Listen along to "Everytime" by Butterfingers...download for a laugh!!Traveling to Australia (or New Zealand) soon? Let me spare you 3 agonizing weeks of confusion and frustration and break down the coffee culture for you...It's all espresso down under!
I'll never forget walking in to my first coffee shop after touching down in Sydney last April. It was Gloria Jeans, the primo coffee chain I was told.
I am a proud coffee enthusiast and I've never once walked into a coffee shop, not knowing how to order...and yet, here I was, for the first time a coffee-ignorante!
...Flat White, or a Long Black, or how about a Short Black instead... what?!
I walked up to the barista and asked for a 'regular coffee'...
Barista--"White coffee?"
Me--"What does that mean?"
Barista--"...White...Milk...You're American, right?"
Shite! After only a few hours I had already been called out as a dumb tourist!
It took me ages to find someone with enough time to sit down and explain the coffees to me...After the 10th time asking for a 'traditional American coffee', the owner of a mom and pop's coffee shop tilted his head and asked me to take a seat. I was so pissed off! I thought he was dismissing me, but instead he just winked and handed me a menu and promised to come sit with me.
15 minutes later he showed up with 3 different coffees and gave me a personal 'coffee tasting session.' It was brilliant! After 6 months traveling through America he completely understood why I was so confused in the first place.
We're used to drip brew, or percolated coffee which means slow pouring of boiling hot water onto ground beans...The Aussies first developed their coffee culture from the Italian immigrants in the 19th century, so it's all espresso culture. Every thing on a menu will be some variation of an espresso, which means quick brew under high pressures.
Read more about the difference between Espresso and Drip Coffee here...
So here you go, the perfect guide to spare you the same embarrassment next time you find yourself in a coffee shop 'Down Under!'
Here are your options off a menu in a typical Australian coffee shop:
- Flat White: the most basic/popular drink of choice = espresso with steamed milk.
- Long Black: espresso & hot water makes a steaming mug of 'black coffee' (stronger than a flat white, but ask for milk on the side if you need a little 'white.')
- Short Black: espresso only in a small glass
- Macchiato: espresso & a spoon of milk froth
- Latte: espresso & steamed milk & froth
- Mocha: basically a latte with a sprinkle of chocolate powder
- Cappuccino: 1/3rd espresso, 1/3rd steamed milk, 1/3rd froth
Americans everywhere on the road, go forth and prosper!
Thanks for the insight!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I don't see Cafe Cubano or Cortadito explained. Luckily, about.com and wikipedia give some guidance.
Hi Chris! They don't have cafe cubanos or cortaditos in Australia. They don't even have good Mexican food! I went into a supermarket the other day to try to find jalapenos and the grocer corrected me by saying 'galapenos'...made my skin crawl! :)
ReplyDeletewish I would have been given a heads up on this three years ago when I took a trip to NZ and AU. I had the same experience as you. I gave up trying to figure it all out and went to Starbucks for coffee.
ReplyDeleteGloria Jeans is possibly the 'bottom end' of the coffee industry. There are hundreds of high quality independant coffee shops. If you want a real coffee, check out www.beanhunter.com to find a coffee shop close to you worth a visit.
ReplyDeleteCorrection:
ReplyDeleteMocha: basically a latte with a sprinkle of chocolate powder (this isn't right)
A mocha is actually more like a hot chocolate with a shot of coffee in it.
Traveling in Asian country, one doesn't have much trouble in order a cup of coffee!
ReplyDeleteOf course, I do love American and Australian coffee as compare to that of Continental coffee!