What's a Flat White?
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So you just ordered a flat white at your favorite coffee shop and you got... A cappuccinoo? What gives when that flat white is surprisingly similar to the cappuccino you always order? Well, it's all in the foam (or as we like to say here, the "fōm"). Your local barista is certainly a pro at making you the perfect cappuccino but at least in the USA, flat whites can still be a novelty and often aren't on the menu at all. So, if you ask for one, yeah, you might just get a cappuccino if microtexturing foam isn't their thing. A flat white, after all, starts with the same espresso base as a cappuccino. Some may add more milk to that espresso base than they would for a cappucino, but for we make our flat whites in the same cups we use for cappuccino (unlike the smaller Gibralter glass we'd use for a cortado). So for us it's all in the foam (cappuccino foam is big and frothy, flat white foam is more a velvety layer of foam than the big head of foam you get with a cappuccino). The good news? It's not that hard to learn to pull a great shot at home. And while there's a bit more of a learning curve to microtexturing the perfect foam at home, we can help (stay tuned for our next post with step by step instructions for making the perfect microtextured foam for the perfect flat white every time, at home, proper attire, PJ's, suggested but not required).