Choosing the Coffee: How We Found The Perfect Flat White

If we’re going to say Flat White or F*ck Off, the flat white has to back it up.

So two weeks ago, we did the important bit. We went coffee tasting.

The set-up

We were hosted by Fireheart Coffee Roastery in East London and walked into what can only be described as serious coffee territory.

Before we even got near milk, we started with a method called coffee cupping. This is the industry way of tasting coffee properly. The coffee is brewed, then you slurp it with a special spoon. Loudly. On purpose.

It looks ridiculous. It works.

The tasting

We didn’t mess around. We were sent around twenty coffee samples, roasted by roasteries from all over the UK.

We blind tasted them black first. Took notes. Narrowed things down. Picked our favourites.

From there, we selected the top six coffees and moved on to the part that actually matters for us: tasting them with milk.

Both dairy and oat. No shortcuts.

Because if a coffee can’t hold up in a flat white, it’s out.

The decision

After testing, retesting and drinking far more coffee than any normal person should, two roasters stood out.

Fireheart
Rave

Both excellent. Both proper contenders.

But in the end, one just edged it.

The winner

We’ve chosen Fireheart as the coffee we’ll be serving for our flat whites.

That’s what you’ll be drinking at the FWOFO pop-up on 28 January.

Clean. Balanced. Strong enough to cut through milk. Fast to serve. No nonsense.

Exactly what a flat white should be.

Final thought

This is the part people don’t always see. The tasting. The testing. The decisions behind the scenes.

We’re keeping the menu simple so we can obsess over the details.

One drink. Done properly.

Flat white or f*ck off. ☕

Follow the journey

If you are curious to see how Flat White or F*ck Off unfolds, or want to support the experiment, you can follow along here:

Website: flatwhiteorfckoff.com

Instagram: @flatwhiteorfckoff

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