ESPRESSO ANATOMY - The Flat White

The flat white is one of the most contentious and debated espresso drinks out there, but I wanted to finally set the record straight by talking with those who claimed to have created the drink and then bring it all out into the open. As a barista and specialty coffee lover what I found was shocking...

↓MY RISTRETTO VIDEO↓

↓COFFEE ROASTED BY ME↓

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↓THE MUSIC↓
Lately - Kicktracks

#flatwhite #coffee #sprometheus

[nichj]

“The Magic” has fallen out of popularity now, but back in 2010-2015 it was a super common order.
While specialty coffee in Aus (particularly Melbourne) had become ubiquitous by 2010, you would still find otherwise great cafes overextracting their shots. Having this neat way of requesting a double ristretto in a small milk drink allowed people (usually baristas) to stop cafes from serving them charred, bitter shots.
These days, 99% of cafes have their recipes well dialed and their volumetrics on the money, so people rarely order it any more.
Fun fact: the beverage started as a double ris 3/4 latte (usually as a 6oz cup). People switched to serving it in 5oz flattie cups as smaller ceramic cups became more common.

[amandac]

rather than a small latte, maybe more accurately it's a higher espresso to milk ratio

[paul--b]

As a New Zealander I endorse this video as 99% accurate. “The Magic” wtf?

[jononthejourney]

I believe the size of the cup determines the name of the drink. Everything containing a double shot, with similar foam depth.
3-4oz Macchiato, Cortado, Piccolo
5-6oz Cappuccino, Flat White
8-12oz Latte

[barneystinson]

I started my love of coffee back in 2010 ish. I became friendly with staff at my local Costa and on a couple of occasions after hours they let me try and make my own. I had no machine at home but this got me hooked. I always loved there flat whites.
I can't remember the shot exactly as many moons ago but i think it was 3 pulls on the grinder and what would be im guessing a ristretto type shot. It was in a 300ml cup and then the milk was micro foamed. It always had a thick covering of creamy dense foam that followed you all the way down the cup as you go. When it was really good it would leave a crema type foam marking that made rings from each time you stopped.
At home now I use a nice medium to dark single origin roast from Colombia or Guatemala. 19g in 36g out and 200-220ml micro foamed full fat milk.
Getting better with the florette with practice. It may not be exactly what everybody would call a flat white but I like it.
I work in a hotel as a night porter. I occasionally make coffee for the early rising guests. Never had a complaint about my flat whites and since we got no training i make them just like i do at home but with crappy illy.
Most staff would say I make the best coffee. That sadly is not a boast as i would rate the other staffs attempts at coffee making almost as laughable as a macdonalds coffee.

[leroythecoffeegeek]

As a ‘Kozzie’ (half Kiwi half Aussie), I feel like I really well placed to comment here. And I gotta say I can’t argue with what you’ve said although saying it’s a small latte implies it’s a modified latte when in fact the flat white was invented well before the modern latte. It really was the first of the modern milk coffees at a time when the only other option was an old school, heavily frothed, dry cappuccino. There is some more detail that differentiates it as a drink these days (eg. stronger, but less foam than a latte), but that’s something that developed over time along with the latte art phenomenon.

[headSHOT]

Hahaha I love these hilarious cut scenes and that meme oh man 😂 you've done it again Spro!

[timgerber]

At home I do it this way: Cappuccinos and flat whites are pulled with a 1:2 ratio (30g of espresso) and only differ in the amount of air I let into the milk. Lattes I pull with a 1:2.5 ratio (37.5g of espresso) which stands up better to the amount of milk. This has the advantage of not having to change the grind size between beverages as you would have to do if you were to pull a 1:1 ristretto (which in my opinion only makes sense if you use a dose between 18-20g anyway).

[stephengoldberg]

I used to work for the a big coffee company that most people have heard of... in their marketing dept - when they released their version of the flat white it was all about that white dot and I thought it was just way heavy on the milk to coffee ratio. Interesting that they may have missed the mark a bit.

[lukesodomin]

Always quality content, love the espresso anatomy vids every time

[cleanyourbasket]

I'm glad you're finally filming yourself from a bit further away. Much better now!

[sonny]

The memes just kept coming with this one, love the content man👌

[JaronPower]

As an Aussie I don’t know know if I’d call it a small latte, but yeah close enough I guess. Maybe that’s because I love a piccolo latte and don’t want to get them confused :D

[redstain]

Sounds about right. Flat whites in Canada tend to come in one size only, but are generally smaller than small lattes by NA standards. Cafe I used to work at did ristretto in a 10oz cup. Our small was 12oz, for comparison. Have also seen infographics that say flat whites have a 50:50 ratio of steamed milk to espresso, but who knows if that's accurate.

[MrCakers]

3:38 This is why your channel is so amazing plus another hundred other reasons

[DanJHayes]

I'm sure flat whites in many UK cafes are made with whole milk, and not semi (which they would use in everything else).

[danabdelhay]

I saw a café that groups all milk drinks into (white) drinks, either 4oz or 10oz, I asked them why! They told me that milk drinks at the end of the day are super similar to each other, if you give a latte to someone who ordered cappuccino they won't notice the difference... And they told me it's easier on the barista too... Kinda agree with their way of doing things tbh

[dpark]

Just got a shipment of little giant coffee. I really appreciate that you write down the roast date btw. It's been 5 days since roast so I think I need to let it off gas a bit more but was excited to try it anyway. Ignoring the sourness from it being freshly roasted, it tastes great! Can't wait to try again once a little more of the co2 is runs off. I actually kind of like that its freshly roasted even if it needs to sit for a bit because the smell of opening the bag was really enjoyable

[appelsmic]

In London coffee culture at the moment, the cortado, flat white and sometimes latte are all within a few mL of one another. It’s a mess. You end up with a twisted lottery system where you never quite know what you’ll end up with unless you’re a regular.

[andyburrells]

My man- you said this was coming. What a great vid🤙🏼