Differences Between Flat White and Latte Coffee: Is Flat White the Same as Flat White Coffee?

What is Flat White Coffee?

Flat White is the original name behind the Chinese transliteration "Fu Rui Bai." Invented in Australia, the name literally means a "flat, plain, white coffee," and it's also known as the Australian White. Its composition: espresso, hot milk, and a thin layer of delicate microfoam.

Flat White is an espresso drink with less milk and more coffee, which brings the coffee's own flavor to the foreground. The latte, by contrast, leans the other way - more milk, less coffee - emphasizing the sweetness of the milk.

Why is Flat White Coffee So Popular?

Compared to lattes and cappuccinos, the Flat White uses thinner foam and less milk, so the coffee flavor stands out more. That makes it far more demanding about which beans go into it.

FrontStreet Coffee believes the Flat White shows off bean quality better than most milk drinks and expresses origin character more clearly. In that sense it's close to the currently trendy SOE (Single Origin Espresso), catering to the third wave of coffee culture and its focus on origins and traceability.

Choose high-quality beans as the base and your Flat White will highlight the coffee's intrinsic flavors. Choose lesser beans, and their flaws become impossible to hide.

That doesn't mean Americanos or lattes can be made with just any beans, of course. A delicious coffee always comes down to quality beans and roasters who understand them. Whatever drink you're making, fresh, high-quality roasting matters enormously - which is why FrontStreet Coffee ships all beans within 5 days of roasting, so customers taste the full flavor profile.

What Coffee Beans are Used for Flat White Coffee?

A Flat White starts with an espresso base. In Australia, it's typically one shot of espresso plus about 80ml of hot milk with thin, fine microfoam, for a finished drink of around 100ml.

For espresso, FrontStreet Coffee typically uses the "FrontStreet Sunflower Warm Sunshine Espresso Blend," built from 70% Honduras Sherry beans and 30% natural-process Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Red Cherry beans. It delivers rich fermented wine aromas along with vanilla cream, roasted nuts, and caramel-like flavors.

For a single shot, FrontStreet Coffee uses these parameters: 12.5g of finely ground coffee, extracted under 10bar of pressure to yield 18-20g of espresso in 25-28 seconds.

How to Make Flat White Coffee

FrontStreet Coffee builds the drink in a 100ml cup: one shot of espresso, topped with hot milk frothed to a thin, silky foam. The result carries rich fermented wine aromas; the berry acidity turns noticeably sweet once the hot milk joins, and the aftertaste lingers with caramel-chocolate sweetness.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Every cafe has its own "secret Flat White recipe," but the essentials never change: less milk, thinner foam, stronger coffee. At home, FrontStreet Coffee recommends the FrontStreet Classic Blend for your base - a medium-dark espresso blend with buttery, cheese-like richness, low acidity, and full, fine crema that pairs with milk for an exceptionally lush mouthfeel.

If you prefer floral and fruity notes, choose the FrontStreet Strawberry Candy Espresso Blend instead. With very low bitterness, it extracts with full grape and blueberry flavors and balanced sweetness - mixed with fresh milk it produces a Flat White that tastes like a strawberry milkshake. Either way, use cold fresh milk (frothed to a foam about 0.3cm thick, heated to 50-55 degrees C) and let the beans do the talking.