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Permalink Reply by Alun Evans on April 14, 2011 at 6:06pm

Now that you've gotten that off your chest, how about contributing something useful to the discussion? As an Aussie barista, you ought to be qualified to clarify the misconceptions, share what you know about the drink, challenge the story about it being a Kiwi invention. Right?

 

Haha...good point. Our long tailed cuzzie bro's accross the ditch have already claimed Russell Crowe, Crowded House, Phar Lap...Jane Campion and even Anna Pacquin as their own :p

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Permalink Reply by Chris on April 25, 2011 at 3:56pm

Ross said:

I feel, being an Aussie barista myself, that any cafe doing a flat white, without actually having any Aussies or Kiwis on staff, \

 

 

So, instead of telling my Ozzie friends (touring with 'Burn the Floor') and the Oz-girl that's visiting us here in Tucson, "No worried, just go to XXXX shop and ask for a Flat White, they'll make you something that will make you feel right at home!', or, 'Come on over to my house, I'll pull you a quick flatty' (both in my cheesiest Mick Dundee accent, of course) that I should have told that that there aren't any Kiwi Baristi in Tucson, so they're screwed?
OI theenk thet Bruce, Pete, and Trev moight hev a theeng owa tewe tewe say abeut thet! ; >

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Permalink Reply by Alex on April 26, 2011 at 11:44pm

The thing about the Flat White is that everyone has their own idea of what it is. This even goes back to the origins of it - Some people will say its the NZ'ers ordering the wrong cups and making do with the mistake, others will say its ANZAC servicemen coming back from drinking white instant coffee during WW2 and wanting something similar in the cafes upon their return. If you go into twenty cafes in Australia or New Zealand and ask them to define the Flat White you wouldn't get one answer. Some cafes will do a double-shot, some a single, some a double-ristretto. Some will say its in a 180ml (6oz) cup, some will say 150ml, some will say it doesn't matter (But then if its ordered as a take-away, the cafe that does it in a 6oz cup will be putting it in an 8oz or 12oz take-away cup because those are the standard sizes). Some cafes will say it must have NO FOAM! And will stress this point as though it is 42, and some will say about 5mm of foam on top is fine. So you see, you could make your Flat White in any number of ways and still be correct. If I were to tell you what I think a Flat White is, I would simply say that it is proportionally stronger than a cafe latte and has a little less foam. So if you make it the same size as your latte, make it with a double-shot instead of a single. Me, I just use a smaller cup (180ml or 150ml), throw one shot in, and pour with a thin layer of foam and some cracking art on top.

What is funny for us antipodeans is the stress and importance people from the Old World and the Americas have placed on the Flat White. For us, it's nothing. We just do it. But for you guys there is always a debate about how it is made, what size it is, etc etc.

Enjoy your Flatty!

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Permalink Reply by victoria fallon on May 3, 2011 at 7:01pm

thanks for the clarification john gibbons!

John Gibbons said:

Flatty as in flat white is a latte with no foam besides a small skin layer. Usually it's smaller, so it has a different flavor too. 

victoria fallon said:

so how does a "flatty" differ from a latte? isn't it essentially the same drink?

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Permalink Reply by Denise Smith on May 4, 2011 at 4:43pm

I know this is an old subject:

??? So an Aussie or NZ flat white (flattie) is talking about a modified cappuccino??? I was told it was a latte with no foam. So is there a name for a latte with no foam too or can the terms be used "Flat White Latte"  and "Flat White Cappuccino?  I'm confused because I thought by definition a Cappuccino was 1/3 espresso, 1/3 steamed milk, 1/3 milk foam. Hmm, so a flat white cappuccino would leave you with equal parts of espresso and steamed milked in a 6 or 8 oz cup, is this correct? Maybe we can call the latte version and "latte no fluff".  I just want to learn how to do things according to industry standards so I can understand my customers and serve them better.

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Permalink Reply by Brady on May 4, 2011 at 5:54pm

Sorry, but where did you get that? All descriptions so far have been along the lines of "latte with (normal, less, just a little, or no) foam". I see nothing comparing it to a cappuccino, other than to indicate that it might be served in a 6oz cappuccino cup.

 

Perhaps a re-read of the responses?

Denise Smith said:

??? So an Aussie or NZ flat white (flattie) is talking about a modified cappuccino???

<snip>

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Permalink Reply by Alex on May 5, 2011 at 1:09am

As I've said before, there is no clear answer as to what it is because every cafe and every Flat White drinker has their own idea of what it is. There is no industry standard. Just Flat White. A name. You guys are over-complicating it.

 

Here is a simple formula. espresso + milk - foam = flat white. KISS.

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Permalink Reply by Luce on May 5, 2011 at 3:09am

Funny you should write that Denise. Last time I was in NY, I had a hankering for a flat white (I'm an Aussie), so I rocked up to Joe (the art of coffee) and asked the girl taking the orders if they made flat whites. No, she said. So I asked for a no-foam cappuccino. The woman looked at me funny but took my order. When she passed it on to the the barista, he too made a strange face. When he called out my order and gave me my drink he said, in a rather condescending manner, 'you could just call it a latte'. I told him that, actually, I had asked for a no-foam cappuccino because I was hoping for something approximating a flat white. He stammered a second, looked contrite, and said 'oh, well, this should be pretty close'. 

 

So I'm not sure that calling it a no-foam cappuccino will get you far either!

 

Denise Smith said:

I know this is an old subject:

??? So an Aussie or NZ flat white (flattie) is talking about a modified cappuccino??? I was told it was a latte with no foam. So is there a name for a latte with no foam too or can the terms be used "Flat White Latte"  and "Flat White Cappuccino?  I'm confused because I thought by definition a Cappuccino was 1/3 espresso, 1/3 steamed milk, 1/3 milk foam. Hmm, so a flat white cappuccino would leave you with equal parts of espresso and steamed milked in a 6 or 8 oz cup, is this correct? Maybe we can call the latte version and "latte no fluff".  I just want to learn how to do things according to industry standards so I can understand my customers and serve them better.

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