An Easy Flat White Espresso Recipe - The Spruce Eats

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Flat White Espresso By Lindsey Goodwin Lindsey Goodwin Lindsey Goodwin is a food writer and tea consultant with more than 12 years of experience exploring tea production and culture. Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process Updated on 12/5/25 Tested by Tracy Wilk Tested by Tracy Wilk Tracy Wilk is a professional pastry chef, recipe developer and chef instructor, and, most importantly, a firm believer in sprinkles. Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process (70) Save Write a Review Print Prep: 3 mins Cook: 5 mins Total: 8 mins Serving: 1 serving 70 ratings Write a Review Add a comment SaveRecipe

• Flat white espresso combines strong espresso with velvety steamed milk for a creamy result.
• Properly preparing the microfoam creates a smooth, signature texture in every cup.
• This recipe uses easy-to-remember 1:2 ratios of espresso to milk per serving.

A flat white is an espresso drink made with a shot of espresso and two shots of steamed milk. It takes a little bit of skill to prepare, but once you've mastered this recipe, it's easy to make flat white espresso drinks again and again.

The ingredient proportions in this recipe are for 1 serving. Just double, triple, or quadruple them for a larger yield.

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"I love espresso, but a flat white is my preference when I need an energy boost. This easy recipe explains how to properly steam and foam your milk. The creaminess of the foamed milk is a signature component of a flat white, and it is truly delicious." —Tracy Wilk

A Note From Our Recipe Tester Keep Screen Awake

• 1 shot espresso

• 2 shots milk

1. Gather the ingredients.

2. Pull 1 shot espresso.

3. While pulling the shot, froth the milk. As the milk froths, use a spoon to fold the microbubbles from the top of the steaming pitcher to the bottom of the steaming pitcher. This will create a smoother, more velvety texture for your drink. Combine the two ingredients. (Latte art optional). Your flat white should have about 1/4-inch of steamed milk on top.

Flat White vs. Latte

Starbucks describes their flat white as "Bold ristretto shots of espresso [that] get the perfect amount of steamed whole milk to create a not too strong, not too creamy, just right flavor."

In most cafés, a flat white is smaller than a latte. But that still doesn’t mean that a flat white is just a small latte.

So if every flat white has espresso, then what makes a flat white different to a latte is the way the milk is prepared and poured. Most people forget how important good milk is to a good coffee. When milk is frothed with a steam wand there are three layers that form:

1) The heated liquid milk at the bottom of the pitcher

2) The velvet microfoam in the middle of the pitcher (these are very small bubbles)

3) The stiff froth (these are larger bubbles)

The important process of “stretching” the milk by frothing, folding, and swirling it is done to maximize the amount of velvet microfoam by blending the large bubbles and the liquid milk. Without swirling and tapping there would still be some microfoam, but you’d never know it in the cup because it would be lost in the liquid and/or the froth.

The secret to frothing milk is keeping the steam wand just at the surface of the milk (that pleasing noise you hear in busy cafés).

The main differences between drinks arise when the steaming is finished and it’s time to pour the drink. A good barista will swirl the steamed milk around to fold the froth back into the liquid and create a seamless pitcher of velvet microfoam. Some might tap the pitcher on the counter to pop the worst of the big bubbles on top (as part of folding the milk). But this is unnecessary if you’re swirling the milk smoothly enough.

More About Espresso

Espresso is coffee brewed by forcing a small amount of nearly boiling water under pressure through finely-ground coffee beans. Espresso is generally thicker than coffee brewed by other methods, has a higher concentration of suspended and dissolved solids, and has crema on top (a foam with a creamy consistency).

As a result of the pressurized brewing process, the flavors and chemicals in a typical cup of espresso are very concentrated. Espresso is also the base for other drinks such as a caffé latte, cappuccino, caffé macchiato, caffé mocha, flat white, or caffé Americano.

Espresso has more caffeine per unit volume than most coffee beverages but, since the usual serving size is much smaller, the total caffeine content is less than a mug of standard brewed coffee. Although the actual caffeine content of any coffee drink varies by size, bean origin, roast method, and other factors, the caffeine content of typical servings of espresso vs. drip brew is 120 to 170 mg vs. 150 to 200 mg.

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Nutrition Facts (per serving)
46	Calories
2g	Fat
5g	Carbs
3g	Protein

Show Full Nutrition Label ×

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 1
Amount per serving
Calories	46
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 2g	2%
Saturated Fat 1g	5%
Cholesterol 7mg	2%
Sodium 45mg	2%
Total Carbohydrate 5g	2%
Dietary Fiber 0g	0%
Total Sugars 4g
Protein 3g
Vitamin C 0mg	1%
Calcium 102mg	8%
Iron 0mg	0%
Potassium 166mg	4%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Recipe Tags:

• Coffee
• american
• fall
• coffee

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