{{Short description|Drink of espresso coffee with steamed milk}} {{Use Australian English|date=February 2015}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}} {{Infobox food | name = Flat white | image = Flat white coffee with pretty feather pattern.jpg | caption = A flat white with latte art | alternate_name = | country = | region = | creator = | course = | type = | served = | main_ingredient = Espresso, steamed milk | variations = }}
A '''flat white''' is a drink consisting of espresso coffee and steamed milk. It generally has a higher proportion of espresso to milk than a latte, and does not have the thick layer of foam of a cappuccino. The origin of the flat white is unclear; café owners in both Australia and New Zealand claim its invention. The name, however, was in use in England in the 1960s for an espresso-based coffee.<ref name=film/><ref name=oed/>
==Description== Anette Moldvaer states that a flat white consists of a double espresso ({{Convert|50|ml|floz|abbr=on|disp=semicolon}}) and about {{Convert|130|ml|floz|abbr=on}} of steamed milk with a {{Convert|5|mm|in|abbr=on}} layer of microfoam.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Moldvaer |first=Anette |title=The Coffee Book |publisher=Dorling Kindersley |year=2021 |isbn=9780241536940 |edition=2nd |location=London |pages=403–04}}</ref> According to a survey of industry commentators, a flat white is a shorter drink with a thin layer of microfoam (hence the 'flat' in flat white), as opposed to the thick layer of foam on the top of a cappuccino.<ref name="Hunter">{{Cite web|title=What is a flat white? – Coffee Hunter|date=11 February 2012 |url=https://www.peterjthomson.com/coffee/what-is-a-flat-white/|access-date=2013-02-10|archive-date=13 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170413072345/https://www.peterjthomson.com/coffee/what-is-a-flat-white/|url-status=live}}</ref> The beverage is often served with a pattern (latte art) on the surface.<ref name=":0" />
The way a flat white is made varies between regions and cafés. In Australia a flat white is usually served in a ceramic cup with a handle, often of a similar volume ({{convert|200|ml|floz|abbr=on|disp=semicolon}}) to the glass in which a latte is served, but the flat white usually has less milk and microfoam.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Carmody |first=Kathleen |date=20 April 2004 |title=Coffee culture |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/19/1082326139253.html |access-date=2010-04-07 |archive-date=1 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090601221848/http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/19/1082326139253.html |url-status=live }}</ref> According to Tourism New Zealand, flat whites are more commonly served in a smaller cup ({{convert|175|ml|floz|abbr=on|disp=semicolon}}). In both Australia and New Zealand, there is a generally accepted difference between lattes and flat whites in the ratio of milk to coffee and the consistency of the milk due to the amount of microfoam produced when the milk is heated.<ref name="Flat_white"/>
{{blockquote|A true flat white ought to have the same quantity of extracted coffee as any other beverage on the coffee menu (generally {{convert|30|ml|impfloz|abbr=on|disp=semicolon}}) but because it is served in a smaller vessel ({{convert|175|ml|impfloz|abbr=on|disp=semicolon}}) it has stronger flavour than say a latte which is normally served in a {{convert|225|ml|impfloz|abbr=on}} vessel and is subsequently milkier.
The consistency of the milk is another point of difference between a flat white and a latte – a latte has a creamy, velvety layer of milk on the surface which can vary in depth depending on where you buy your coffee. A flat white has a thinner layer of the textured milk, ideally with a shinier surface.|Tourism New Zealand<ref name="Flat_white">{{cite web |title=New Zealand's dedicated coffee culture |url=http://www.newzealand.com/travel/media/features/food-%26-wine/food%26wine_new-zealands-coffee-scene_feature.cfm |publisher=Tourism New Zealand |access-date=29 January 2013 |archive-date=5 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130505044606/http://www.newzealand.com/travel/media/features/food-%26-wine/food%26wine_new-zealands-coffee-scene_feature.cfm |url-status=dead }}</ref>}}
==Origins and history== Coffee historian Ian Bersten states that, while the origin of the flat white is unclear, the drink probably originated in England in the 1950s.<ref name="auto" /> The term is attested in a published source in England in 1971.<ref name=oed>{{Cite OED|flat white|year=2011<!--added to OED in 2011, per source-->|orig-date=term attested since 1971}}<!--"we went to an expresso (sic) in South Ken ... And held hands over two flat whites"--></ref> In the 1963 British film ''Danger by My Side'' a character orders a flat white in an espresso bar.<ref name=film>{{cite AV media|title=Danger By My Side|author=Charles Saunders (director)|author-link=Charles Saunders (director)|medium=Crime thriller film|via=YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cThfDjMQWQ|year=1963|time=26'50"|time-caption=a flat white is ordered in an espresso bar at}} Posted on 2 July 2022.</ref>
