Kiwi coffee Brit hit

It's the favourite tipple of New Zealanders wanting a caffeine hit and now the flat white is taking the United Kingdom by storm.

Leading national cafe chain, Costa Coffee, introduced the Kiwi staple in late January and is crediting it with helping boost sales by 9.5 per cent in its latest quarterly report.

Britain's The Times described the coffee as being "popular in Australia and New Zealand", and "similar to a latte but with slightly less milk".

Up until now – bar a couple of Kiwi-run cafes in London – New Zealanders seeking their flat white fix in the UK would have been sadly disappointed.

Russell Armitage, a former Hamilton man living in the UK, said Costa Coffee was promoting the flat white heavily and it was – like our wine – a bit more expensive than other varieties.

He'd first spotted it at an airport in Birmingham and ordered one straight away.

"I asked the chap serving how long this had been available and he said only since January 28.

"He said he thought it was an `antipodean' style of coffee. `Indeed it is,' I said, `New Zealand in fact, and it is something I have missed very much'. So I ordered one.

"The flat white he produced was excellent.

"As it happens there is a very well-known coffee shop in London run by New Zealanders called the Flat White (in Soho) but I have yet to try it."

Mr Armitage said the only downside was that, despite a lot of training, the barista could not perfect the silver fern in the froth.

Some things you can only get at home.

- © Fairfax NZ News