Cortado vs Flat White

A cortado and a flat white are both small espresso drinks with milk, and they are ordered interchangeably far more often than they should be. A cortado is espresso cut with roughly the same amount of warm, barely textured milk. A flat white is a double shot under a larger amount of silky microfoam. The cortado tastes stronger and plainer; the flat white tastes smoother and a little sweeter.

Side by side

• Ratio. Cortado: about one part espresso to one part milk. Flat white: about one part espresso to two parts milk, sometimes more.
• Milk texture. Cortado: warmed milk with almost no air, so it stays liquid. Flat white: milk stretched into glossy microfoam that pours like wet paint.
• Size. Cortado: around 120 to 150ml. Flat white: around 150 to 180ml.
• Vessel. Cortado: traditionally a small glass. Flat white: a ceramic cup.
• Top. Cortado: plain, with little or no foam. Flat white: a thin white layer, usually with a small pattern poured into it.
• Origin. Cortado: Spain. Flat white: Australia and New Zealand.

Why the cortado tastes stronger

Both drinks usually start from a double shot, so the difference in strength is almost entirely about milk. With equal parts coffee and milk, the cortado keeps espresso's bitterness and acidity clearly in front, softened rather than hidden. The flat white has roughly twice as much milk for the same coffee, and milk brings sweetness and body that round the espresso off.

Texture adds to it. Silky microfoam coats the mouth and feels richer, which makes a flat white read as creamy even though the coffee in it is the same. The cortado's thin, liquid milk does not do that, so what you taste first is the shot.

Caffeine and calories

Built on the same double shot, the two carry the same caffeine, roughly 120 to 150 mg, because milk adds none. Calories follow the milk, so the cortado is the lighter drink: about half the milk of a flat white, and noticeably fewer calories with whole milk.

Where each comes from

The cortado is Spanish, and the name comes from cortar, to cut: the milk is there to cut the espresso's edge, not to turn it into a milk drink. The flat white grew out of Australian and New Zealand cafe culture in the 1980s and spread through London and then the big chains. The fuller history of each sits in what a cortado is and what a flat white is.

What you will be served

Menus blur the two constantly. Some cafes make a cortado with textured milk and serve it in a cup, which is really a small flat white. Some chains make a flat white in a large cup, which drifts toward a latte. If the difference matters to you, describe what you want instead of trusting the name: equal espresso and warm milk in a small glass, or a double shot with silky milk in a small cup.

Making each at home

The shot is the same; only the milk changes.

• For a cortado, steam about 60ml of milk with the wand submerged almost from the start, so it warms without taking on air, and pour it straight into a double espresso in a small glass.
• For a flat white, steam about 120ml, letting in air for a second or two before submerging, until the milk is glossy. Swirl it and pour from close to the surface.

The difference between warm milk and microfoam is explained in what good steamed milk is.

Which to order

Order a cortado if you like espresso and want it softened without becoming a milk drink, or if you drink it quickly. Order a flat white if you want something smoother and a little longer that still tastes of coffee. If a cortado is too sharp and a flat white too milky, the piccolo sits between them: a single shot under textured milk in a small glass.