4 ms·

>I live in Melbourne, and was surprised on first visiting Italy and France that the coffee was utterly inferior. Well, I lived in Australia ten years ago and I

by Bayart 7y ago

>I live in Melbourne, and was surprised on first visiting Italy and France that the coffee was utterly inferior. Well, I lived in Australia ten years ago and I had the reverse experience. While I genuinely enjoyed the country and would gladly come back to visit, the arcane sugary cocktails Australians call coffee had me more annoyed than charmed. How hard is it to just make a fucking espresso and charge what it's worth ? What Australia has for itself though is stellar Asian restaurants. Great Japanese and Korean places are absolutely everywhere, the average quality is far above anywhere in Europe.

abrookewood 7y ago
I've never had nor seen a sugary coffee cocktail outside of a nightclub. Where were you drinking? Starbucks?
unixhero 7y ago
Because you didn't go to a proper coffee house then and you didn't ask for an espresso in the Australian way: "G'day! double short black, thanks mate"
foldingmoney 7y ago
I don't know what you're ordering, but good/excellent quality espresso is readily available throughout Australia and New Zealand.
- peatmoss 7y ago
  That was my experience as well. When I moved from Auckland to Seattle, I found isolated pockets of better espresso, but I had to work to find the gems that were better than the average in NZ.
  - foldingmoney 7y ago
    If you're ever back in Auckland, pay a visit to Coffee Lab's cafe in Wairau Valley. Very unassuming looking place in an industrial district but absolutely amazing coffee.
    - peatmoss 7y ago
      I don’t think about moving back maybe once or twice a month! ;-) Thank you for the tip—it’s been some years since I’ve been back, and I’m sure the coffee has only gotten better. When I was there, I was even hearing isolated reports of hobbyists growing their own coffee in the far north. Was always curious how that worked out, as I’d have thought coffee would still be a bit marginal at those latitudes?

by Bayart 7y ago

abrookewood 7y ago

I've never had nor seen a sugary coffee cocktail outside of a nightclub. Where were you drinking? Starbucks?

unixhero 7y ago

Because you didn't go to a proper coffee house then and you didn't ask for an espresso in the Australian way: "G'day! double short black, thanks mate"

foldingmoney 7y ago

I don't know what you're ordering, but good/excellent quality espresso is readily available throughout Australia and New Zealand.

peatmoss 7y ago
That was my experience as well. When I moved from Auckland to Seattle, I found isolated pockets of better espresso, but I had to work to find the gems that were better than the average in NZ.
- foldingmoney 7y ago
  If you're ever back in Auckland, pay a visit to Coffee Lab's cafe in Wairau Valley. Very unassuming looking place in an industrial district but absolutely amazing coffee.
  - peatmoss 7y ago
    I don’t think about moving back maybe once or twice a month! ;-) Thank you for the tip—it’s been some years since I’ve been back, and I’m sure the coffee has only gotten better. When I was there, I was even hearing isolated reports of hobbyists growing their own coffee in the far north. Was always curious how that worked out, as I’d have thought coffee would still be a bit marginal at those latitudes?