Some commentators trace the flat white to Australia and New Zealand during the 1980s.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |title=Flat whites are Australia's greatest culinary export |url=https://www.economist.com/culture/2024/04/11/flat-whites-are-australias-greatest-culinary-export |access-date=2024-04-16 |newspaper=The Economist |issn=0013-0613}}</ref> There is documentary evidence of coffee drinks named "flat white" being served in Australia in the early 1980s. A review of the Sydney café Miller's Treat in May 1983 refers to their "flat white coffee".<ref>"Miller's Treat," café review, Liz Doyle and Brett Wright, ''Sydney Morning Herald'', 6 May 1983</ref> Another Sydney newspaper article in April 1984 satirised a vogue for caffè latte, stating that, "cafe latte translates as flat white."<ref>"It's time to dare to be the same," Jenny Tabakoff, ''Sydney Morning Herald'', 16 April 1984</ref> At Moors Espresso Bar in Sydney, Alan Preston added the beverage to his permanent menu in 1985.<ref name="auto">{{cite news |last1=Robertson |first1=James |date=27 September 2015 |title=Australia and New Zealand culinary war in new front over flat white inventor |url=https://www.smh.com.au/goodfood/australia-and-new-zealand-culinary-war-in-new-front-over-flat-white-inventor-20150926-gjvjkz.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928011348/http://www.goodfood.com.au/good-food/drink/australia-and-new-zealand-culinary-war-in-new-front-over-flat-white-inventor-20150926-gjvjkz.html |archive-date=28 September 2015 |access-date= |work=Sydney Morning Herald}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title = Australian food history timeline-Birth of the Flat White|url = http://meandmybigmouth.com.au/birth-of-flat-white/|website = Australian food history timeline|access-date = 2016-02-09|language = en-US|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160204200458/http://meandmybigmouth.com.au/birth-of-flat-white/|archive-date = 4 February 2016|url-status = dead}}</ref> Preston claimed he had imported the idea to Sydney from his native far north Queensland. According to historian Dr Garritt Van Dyk, many wealthy Italian cane plantation owners in the area came to enjoy "white coffee: flat" in the cafés' of the 1960s to 1970s, with Preston's café popularising the drink in the southern states.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Dent |first1=Nick |last2=Calligeros |first2=Marissa |date=2024-05-14 |title=Inner-city latte sippers? Think again. What's your suburb's most popular coffee? |url=https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/inner-city-latte-sippers-think-again-what-s-your-suburb-s-most-popular-coffee-20240425-p5fmme.html |url-access=subscription |access-date= |website=Brisbane Times |publisher=Nine Entertainment |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Pearlman|first=Jonathan|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/11895654/Who-invented-the-flat-white-Row-breaks-out-between-Australian-and-New-Zealand-cafe-owners.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/11895654/Who-invented-the-flat-white-Row-breaks-out-between-Australian-and-New-Zealand-cafe-owners.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Who invented the flat white? Row breaks out between Australian and New Zealand cafe owners|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=2015-09-28|access-date=2020-02-14|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Other documented references include the Parliament House cafeteria in Canberra putting up a sign in January 1985 saying "flat white only" during a seasonal problem with milk cows that prevented the milk frothing.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Green|first1=Roger|title=Cows Frustrate ACT's Espresso Artists|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article122477677|access-date=26 September 2015|work=The Canberra Times|date=11 January 1985}}</ref><ref>"How Canberra lost its froth," Milton Cockburn, ''Sydney Morning Herald'', 10 January 1985</ref> However, the origins of the flat white are contentious, with New Zealand also claiming its invention.<ref name="Kiwi1">{{cite news|last = Hunt|first = Tom|title = Kiwi claims flat white invention|url = http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food-wine/food-news/64886421/Kiwi-claims-flat-white-invention|access-date = 17 April 2015|newspaper = The Dominion Post|date = 13 January 2015|archive-date = 4 July 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150704075959/http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food-wine/food-news/64886421/Kiwi-claims-flat-white-invention|url-status = live}}</ref><ref name="auto"/> One New Zealand claim originates in Auckland, by Derek Townsend and Darrell Ahlers of Cafe DKD, as an alternative to the Italian latte; they recalled learning of the name "flat white" from a friend who had worked in cafes in Sydney.<ref name="cool">{{cite news |last=Dixon |first=Greg |date=22 July 2008 |title=The birth of the cool |newspaper=The New Zealand Herald |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10522700 |access-date=29 January 2013 |archive-date=25 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025002921/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10522700 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Kiwi2">{{cite news|last = Macdonald|first = Laura|title = Baristas battle to claim flat white as their own|url = http://www.3news.co.nz/world/baristas-battle-to-claim-flat-white-as-their-own-2015011318|access-date = 17 April 2015|newspaper = The New Zealand Herald|date = 13 January 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150416150438/http://www.3news.co.nz/world/baristas-battle-to-claim-flat-white-as-their-own-2015011318|archive-date = 16 April 2015|url-status = dead}}</ref> A second New Zealand claim originates from Wellington as a result of a "failed cappuccino" at Bar Bodega on Willis St in 1989.<ref name="Kiwi1"/> Craig Miller, author of ''Coffee Houses of Wellington 1939 to 1979'', claims to have prepared a drink known as a flat white in Auckland in the mid-1980s, using a recipe from Australia.<ref name="Kiwi1"/>
