Best Flat White in NZ

Sara at The Marlborough Sounds Adventure Company in Picton

We continue our search to find the best flat white in NZ. With all the money we’ve spent on this quest, we could have bought our own deluxe espresso machine. We had an excellent version at The  Marlborough Sounds Adventure Company on the foreshore in Picton so we schedule a return visit to consolidate our research. We remind Sara, the barista, of our quest and ask if she’ll give us lessons in making this drink as there is only one coffee shop in Toronto that makes it, and the owners are New Zealanders. Maybe there is a business opportunity for us in retirement – competing with Te Aro on Queen St E.

Sara is elated to hear that so far we consider her flat white the best we’ve sampled thus far on our trip. She relates that it took her a year to learn to froth the milk perfectly. Now you might think she is exaggerating, but we’ve drunk many inferior versions. Either the milk isn’t hot enough rendering the coffee too cold or the froth so light that it dissipates quickly or the proportion of milk to coffee too high resulting in a bland drink.  Our version of an excellent flat white has strong espresso with just enough milk to cut the bitterness and it must look good with swirls of brown coffee blending in with the milk. Some may have a heart or a fern pattern on top but taste is the major factor here. There is a real art to this. 

Best Flat White (thus far) Really  Lattes

Traditional Flat White Cup

Sara is more than happy to provide instruction so I film her for later reference. She starts with cold milk, places the wand (nozzle) down low to one side of the beaker and lets the steam swirl the milk until it just starts to “whisper”. She continue steaming until the milk rises and just until the beaker becomes too hot to touch, then she turns off the steam and the milk settles and shines.  She pours the milk on top of the espresso and voila! She explains that we are really drinking lattes because of the large cups. The traditional flat white is served in the smaller cup. 

I can’t post the video yet because I need to compress it. But I hope the description helps anyone hoping to benefit from Sara’s expertise! You must have the means to make excellent espresso, however.