Flat White is my new obsession

Yesterday was an incredible day. First of all, the weather has just gone totally nuts. Snow and rain together virtually caused stop of all traffic. My bus was crawling with the speed of a snail spaced down on valium. It took me 2 and some hours to get to Queen’s Park from Oxford Str. Never mind, because it gave me opportunity to digest the Flat White training session, that myself, Malik (very funny manager of 34 Edgware Rd. store), Lola and Mae had and which was very intense and very hands on.


I was quite interested to find out for myself what all this hype was about. People say, there is flat white café in Soho, which makes the best flatties ever.
I have visited them, but only virtually. (The web site was kinda inspiring. D’ya know what I mean, darlings? Kinda. But I still liked it.)

Here is what they say:
Flat white noun /Austral. flaat whyette/ / NZ flet wyte/ 1. An antipodean coffee which is served as a strong shot of espresso served in a small cup with textured milk; a damn good strong coffee. 2. 51.51 ( 51 30`) -0.13 (0 8`)
(the meaning N2 is mysterious, maybe it has something to do with geography, don’t know)


And this is what Wikipedia says:


“Originally from New Zealand, a flat white is a coffee beverage prepared by pouring steamed milk from the bottom of steaming pitcher over a single shot (30ml) of espresso.


The drink is typically served in a small 150-160ml ceramic tulip cup. The stretched and texturised milk is prepared by entraining air into the milk and folding the top layer into the lower layers. To achieve the "flat", non-frothy texture the steamed milk is poured from the bottom of the jug, holding back the lighter froth on the top in order to access milk with smaller bubbles, making the drink smooth and velvety in texture.


A flat white differs from a latte in that it is served in a smaller ceramic cup[1], whereas a traditional latte is served in a glass with the steamed milk poured over the espresso shot. A latte can also be served in a bowl or a larger cup requiring more milk, obscuring the complex flavours of the coffee.”


It does say there single shot, but I guess 30 ml is actually our double shot. I don’t really like this sneaky notion at the end of the article, that latte is in some ways inferior to this fashionable newcomer. I think, it is the matter of individual taste and those two drinks can not be compared – they are both in the leagues of their own.


There was also an interesting article on Independent web site about flat white, which to me sounded as a obituary to our beloved chain, because some marketing agency predicts that there will be more demand for flat white in years to come then for our lattes. Well, firstly, they are too small to open store on every corner. And secondly, we are rising to the challenge and undigging our tamagauks. To latte art war, my people!