Coffee

Isn’t coffee wonderful stuff? The people here certainly seem to think so, there are no less than five Cafetières for general use plus an espresso maker and some other complex looking electronical devices that do interesting things to the powder to turn it into, well, something highly drinkable. Recent studies have shown that more than four cups of coffee (I’m not sure if a litre equates to more than four, I will assume it does) a day protect against heart disease (although another study has shown that it many hinder your short term memory. I had a joke to insert here, but I've forgotten it. Ho Ho.)

In Australia, coffee comes with a whole separate language to the one I had learnt in order to converse with the ubiquitous Starbucks baristas in the UK. (Another thing, Starbucks hardly exists at all in Australia. I think I found one in Sydney, and that was about it.) Pretty much every coffee you buy is based upon a shot or more of espresso, then changed to suit. An espresso, incidentally, is not referred to as such, instead it is called a short black. What I would refer to as an Americano, a shot of espresso with hot water added to make it a long drink, is a long black (although sometimes they form this by just adding espresso shots until the cup is full. These really wake you up.) A flat white is a froth free mixture of hot milk and an espresso shot, whilst a latte is the same with froth. A Cappuccino, as far as I understood it, is a latte with a lot more froth, whilst a Macchiato is shot of espresso with a bit of froth.

Easy really.

So that is coffee. A universally available and wonderful drink. I like mine black, sugar free and in large quantities. More to follow of a non coffee related nature shortly.