Coffee

Coffee in Australia is not nearly as popular as in the states. As stated in the earlier blog, most people drink tea. There are cafes everywhere, but they don't get the long lines like our Starbucks (which are in the cities here). Coffee is often reserved for after meals or in the afternoon.

If somebody offers a cup of coffee at home, they will be giving you instant coffee. That space on the counter typically reserved for drip coffee pots or percolators is occupied by an electric tea kettle here. I can't believe that people here think instant coffee can even pass for coffee. I make my morning cup using a french press (which they call a plunger here). It is probably the best way to make a coffee anyway. Sadly, there is not much variety of coffee in the stores. The whole aisles of vanilla coffee, Colombian, Ethiopian, french silk chocolate, cinnamon, morning blend, french blend, hazelnut, etc don't exist here. The best you can hope for is a choice between arabica and robustico, if that. Most of the ground coffee beans are an espresso blend. It doesn't make a bad cup of coffee, but it really doesn't taste quite right.

The vast majority of coffee being consumed comes from cafes. Again, very rarely will there be the option of good ol' fashioned drip. Everything is espresso. They have mostly the same things as in the states, but the names and preparations are different.

A cappuccino in Australia is our lattes with chocolate powder on top. A latte in Australia is like our lattes, only with less foam. They serve something called a flat white, which is like a latte with no foam. An Americano is called a long black. An espresso shot is called short black. Nothing too different, but the first time people ordered some of these things from me at the Astra, I returned with blank stares and excessively foamy cappuccinos.