The Flat White (coffee) is getting downgraded

[Towcester]

Light hearted (kind of)

Always liked a short strong coffee with a bit of foamy milk on top (But I want to taste the coffee not just milk).

When the flat white arrived in the UK it was perfect for my tastes. Now, wherever I order one it seems to come like a latte...like drinking warm milk with a hint of coffee. Is it just charged at a premium rate now but served like a latte? Maybe they add two shots but they serve it in a big cup so it's 90% milk.

I know the cortado is the obvious alternative but when you go to some cafes they don't really know what a corrado is.

Macchiato is probably the one if it is served like in Italy but it seldom is.

Thank you for your words of wisdom!

Flavour. An americano tastes like a weaker espresso, a filter coffee is an entirely different taste.

Yes, 100%. Pret is good, Caffè Nero is fine. Costa at a pinch, and with an extra shot. Don't touch Starbucks unless desperate, and then always with an extra shot or two.

Most English Cafe’s and coffee shops have no idea how to make coffee. The corporate chains (Costa etc) are better becuase their staff will have a set recipe from head office to follow for each coffee type on how to make the milk, how much coffee to use etc.

Our local Italian restaurant does a gorgeous cappuccino, perfect milk with the patterns etc. Obviously though I don’t go in there for my morning coffee but I wish other places would at least get the milk right. The foamed milk should still be smooth. I’ve had some awful cappuccinos with the consistency of bubble bath.

And you are right, everything that isn’t a cappuccino is just made as a latte.

I’m also partial to macchiato’s (it’s an espresso with a tiny bit of foamed milk on, ideal for when I want a quick shot of coffee with some milk for taste without wanting a big bloody drink to carry around) and half the time it’s literally served as a latte.

I share your pain, OP. I want to drink coffee with milk and not a pint of milk with some coffee floating somewhere in the bottom. Don't even start me on the sugar laden soya and oat milks that get used everywhere as well ........

Are you just unlucky with where you live? The independent cafes near to me do filter and/or pour-overs so plenty of choice there (usually a choice of several bean varieties). Or if you're in Starbucks, they still do filter - do they still call it Coffee of the Day?

YANBU. I have wondered the same thing. Loved Flat Whites but so many places just give you a horrible milky latte instead. Grrr.

@queenatom thank you. I don't mind the taste of either filter or americano- as long as it comes with cold milk. I hate the taste of hot milk.

Starbucks used to do a filter coffee rather than a standard Americano. Do they not any longer?

Agree!!! Just as I found flat white to be my perfect coffee, not they are milky and shit. Nowhere sell cortados.

Agree with Greggs and Macdonalds for excellent flat whites!

OK, I'm going to ask! What's the main difference between an Americano and a filter coffee and I mean taste not prep/technique. I'm a single shot gal who doesn't like my coffee too strong or too milky usually. What should I have?!!

The marks and Spencer's one is great

I find cafe nero cappuccino very palatable- don't like atrong coffee though - have it with oat milk

I usually find that Cafe Nero flat whites are good and strong! Starbucks are good if you get a good barista. Some local, independent cafes near me make a good one as well.

I remember once asking in Costa what the difference is between their flat white and a latte as they do their flat whites differently and the woman told me they're exactly the same....they're not supposed to be! I always get a cortado from there instead.

Totally agree OP. When flat whites first came to the U.K. it was only people who knew what they were that served them. Now everyone’s added it to their coffee menu and they’re really hit and miss.

Some people who order coffee don’t have a clue either. Once saw a woman kick off in a restaurant because she’d ordered a Macchiato and wanted to know why it was in a small cup and not a mug like the rest of her party’s cappuccinos FFS.

Used to love Costa flat whites. Think they must have changed the recipe and started serving in a latte cup about 18 months ago. I always order a cortado now at Costa as that is basically how flat white used to be.

I am finding this issue everywhere depending on which barrista you get. I can't stand flat white/latte or cappuccino when all you can taste is milk, if I want warm milk I would ask for it. Even a latte should have some reminiscent of caffine. I do find it can depend on who makes it and have been known to wait longer in a queue if I want to avoid a certain barrista! I also hate it when they put vanilla in everything!

I always thought that flat white was like a latte but the milk was smoother, like you get with a velvetiser. I was recently in Barcelona and asked for a leche manchada, 'stained milk' as I drink weak coffee. The wonderful waitress suggested a macchiato. I was very dubious but went along with it and it was perfect. If you ask for a macchiato in Italy or Spain you get stained milk, if I asked for one in the uk I'd get it the other way round, coffee with a dash of milk.

I did notice recently in our local Costa a filter machine. Don't know if it's new or I've just never noticed the (ginormous) thing before.

@inthemiddlepiggyinthemiddle I think in Italy it is the coffee that is stained with a macchiato (not the other way round) so the coffee is the main ingredient but stained with milk/foam. Macchiato is very short and strong. Just espresso with a bit of foam.

Dunno about Spain but certainly it's misunderstood in the UK.

If you like it less strong, a filter coffee would be better. An americano has a more intense flavour.

I think people hear ‘white’ in ‘flat white’ and just associate ‘white’ with milk so assume it’s a milky coffee

Yes, I've noticed this too! Just in the last year or so. Even straight after lockdown flat whites were still good. I ordered one in Starbucks last week (not my choice of venue) and was given a horrible weak latte.

Pret are still good, nice and strong.