What Is a Flat White?

A flat white is a double shot of espresso topped with steamed milk full of very fine, glossy bubbles, which baristas call microfoam, served in a small cup of around 150 to 180ml. It has more coffee and less milk than a latte, less foam than a cappuccino, and a smooth, velvety texture all the way through.

What goes into one

• A double espresso, often pulled slightly short as a ristretto for a sweeter, more intense base.
• Steamed milk with only a little air worked in, so it becomes silky rather than frothy.
• A thin surface layer of microfoam, usually finished with a small pattern of latte art.

Why it is called flat

The name describes the top of the cup. A cappuccino rises into a dome of foam; a flat white sits level with the rim, with only a few millimetres of foam blended into the milk below. The milk and foam are one material rather than two layers, which is what gives the drink its even, velvety feel from the first sip to the last.

Why it tastes stronger than a latte

It is a matter of ratio. A flat white usually carries a double shot in a small cup, while a latte may carry the same double shot in a cup twice the size. With less milk to dilute it, the coffee comes through clearly, and a ristretto base adds sweetness and body on top of that. Measured in caffeine the two can be identical; the flat white simply tastes of more coffee per mouthful.

Where it came from

Both Australia and New Zealand claim the flat white, with cafes in Sydney and Wellington each credited with serving it in the 1980s, and the argument has never been settled. What is clear is that it grew out of the cafe culture of Australia and New Zealand, spread to London's coffee shops in the 2000s, and was adopted by the large chains after that. The fuller story sits in flat white vs cappuccino, which also compares the two drinks side by side.

Flat white against its neighbours

• Cappuccino. Similar size, but with a deep, airy cap of foam instead of silky milk. See what a cappuccino is.
• Latte. The same kind of milk in a bigger cup, so milder and creamier. See what a latte is.
• Cortado. Smaller again, with equal espresso and milk and barely any texture to the milk. See what a cortado is.
• Piccolo. A single shot in a very small glass under textured milk, milder than a flat white.

A flat white at a chain

When large coffee chains added the flat white, most kept its defining features, a ristretto double and velvety milk, but served it in their own cup sizes. The larger the cup, the more the drink drifts toward a latte, so if a chain flat white tastes milky, ask for the smallest size. In Australian and New Zealand cafes the drink is usually closest to the original.

Caffeine and calories

A flat white made with a double shot carries roughly twice the caffeine of a single espresso, around 120 to 150 mg. With whole milk it comes to somewhere around 100 to 120 calories, less than a latte because the cup holds less milk. The caffeine numbers for other drinks are compared in how much caffeine is in coffee.

Making one at home

1. Pull a double espresso, or a double ristretto if your grinder allows, into a warmed cup of about 160ml.
2. Steam around 120ml of cold whole milk, letting in air for only a second or two before submerging the wand, so the milk turns glossy rather than foamy.
3. Swirl the jug to keep the milk and foam combined, then pour from close to the surface so the milk mixes with the coffee and a thin white layer forms on top.

The milk is the hard part and the whole drink. How to get that silky texture is explained in what good steamed milk is, and a machine with a proper steam wand makes it far easier; see the espresso machines we have reviewed. With plant milk, choose a barista edition, because standard versions will not hold fine microfoam.