In the world of coffee, there are few things as exciting as trying out a new drink. Well—maybe learning how to do it yourself at home.
Because trying out a new drink might be an exciting experience but, learning how to make it yourself? There are few things that can compare to that great feeling of accomplishment, self-sufficiency, and so on. It is truly one of the best things about being a coffee lover.
On that note, let’s learn how to make one of the hottest (pun intended) coffee drinks recently: the spiced flat white.
Flat White
There exists quite a bit of controversy as to where exactly the flat white was invented. Strangely enough, two of the countries with the most claim to this famous drink are New Zealand and Australia. Two countries that aren’t particularly known for their coffee, or at least weren’t until rather recently.
The flat white is a characteristically Australian drink. It has been served there for decades before it became a worldwide phenomenon. Australia has a notably booming coffee scene and is one of the countries that consume the most coffee around the world, particularly good coffee.
New Zealand has a similar thing going on. It wasn’t particularly a tradition like in other countries but there certainly was a scene which has very much come alive in the last decade.
While it is popular knowledge that the flat white is an Australian drink, there are in fact records (an old menu) of a bar in New Zealand which served something called a “flat white” as far back as the 1960s.
Ultimately, nothing is proven, but it’s still interesting how these two countries contend over the flat white.
What is a flat white?
There can be a little confusion when telling a flat white and a latte apart. After all, they’re essentially the same: steamed milk and coffee. Right?
Well, not quite. For starters, a latte has considerably more milk; while a flat white has about 120ml of milk, a latte tends to have anywhere from 200 to 300 ml. So twice the amount of milk—that’s quite a lot.
Then there’s the issue of the foam. A latte has foamed milk on top; that’s how latte art is made. A flat white has no time for such fru fru things. There is absolutely no foam involved, which is a very important characteristic of the flat white. There is no foam to be had. You can still actually make art, but it’s not the same.
Lastly, and this is where things get heated, there is the texture of milk. While most recipes call simply for frothed or steam milk in both these drinks, you need a very special kind of texture for a flat white. Some would say that it is quite impossible to make a flat white without an espresso machine, and they may be right. But we can try.
Spiced Espresso Flat White Recipe
In this recipe, we’re making a spiced espresso flat white. We’re going to be using warm, basic spices and for the flat white itself we’ll be frothing the milk without the help of an espresso machine so that it is more accessible—but if you do have an espresso machine, feel free to use it.
Ingredients
- ½ cup of milk of your preference
- Two shots espresso
- A pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and black or red pepper.
- Sweetener
Instructions
- Most of the work is the milk. So go ahead and heat up the milk until it is nice and steamy.
- Meanwhile, find yourself an empty, sealable container. This could be a mason jar or even an empty soda/water bottle.
- Heat your container beforehand to avoid the loss of temperature. Be sure to have a cloth on hand or maybe wear gloves to avoid burning yourself.
- Pour the milk in the container and seal it.
- Proceed to shake vigorously, up and down, for one minute.
- Take a break. Shake again for another minute.
- Using a colander, get rid of all the foam you possibly can.
- Brew the coffee.
- For pouring the milk without getting any foam on it, use a spoon to hold back the foam. This is a trick baristas make use of for drinks such as this one.
- Now proceed to add your spices.
- Stir, sweeten, and enjoy!
As you can see, the drink is actually rather simple. The hard part is the milk. This recipe uses an old trick for homemade frothing milk with a few tweaks for making it flat white friendly. For one, it uses a colander to get rid of the foam, which is not usually done.
It also adds an extra minute to the frothing—the usual recipe only calls for one minute (sometimes even less!) of frothing. Yes, it’s pretty tiring, but it’s very worth it in the end. No pain, no flat white!
FAQs
Can I use other spices?
Yes, you can. The spices on this recipe are some of the most universally loved and more basic ones that you can use while still giving your flat white a really good, unique flavor.
But flavor is a really subjective thing. For some people, even this drink might feel a little plain or bland, in which case you’re more than welcome to use other spices if you want. You may also increase the amount of some of the spices used in the original recipe.
On the other hand, you can also use less spices if you feel this recipe is actually a little too spicy.
Can I use vegetable milk?
Yes! But you need to make sure you’re using the good stuff. As we mentioned, milk is 100% the most important ingredient in this recipe. Some milk is famously hard to tame (soy milk) and won’t give you the result you need for a flat white.
There are some brands that make vegetable milk specifically for making coffee drinks, so look for those if possible as they are engineered for better frothing results.