Where is the origin of Flat White? What's the difference between Flat White and Starbucks Frappy?

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[cold knowledge] do you really know how to do Flat White and American coffee?

Speaking of milk coffee, one day I drank a cup of "Xiaobai" coffee (a nickname for Flat white) at KiOSK, a popular cafe next to Sanchuang. The ratio of coffee and milk is perfect, and it is entirely my dish. I later learned that Flat white is from Australia and is popular all over the world, and Australian coffee culture has been booming for a long time! Let's talk about Flat white today. Taiwanese are not familiar with it yet, but it has been popular in New Zealand, Australia, Europe and the United States for many years.

Editor's note: espresso generally refers to espresso (Espresso) from Italy, and drinks that use espresso as the base with boiled water or milk, such as Caffe Latte, Cappuccino, Macchiato and so on. Australian coffee is in the 1950s, that is, before and after the second World War, many Europeans (including Italians) fled to Australia, so the introduction of high-quality espresso and its extended drinks have been developed by Australians and become their own style, such as Flat white, Piccolo latte lattes and so on.

Conquer the taste buds of the world from the South Pacific

From the southern hemisphere to the whole world, the origin of Flat white is still a topic of debate between New Zealand and Australia for decades. Australian Alan Preston claims he opened the Moors Espresso Bar Cafe in Sydney in 1985 and invented the coffee, while New Zealand barista Fraser McInnes said he mistakenly gave it a new name after making a failed cappuccino with not enough milk when he was working in a Wellington cafe in 1989.

Even though the source is still in dispute, the trend of Flat white has become unstoppable. It has become mainstream in the UK since 2010, and then spread to Canada and the United States. In order to please more young coffee lovers, coffee chain Starbucks has put this coffee on the shelves in Australia, Britain, the United States, Chinese mainland and other places in recent years. Although, Australians who have high requirements for the quality of coffee often do not necessarily buy Starbucks.

So, what on earth is Flat white?

The answers vary, and it is often said that it is a small latte, but in fact, it is very wrong! According to the British Starbucks website, Flat white means that steamed milk is poured into espresso, covered with a layer of Microfoam at the top. Gee, it still sounds like a latte, doesn't it? Furthermore, according to professional coffee blogger Coffee Info, "the main difference between latte and Flat white is the ratio of milk to espresso." Flat white has less milk than a latte and has less foam on top. "

At this point, we have to talk about the difference between it and other milk coffee. If we now make a latte, a Flat white, a cappuccino, a macchiato, a latte with one or two servings of espresso on the market, for comparison, let's first assume that all four cups of coffee contain espresso content of 30ml. The difference is obvious under this benchmark:

1. Latte: 30ml espresso + steamed milk with 3-9 times coffee content + soft milk, fine baby milk with more bubbles.

two。 Xiaobai coffee: 30ml espresso + steamed milk with 4 times the amount of coffee + silky, small baby milk foam

3. Cappuccino: 30ml espresso + twice the amount of steamed milk + thick coarse foam of ⅓ cup (Dry foam)

4. Maggialdo: 30ml espresso + a little milk + 1 tablespoon of baby milk foam

Milk bubbles are usually divided into three levels: the lowest layer of liquid hot milk, the middle layer of silky baby milk foam, and the top layer of strong coarse milk foam. Flat white and lattes use liquid milk at the bottom and silky baby bubbles, but Flat white uses lower-layer, fewer bubbles, so it is slippery, and the foam at the top of the coffee cup is thinner. In the traditional practice, there is even a stipulation on the number of centimeters of milk foam. In addition, the amount of espresso contained in each cup of Flat white can always vary from person to person. According to the degree of richness you like, you can choose one, double espresso (Single, Double), or even more intense espresso (Ristretto), which has created a world of great changes in coffee.

This is the conclusion drawn by us to integrate the data of all parties, and we can find that the ratio of milk to coffee, the thickness of milk foam and the method of flower drawing make these coffees very different.

The Evolution of Milk Coffee

In Australia, many stores collectively refer to milk coffee as "White," and consumers communicate with baristas according to their personal preferences. In addition, Taiwan's first World barista Competition, WBC, not only attaches importance to the origin of coffee beans, but also sets the proportion of milk added by the contestants themselves. Obviously, many baristas no longer adhere to the above brewing rules. Why?. It is estimated that it is caused by the third wave of coffee movement and the popularity of coffee flowers. The third wave of movement began to clearly mark coffee bean producing areas, estates, treatments, etc., and picked shallow roasting to maintain the clean fruit aroma and "regional flavor" of coffee, and coffee tasting began to become like "wine", and even developed a coffee flavor wheel; so even when it comes to making milk coffee, the focus is on the presentation of coffee flavor, rather than making a drink that perfectly presents the meaning of the standard.

When it comes to the popularity of coffee Latte art, for example, the traditional Italian cappuccino has a large amount of milk foam and is not suitable for complex flower drawing, so the barista has also made adjustments. In terms of the ratio of milk to coffee, cappuccino is still stronger than latte and has more milk bubbles, but it is not necessarily the traditional thick and hard taste and tastes smoother than traditional methods.

Conclusion

Going back to the KiOSK Cafe at the beginning of the article, the owner Phil shared with us, "without the coffee culture integrated into life, Flat white is just espresso and milk." I think this also applies to any kind of coffee bar! Phil, who earnestly makes coffee and runs cafes, pays attention to every detail. He just hopes that coffee can really be integrated into our lives instead of being reduced to superficial rituals. "just like beauty and beauty in Taiwan, it's enough to live in life!"

If you also like milk coffee, you might as well try a cafe you like. It's best to greedily order lattes, Flat white, cappuccino and macchiato at one time, and share them with articles to find out what you like best.

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