==Similar drinks== The flat white is similar to a cappuccino, which is a single espresso with heated milk and a layer of thick foam served in a {{convert|150|-|160|ml|floz|abbr=on}} cup.<ref>{{Cite web |title=L'Espresso Italiano e il Cappuccino Italiano Certificati |url=http://espressoitaliano.org/doc/istituzionale_inei_lq_ita.pdf |publisher=Istituto Nazionale Espresso Italiano |date=December 2006|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116071701/http://espressoitaliano.org/doc/istituzionale_inei_lq_ita.pdf |archive-date=16 January 2013}}</ref> The flat white, however, does not have the thick layer of foam, but rather made with only steamed milk containing microfoam.<ref name=":0" />
The flat white is similar to a latte, which is espresso with steamed milk added, served in a glass. A flat white has less milk and less microfoam than a latte.<ref name=":1" />
==Outside Australia and New Zealand== While, as documented above, the term was used in England at least as early as 1963, an article in the ''Daily Telegraph'' reports that the coffee style had been exported from Australia and New Zealand to the United Kingdom by 2005, and by 2010 was being sold in franchises of the US Starbucks chain there.<ref>{{cite news|last=Wallop|first=Harry|title=Starbucks to sell 'flat white' for those who are fed up with milky coffee|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/6726711/Starbucks-to-sell-flat-white-for-those-fed-up-with-milky-coffee.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/6726711/Starbucks-to-sell-flat-white-for-those-fed-up-with-milky-coffee.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=29 January 2013|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=5 December 2009}}{{cbignore}}</ref> By 2013 the flat white was available in Australian cafés in New York City, with Hugh Jackman co-owning one of them and endorsing the product.<ref name=Jumpertz>{{cite news|last1=Jumpertz|first1=Caroline|title=New Yorkers finally warm to the humble Aussie flat white|url= https://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/food-drink/new-yorkers-finally-warm-to-the-humble-aussie-flat-white/news-story/0523d71e63b55027b977f225b4b48cb6|access-date=13 December 2023|work=The Australian|date=5 August 2013}}</ref> Starbucks introduced the flat white in American stores on 6 January 2015.<ref>{{cite news|last=Frizell|first=Sam|title=Hipster Drink of Choice Gets Co-Opted by Starbucks|url=https://time.com/3652676/starbucks-flat-white/|access-date=3 January 2015|newspaper=Time|date=2 January 2015|archive-date=3 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150103002625/http://time.com/3652676/starbucks-flat-white/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2024, the Economist reported that one in three consumers in the UK chose a flat white, with Pret a Manger selling eight million flat whites in the previous year, nearly matching the nine million cappuccinos sold. The popularity of the beverage was also increasing in the United States.<ref name=":2" />
==Related terms== In the UK, the phrase "flat white economy" has been used to describe London's network of internet, media and creative businesses, based on Douglas McWilliams' book ''The Flat White Economy: How the Digital Economy Is Transforming London and Other Cities of the Future'', published in 2015, as the coffee is popular with workers in those businesses.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/08/can-hipsters-save-the-world |title=Can hipsters save the world? |work=The Guardian |date=8 March 2015 |first=Ed |last=Cumming |access-date=14 December 2016 |archive-date=15 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170215002439/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/08/can-hipsters-save-the-world |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Brexit could harm growth of 'flat white economy', report warns|url=https://business-reporter.co.uk/2017/04/05/brexit-harm-growth-flat-white-economy-report-warns/|access-date=8 April 2018|work=Business Reporter|date=5 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170405191737/https://business-reporter.co.uk/2017/04/05/brexit-harm-growth-flat-white-economy-report-warns/|archive-date=2017-04-05}}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Australia|Drink|Coffee}} * Coffee culture in Australia
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== {{refbegin}} * {{cite web |last1=Park |first1=Michael Y. |title=Meet the Flat White, the Coffee Drink Taking the U.S. by Storm |url=https://www.bonappetit.com/trends/article/flat-white-coffee |website=Bon Appétit |publisher=Condé Nast |access-date=6 July 2024 |date=2 December 2014}} * {{cite web |last1=Van Dyk |first1=Garritt C. |title=Who invented the flat white? Italian sugar farmers from regional Queensland likely played a big role |url=https://theconversation.com/who-invented-the-flat-white-italian-sugar-farmers-from-regional-queensland-likely-played-a-big-role-224747 |website=The Conversation |access-date=6 July 2024 |date=2 April 2024}} {{refend}}
{{Coffee|nocat=1}} {{Australian cuisine}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flat White}} Category:Coffee in Australia Category:Coffee in New Zealand Category:Australian inventions Category:Espresso drinks Category:Australian drinks