Flat White

[DonRocks]

This is possibly one of the most uninformed questions I've ever asked here, but what the heck exactly is a flat white?

I could Google this, of course, and I even linked to the Wikipedia entry, but I'm guessing others don't know either.

And yes, this could go in the Coffee Forum, but it's beyond Washington, DC in scope. In fact, it seems Australian in origin.

As long as your at it, if you could explain a ristretto and a lungo, I'd be much obliged.

[reedm]

I'm not a barista, but my daughter worked at Starbucks, and I drank a ton of these during my last trip to Australia. To me, it reminded me of a latte with an extra shot of espresso, but with a small amount of foam on top. The coffee flavors are much more pronounced.

A ristretto pull uses the same amount of coffee, but half as much water. It is also made more quickly. I'd liken it to a dense espresso.

I'll wager there are many coffee experts here that will provide a more accurate description, but there you have it.

I had a delicious flat white at Maketto, and they are also on the menu at Starbucks.

[ktmoomau]

I don't necessarily trust Nespresso, but in their beverage guide at home, a flat white is a single or double shot of espresso with milk foam (not froth) on top.  This seems to explain it better than I can manage:  http://www.coffeehunter.org/flat-white-vs-latte/

Edited:  Oh and ristretto is a small shot of espresso (again according to my Nespresso machine, your press the button once for this, twice for a normal espresso shot) and lungo is what they say when you can make a small cup of coffee with a capsule instead of just an espresso shot, but it isn't like a normal american coffee, it's like espresso with a little more water essentially and is typically still smaller than a normal american coffee pour.  But this is all just from my Nespresso machine knowledge and could be off.

[Simul Parikh]

Thank you for that! What a good explanation.