The Melbourne flat white: a double ristretto shot with 150ml of stretched whole milk, served in a small ceramic cup with no froth art and no compromise.

The flat white emerged in the 1980s in both Sydney and Auckland, with multiple competing origin claims. By the 1990s Melbourne had codified the format that now travels the world: a double ristretto for body, stretched (not foamed) milk at about 60 degrees Celsius, no froth dome, no latte art necessarily, served in a 160ml ceramic tulip cup. Patricia Coffee Brewers opened in 2011 behind 493-495 Little Bourke Street as a standing-room espresso bar and helped define the contemporary Melbourne idiom: short queue, fast pour, no sweetened drinks, leave fast. The cafe sources from Seven Seeds across the road.

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Make it at home

Serves 15 minIntermediate

Ingredients

  • 18g of fresh specialty-roasted espresso beans, ground fine
  • 150ml fresh cold whole milk (3.5 percent fat)
  • Filtered cold water for the espresso machine

Method

  1. Preheat your portafilter and a 160ml ceramic tulip cup by running hot water through the grouphead and into the cup; pour out before brewing.
  2. Grind the beans to fine espresso texture; dose 18g into the portafilter basket, level and tamp firmly at 15kg pressure.
  3. Pull a double ristretto: aim for 30 to 36g of espresso out in 25 to 28 seconds. The shot should look glossy and end with a tigerskin crema.
  4. While the shot pulls, pour the cold milk into a 350ml stainless jug to the base of the spout.
  5. Steam the milk with the wand just below the surface for the first 2 seconds to introduce a small amount of air (no audible hissing), then submerge to create a whirlpool and heat to exactly 60 to 63 degrees Celsius.
  6. Tap the jug once on the bench to pop large bubbles and swirl to integrate. The milk should look glossy and pour like wet paint.
  7. Pour the milk from height into the centre of the espresso, drop the jug spout close to the cup as it fills to define a simple white rosette or just a clean dot.
  8. Drink within 2 minutes; flat white is at peak at the moment the crema and milk integrate.

Editor tip. Stretch the milk just enough to coat the inside of the cup but not so much that you build a foam dome. If the steam wand is screaming, you are aerating too much; that produces a cappuccino, not a flat white.

Common allergens: Dairy.