 |
| My Flat White has a round glob of thin foam. |
Answer: I bought my wife a Breville Barista Touch espresso machine for Christmas. I can't let a coffee brewing machine of that calibre sit unused.
As a new-to-the-scene novice coffee brewer, I settled on the Flat White as my coffee of choice. The Barista Touch has a number of automatic brew settings. Among them is Flat White, one part espresso and two parts heated and minimally foamed milk.
Before starting
- Fill the water tank almost to the maximum fill line.
- Fill the coffee hopper. Do not overfill. Do not use green beans.
- Gather everything you will need:
- portafilter
- double shot, 2-cup filter basket (While learning, I am using the Dual Wall filter basket.)
- dosing funnel
- Razor levelling tool for ground coffee in portafilter with inserted basket
- a 7.5 ounce, insulated coffee cup
- stainless steel milk frothing container
- ample cold, whole milk (not a low fat skim milk type)
- sugar
- teaspoon
- two small towels or dish clothes–one dry and one damp.
Step 1 – Press the on/off button and select Flat White on the screen
From the main drinks menu, touch Flat White on the touchscreen.
The screen will show three steps: Grind, Brew andMilk. All are preset but feel free to modify.
Step 2 – Grind and dose
Snap the double shot, 2‑cup, filter basket into the portafilter. If you forget, coffee grounds will fly from the machine. To stop the grinding, push the grind icon on the screen or the machine off and on button.
With the dosing filter basket locked into the portafilter, attach the dosing funnel and slide all into the grinder cradle. Many novices prefer the dual walled filter basket.
Touch “Grind” or push in the portafilter to start grinding. For this first Flat White, accept the default settings for all.
After grinding, remove all from the cradle, use tamping tool to compact ground coffee, remove dosing filter and finish tamping down coffee. Carefully level ground coffee using the Razor tool if necessary. After using the Razor, tap and tamp one last time.
Step 3 – Attach portafilter and extract espresso
Lock the portafilter, minus the dosing filter, into the group head by rotating the handle to the right until it stops.
Place an insulated, dual wall, cup under the spouts. I like to preheat my cup.
On the Flat White screen ensure "Double" is selected and touch “Brew” to start extraction. (In my book, "Double" makes enough espresso for one Flat White for one person.)
Watch the flow: two thin streams should start at the seven second mark or a second or two later. The brewing will finish at the preset time. (At this point, I like to add the sugar to the hot espresso.)
Step 4 – Heat and froth milk
Fill the stainless steel milk jug to just above the fill line on the steam wand. The stainless steel jug has marked minimum and maximum levels but I have a difficult time seeing the marks. Also, I find they are too generous. I prefer using the fill line on the steam wand. This results in enough milk and froth for two flat whites.
The tip of the steam wand should be sitting in the milk just below the surface. The jug must be sitting on the temperature sensor. Do not let the sensor get wet. The sensor must be kept dry.
- On the Flat White screen, check the Milk settings:
- Temperature: medium to medium‑high (around 150 °F is typical).
- Froth level: low (4). This results in less foam than called for by latte or cappuccino).
Touch “Milk” to start auto heating and foaming.
Make sure the stainless steel jug is sitting on the sensor at all times. This is important.
Step 5 – Flush and wipe the steam wand when finished
As soon as the Breville Barista Touch is finished heating and texturing the milk, remove the jug. With the steam wand extended at 45 degrees, wipe the wand and its tip with a damp cloth. Keep the wand extended at the 45 degree position.
Place a small, dry towel or small, dry dish cloth over the milk heating/frothing sensor. It must not get wet. At this point, lower the wand to the down position. It will automatically purge into the drip tray with a two short bursts of hot water and a burst of steam. This clears milk from inside the wand.
Step 6 – Pour milk and add foam
Begin pouring from a few centimetres above the milk surface so the milk integrates with the espresso and pushes crema to the top.
When the cup contains about two ounces espresso and four ounces of milk, bring the jug closer to the surface and pour into the centre to create a white circle of silky, small-bubbled froth.
A Flat White should end up as about a six ounce drink with a strong espresso flavour tamed by the heated milk. The ratio is 1:2, espresso to heated milk. The foam layer is visible but thin.
After enjoying your Flat White
Every time you finish enjoying a milk‑based drink, do these quick tasks to keep the machine performing well.
1. Knock out puck and rinse portafilter
Remove the portafilter and knock out and discard the used coffee puck.
Remove the filter basket and rinse both the basket and portafilter under hot water to remove coffee oils and grounds. Cleaning with a little soapy water is a good idea but you must rinse well.
Dry with a dish cloth.
2. Quick group head flush
With clean portafilter, filter basket clicked into place, install the portafilter just as you would to brew coffee. Place an empty cup below the group head. Briefly start “Brew” to run hot water through the group head for just a few seconds. This rinses away any residue of coffee grounds and captures the dirty rinse water in the empty cup. You should see coffee grounds in the water. Some users do this step without the portafilter and filter basket in place.I like the attached approach better. I keep a dry cloth over the milk/foam sensor. Remember the warning, "Keep dry".
Remove portafilter with filter basket inserted, separate, wash and dry.
3. Drip tray and work area
Check the drip tray. It will have collected some water. Clean and rinse all the drip tray parts.
Wipe any spilled coffee or milk from the tray and surrounding surfaces. Again, take care not to let the milk temp sensor get wet.
Of course, Breville has posted some instructions. Here is a link to:How to make a flat white at home
Make your Flat White for Two
I never, absolutely never, make just one Flat White. I always make two. One for me and one for my wife. The damn espresso machine was a Christmas gift from me to her. A gift should not be a lot of work to use. It should be fun and with me doing the brewing and tidying, it is fun -- for her.
It is only fair that I jump through the hoops necessary to master brewing our early afternoon drink. They cannot be late afternoon drinks or we would never sleep.
To change the above instructions to make two and not one Flat White, do the following:
- Grind a double dose. Remember to attach the dosing funnel before grinding.
- Attach the portafilter to the group head and brew a double. Set aside the insulated, 7.5 ounce glass cup containing the espresso.
- Knock out the puck, wipe out the filter basket and repeat the grind operation. Again, remember to attach the dosing funnel first.
- Attach the portafilter to the group head and pull a second double into a second glass cup.
- Now, steam and froth the milk as instructed. As I mentioned earlier, I always make enough frothed milk to make two Flat Whites.
- Pour the heated/frothed milk into the insulated, glass cups. Voila! Two Flat Whites. Clean the machine and work area as instructed.
No comments:
Post a Comment