ristretto shots ❤️ I feel like here in the uk people are yet to discover how nice flat whites are!

[steffanyjaquelineresendiz]

To give customers a pretty general idea, I always say it's practically a smooth cortado, with maybe an ounce more milk. A cortado ratio being 1:1 and a flat white being 1:1.5 ish? Or we just call it a smaller, stronger latte!

[mandosando-]

You all have some of the best, most precise explanations for coffee topics. I’m so glad I found this channel. Thank you!

[rozchiadavis]

I was so excited to get off the plane in LA and see a place STRAIGHT AWAY that offered a flat white. But it was more like a hot coffee milkshake. The first GOOD flat white I found was 4 days later at Mostra Coffee in San Diego, and I was so desperate for one by then that I nearly cried. This has been my Flat White Famine In America Story.

[gamingfreak]

I’m a barista in London (takeaway only store) and where I work we only serve flat whites in a double espresso cup, 2 shots and with whole milk as a standard (we use semi-skimmed for everything else unless requested otherwise)

EDIT: Ex-barista

[adamsly]

I’ve been going to Oz a lot lately and I’m now hooked on the “strong” flat white. I like the stronger version better. I want to make it at home now. What milk is used? Whole I hear is richer.

[melberber]

Lattes are served in glasses in France as well

[Slagbo]

i work at starbucks and we serve them in 8oz cups with a double shot of espresso. i add a little bit more milk than needed and tend to aerate the milk roughly the same amount as latte milk. when i go to pour it, i tip the jug highly and get rid of some milk holding back the crema. this allows me to have the ability to make art, as normally with the abundance of milk in the jug, the crema never makes it in.

[overthetopblues]

With a flat White, coffee is the star of the show.