Are you a fellow flat white snob? And do you also love travelling? Then you may be happy to learn that you can create delicious flat whites on demand, whilst, say, hiking your way up a mountain, or having a day out at the park.
Thanks to OutIn, I have been finessing my oat flat whites whilst on the move, using their handy portable tools, like grinders, espresso makers and foamers.
I am not going to profess to be a barista of any kind. I am just a flat white snob who travels a lot, as you’ll see from all my oat milk coffee guides on this blog! So, if you’re after a more technical guide to making flat whites, you may want to look for one from a coffee expert.
But if you’re just looking to make some pretty decent flat white-esque coffee whilst on the move, then you’re in the right place!
What you’ll need
In order to make a flat white on the go, you’ll need to ensure you have both the ingredients and the tools to do so.
As for ingredients, you’ll need coffee, water, and milk (I use oat milk). To get a traditional flat white, with a double shot of espresso, you’ll want around 24g of coffee, 100ml of water, and 100-120ml of milk.
You will also need the following tools: a portable coffee grinder (unless you have ground coffee), a portable espresso machine, and a milk frother.
Side note: You will need hot milk to make a flat white. I usually heat mine beforehand and put it in a thermos, ready for frothing later. But if you are camping with a stove, you can heat it there and then.
A portable coffee grinder is an absolute must if you love your coffee freshly ground. The OutIn Fino can grind up to 25g of coffee beans in one go.
A portable espresso maker like the OutIn Mino will provide you with a hot espresso in minutes, straight from cold water. With a consistent temperature of 93.3℃.
A portable milk frother like the OutIn LattoGo will ensure you get the creamiest microfoam for your flat white, with a mesh whisk and silicon ring for resting on your cup.
How to make a flat white on the go
Now you have your ingredients and tools ready, here is the method I use to make a creamy oat flat white whilst on the move. As demonstrated by me whilst in the park!
Step 1: Grind your beans
If you prefer a freshly ground cup of coffee, then you may want to grind your beans on the go, too! Thankfully, this is really easy with OutIn’s portable coffee Grinder, Fino.
Select your grind size, load up your beans (25g max), and grind into the handy compartment. When I use it, it takes the machine under a minute to grind all the beans.
I love this grinder so much that I actually use it at home with this stand to grind beans each morning for my first cup of coffee.
Step 2: Brew your coffee
Your next step is to brew your coffee. This may sound impossible whilst on the move, but with the OutIn Mino, you can make an espresso from cool water in just 149 seconds! The machine heats the water on demand, then extracts your espresso. (The OutIn Nano does the same job, just a little slower at around 200 seconds.)
If you have access to hot water, then you can just fill up the machine with hot water and extract straight away.
For a traditional flat white, you’ll want a double shot, but the espresso maker is built for a single shot. So I do this process twice. I load 12g of coffee, add 50ml of water, and pull my first shot. Then I tip out the grounds and do the same again. That gives me around 48ml of espresso, at the usual 1:2 ratio.
Find out more about OutIn, in my OutIn Nano and OutIn Mino reviews.
Step 3: Froth your milk
Whilst waiting for your coffee to brew, you can begin frothing your milk using the LattoGo. Put your hot milk in a container and place the frother in there.
Start near the top for just a second or two to introduce a little air, then push it underneath to create a whirlpool. Keep that whirlpool going until the milk looks glossy and the bubbles have gone tiny. You’re after a thin layer of silky microfoam, not a thick foam.
Tap the container on a flat surface to settle any larger bubbles, and then it is ready for pouring.
Please note: I took out pre-heated milk with me in a thermos. If you are heating your milk on the go (particularly if you are camping and have a stove), then make sure to do that before this step.
Step 4: Pour your flat white
Pour your espresso into your drinking cup (a cup of around 180ml usually works perfectly). And then slowly pour in your frothed milk on top.
Et voilà! You have your flat white ready to drink!
My final thoughts: Is it worth it?
If you are a coffee geek like me and love both flat whites and travel, then you’ll definitely find this set up to be useful!
Now, it isn’t the easiest to carry around, so I suspect you may not want to take it with you when flying on a budget holiday with Ryanair.
But if you have the space in your luggage (in your cabin bags) when flying, or if you are driving somewhere for a camping trip or a day out, then I highly recommend it!
Once you’ve done the process a couple of times, it is an absolute breeze. It really doesn’t take too long to do either; I manage to make myself a creamy flat white in around 5 minutes.
The quality is excellent, and the machines from OutIn have been keeping really well. I imagine they’ll last me for quite some time!
My go-to travel health insurance:
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