First, for some perspective, I'll tell you about our Canadian coffee routine.
I set our automatic drip coffee maker to have wonderful steaming hot coffee ready for us when we wake up. Rob and I each have our favourite mugs: mine is a ceramic 16 oz Timmy's mug and his is a handmade mug in a size we lovingly call "bladder buster". The 12 cup urn will provide us with 3 mugs of coffee - one each with the third going to whoever doesn't turn their back at the wrong time. I usually win and use the remainder to fill Bubba, my travel mug. Bubba comes with me to work and accompanies me for the better part of the day. I'm a morning coffee drinker, unless it's an early swim practice day, or a rowing day or if I start nodding off after lunch, in which case, I will make a quick trip to Starbucks for a grande long Americano, extra shot, please and thank you very much.
In Australia, it is difficult to find what we would call a coffee shop. There are lots of bakeries and cafes and other grab and go establishments but not many that focus on coffee. When I walked into my first bakery and attempted to order coffee, the poor cashier was thoroughly confused by both my accent and my request for a drip coffee. Australians don't do drip coffee. If you ask for one, you will get a blank stare. Your order options include a flat white, latte, espresso or a cornucopia of other concoctions a barista can provide. There's no such thing as a plain ol' cup of coffee. And don't think you can get smart, order a long black and add your own cream. Australians don't do half and half or coffee cream either. Milk only.
But that's not the most difficult part. The real conundrum is the sizing. I requested a large flat white and received a cup so small that all of my fingers touched when I clasped it in my poor, trembling, caffeine withdrawn hand. Their large is the size of our short. It was a darn fine beverage, but it was gone in two slurps.
Another big difference. Australians don't eat or drink while they walk around. Someone carrying a coffee cup or a munchie of some kind out on the street is a real anomaly. I spotted a woman with a grande Starbucks cup in The Queen Victoria Market but on my way to interrogate her about where she purchased this perfectly proportioned elixir of the gods, I walked into a pig's butt. They hang them outside the butchers shops and I went dashing after her so fast that I hadn't noticed.
And so, my conclusions...
North Americans carry their coffees like security blankets. Most coffee drinkers wouldn't dream of leaving the house without their favourite travel mug and if they did, couldn't possibly go in to work without stopping at Timmy's or Starbucks. If the brimming coffee cup doesn't weigh enough to engage all of the muscle groups in your arm, it's not big enough. The cup sits on prime real estate on the office desk - near enough to be in easy reach but not close enough to spill on the keyboard if you accidentally jostle it. Our coffee is our fuel and drinking it is usually a solitary, personal and ritualistic experience.
Australians savour their coffee, both the liquid itself and the opportunity to sit and enjoy it in the company of others. Cafés and bakeries are filled with people in animated conversations, gesticulating around their cute little muglets. The emphasis is on high quality, low quantity coffee to be relished in the moment and not carted around in a leaky paper cup until the last two inches of lukewarm dregs have to be thrown out.
Hmmm. I think they've got something here. I'll conduct more research and get back to you.
And here I sit, grasping my cup of coffee, alone at the computer and reading about your coffee woes. I'm all for socializing over coffee, but no cream? Are they insane? And you didn't get on the next plane home?
ReplyDeleteWe listlessly wandered the grocery aisles for 1/2 hr before we accepted our new, creamless reality.
DeleteNo empty, soggy, stained, cardboard cups hidden on book shelves in the library? On the floor of the bus? Beside the bananas in the grocery store? It's a more European way to drink coffee it seems. I wonder what the tea culture is like in Australia? Would one be able to get a Toasted Nut Brulee Oolong? What is their stand on Paninis? I'm going out for a Tall Americano with CREAM and take it on my walk with me. I'll think of you.
ReplyDeletePS~ you've a second career with blogging. Love your writing.
DeleteHmm. I actually liked that fact that I could get a fresh pulled long black anywhere when I was down there!
ReplyDelete