Pages

Monday, November 14, 2011

Can I just get a coffee please?

Thought Id throw out some commentary on the coffee situation out here.  In the area where Im currently living there are no Starbucks or Coffee Bean or even a Seattle's Best.  Just a bunch of cafes and restaurants, most of which serve coffee.  I dont know if we drink terrible coffee in the States are Aussie's drink complicated coffee here.  All I wanted when I first had breakfast here was a drip with room so I could add cream/milk and sugar or splenda.  Unfortunately there is no such things as a drip with room; and I for sure havnt seen splenda, sweet n low or equal.  Through some interrogation of the local baristas Ive found out that if you want just a straight coffee you order a "flat black".  Its exactly as the name implies.  Its a small cup of coffee, a few ounces, maybe 4-6, and its black.  Not translucent black like some coffee back home but black like black paint in can from Home Depot.  Its quite bitter but not to the point where its undrinkable.  Ive actually come to like it.  Other options are "Flat White" which is a flat black mixed with milk.  You also have your bevy of latte's and machiados.   I would say it definitely has a more European feel and flair.  Dont take for granted next time you go through the drive thru at Starbucks or brew a hot cup of Dunkin Donuts because in some parts of the world you cant do that.

3 comments:

  1. It feels more European than the states because it IS more European than the states, Why do you think the accent sounds more British than "American"? :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. The coffee is more European not because of the British but because of the Italians and Greeks (and Turks and Lebenese and other Mediterranean people). It is all espresso based -- and we don't much go in for artificial sweeteners or flavours or any of that stuff. (Some cafes will have Equal if you insist.)

    And yes, in my opinion anyway, as well as the opinions of many people who have tried both Australian and American coffees -- you do drink terrible coffee in the States. (I say as a dual US/AUS citizen who lived in the US drinking lots of that drip crap for the first 30 years of my life).

    ReplyDelete
  3. You've come to Melbourne-Australia's coffee capital. The coffee here is the best in the country! Our preferred drinking style is latte. Very European. But very good.

    ReplyDelete