The integrity of the flat white is being diluted by size inflation. It’s a sign that most people have no idea what they really want at all

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A flat white, as any self-respecting coffee drinker will tell you, should be a short, strong, balanced drink – espresso, a small amount of milk, minimal microfoam, absolutely no fluff. But a disturbing trend is sweeping Australia. Even in Melbourne – where people treat coffee with near-religious reverence – I’m now routinely asked: small or large flat white? I find myself regularly wincing into my keep cup.

A large flat white is an oxymoron – a bastardisation of the drink Australia claims to have given the world. The moment it takes a larger form, it stops being a flat white and becomes something else entirely: a milky latte, ordered by those too afraid to admit that’s what they really want.