It's The Little Things: #6 - Coffee

It’s the Little Things

#6 – Coffee

I am a coffee drinker of the fumble every morning with my eyes still closed muttering “coffee, holy heaven give me coffee” variety. I prefer to make my coffee with a French press, rather than a drip machine, but that is about as discerning as my coffee consumption gets.

The first thing I learned about coffee when I came to Australia (i.e. – the very hour that I stumbled off of the airplane, when I fumbled into our apartment muttering “coffee”) is that my beloved half & half is an unknown concept. Partner-in-Crime had dutifully tried to honor my request of having half & half waiting in the fridge for my arrival, but he could not find it in any store. That is because it does not exist in Australia.

This led to a long trial and error process of preparing my morning coffee in a palatable way. It is most fortunate that I already had a love for the French press because the drip coffee machine is also a non-entity in the land down under.

But, the bigger issue here is not my morning brew. It is, in fact, becoming one with Australia’s coffee culture. And what a culture it is.

The first thing to know is that there are approximately 3 million coffee shops in Sydney, alone (there are 6 million people in Sydney, so I'm estimating a rate of 1:2, which seems about right). True blue Sydneysiders know which ones are proper, and which ones are dodgy. You may pass up to seven coffee shops until you get to “the right” coffee shop.

Once you’ve found a proper shop, the adventure has just begun. There is no such thing as “just a cup of coffee” (trust me, I've tried to use that line to get out of figuring out what to order). Every coffee on the menu is an espresso-based concoction with really non-descriptive names, should you have no idea what you’re after. Americans will know the standard cappuccino and latte, but there are also (just to name a few):

-Short black (one shot of espresso)

-Tall black (a shot of espresso mixed with water)

-Tall white (espresso with non-frothy steamed milk)

-Macchiatto (shot of espresso with a dollop of froth)

Most of these drinks are strong and presented beautifully. These are sit-and-chat for an hour drinks, not run out the door and slurp down with a breakfast sandwich bevvies.

Don’t even mention Starbucks to an Australian because they will harshly judge your taste level. There are Starbucks here and there, for the tourists, and once I even went into one. As I stood in line, I had the feeling that something was different here. I could not put my finger on it until much later, when I realized that almost everyone in the place had an American accent, including the barista. Starbucks simply does not measure up to Australian standards, in terms of quality of coffee or style.

My coffee tastes have changed drastically due to my time in Australia, including the reduction in the amount of sugar that I take in my coffee by about half. I'm actually starting to appreciate the taste of good coffee, not just half & half with sugar and a hint of coffee flavoring.

One other coffee surprise worth mentioning is the iced coffee. Now, I have successfully ordered a typical iced coffee, as an American might expect it to be prepared. But beware … if you order an iced coffee, you are just as likely to get an incredibly fancy tall drink with vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup. Color me puzzled when that drink arrived at my table!

However, if you’ve been reading along during this little series, you can probably guess that, while I was surprised, I didn’t send a glass of coffee and ice cream back.