Basics
How to Make a Flat White
A double shot under a thin, velvety layer of microfoam — how to steam the milk, pour it, and keep the coffee flavour up front.
Ingredients
- 1 double espresso (18 g in, 36 g out) — or a double ristretto for a stronger cup
- About 120 ml cold whole milk
Steps
- Pull the double shot into a warmed 160–180 ml cup.
- Steam the milk: keep the wand tip at the surface for only 2–3 seconds to add a little air, then submerge it and spin the milk into a whirlpool until the jug is just too hot to hold (about 60 °C).
- Tap the jug on the counter and swirl until the milk is glossy, with a thin layer of fine microfoam and no visible bubbles.
- Pour from a height at first so the milk mixes with the espresso, then bring the jug close to the surface and finish with a small dot or heart.
- The foam on top should be no thicker than a coin. Serve immediately.
Tips
- The difference from a latte is the milk: less of it, thinner foam, so the coffee tastes stronger.
- Cold milk in a cold jug gives you more time to build good texture before it gets hot.
- Whole milk steams best. If you go plant-based, a barista-edition oat milk is the closest match.
The flat white is the drink that taught a generation of cafés to take milk seriously. It looks like a small latte, but the point is the opposite: less milk, steamed thinner and hotter, so that the espresso stays in charge and the milk becomes a texture rather than a flavour. Australians and New Zealanders still argue about who invented it in the 1980s; what nobody argues about is that it is now the standard test of whether a barista can steam milk properly.
Flat white, latte, cappuccino
All three are espresso plus steamed milk. What changes is the amount of milk and how much air is whipped into it. A cappuccino has the most foam — a thick, airy cap. A latte has more milk and a moderate layer of foam. A flat white sits at the small, strong end: a double shot, roughly 120 ml of milk, and foam so thin it looks like a glossy paint finish. Served in a 160 to 180 ml cup, it should taste of coffee first, milk second, and be gone in a few minutes.
Some cafés pull a double ristretto for it — a shorter, more concentrated shot — which makes the drink sweeter and more intense. We use our standard 1:2 double; if you want it punchier at home, stop the shot a little earlier.
Steaming for microfoam
This is the whole craft. Start with cold milk in a cold jug, filled to just below the spout. Place the steam tip just under the surface and open the valve fully; you should hear a soft, paper-tearing hiss for two or three seconds as the milk stretches — that is air going in. Then push the tip deeper and angle the jug so the milk spins in a whirlpool. The spin is what breaks large bubbles into the tiny ones that make microfoam. Stop when the jug is just too hot to hold comfortably, around 60 °C. Milk taken much above 65 °C loses its sweetness and starts to taste cooked.
Tap the jug once to pop any big bubbles, then swirl it steadily for ten seconds. Good milk looks like wet paint and pours in a ribbon. If it is stiff and bubbly, you added too much air; if it is thin like warm milk, you added too little.
The pour
Pour from a height first so the milk dives under the crema and mixes. When the cup is two-thirds full, lower the jug until the spout almost touches the surface and the white foam begins to sit on top; a small dot or heart is enough. Latte art is not the goal — even texture is — but a clean pour is usually a sign the milk was steamed well.
Our flat white is one of the drinks we are proudest of, and it is the one most regulars order in the morning before the square fills up. If you would like to taste the version we are aiming for — Calibre Coffee beans, whole milk, steamed to order — it is on our menu every day — see the menu.