A year ago, few people had heard of a “flat white” coffee. Now they are sold in Starbucks alongside more familiar lattes and cappuccinos, and Britain’s Costa chain is offering customers their money back if they don’t love the newest white coffee craze.

Flat whites were quietly introduced to independent coffee shops in Britain about 10 years ago, having been popular in Australia and New Zealand since the mid-1990s, and both these countries claim the drink as their own invention. It is only now, with the big chains serving them, that they are gaining a wider following.

But what is a flat white? New Zealander Cameron McClure, part-owner of the Flat White coffee house in Soho, says it is just a regional name for the style of coffee. “Flat white is a term for a type of coffee in Australasia – it’s describing the ratio of espresso to milk,” he explains. “There are many other coffees around the world with different names that you could probably call a flat white.”  Read full story.

Credit: Matthew Kilgour, http://www.ft.com