Our first visit to Melbourne happened so quickly that we did not have time to order and read a copy of the very helpful Americans' Survival Guide to Australia and Australian-American Dictionary before we left. I don't think it even crossed our minds that we would need such a thing. Australians speak English after all. We quickly realized, however, that we would need some help understanding and making ourselves understood. Fortunately, the Australians we met were very friendly and eager to lend assistance.
Thus it happened that on our second night down under, after a long and tortuous dinner with work people (tortuous because we were not served our main course until about 6am Pittsburgh time), I ordered coffee. The waiter gave me a blank stare. I repeated the order in a louder voice, and a look of comprehension came over his face. "Would you like a flat-white, short black, long black, or long mac?" Er, what was that again?
Thankfully there were several new acquaintances happy to explain the terms. A flat-white is espresso in frothy milk, pictured below. It is somehow different from a cappuccino.
A short black (in the background above) is regular espresso, a long black, watered down espresso, and a long mac is a macchiato, a double shot of very strong espresso with a little bit of milk.
I chose a flat-white, and it was so good, that I ordered it at every opportunity during the remainder of our visit. It is the Italian influence that can be thanked for the high quality coffee drinks served at every restaurant, food joint and corner shop in Melbourne. Apparently it was not too long ago that if you requested coffee in a restaurant, you were given hot water and a packet of instant.
While I will miss regular drip coffee served with good old American half and half, I am grateful to the Italians for seeing to it that we will have a good alternative to instant over the next two years.
You are a nature blogger, entertaining and informative at the same time, plus good pictures! This post was fascinating and I'm so glad you will be getting such wonderful "coffee" in Hysteria.
Posted by: Shanda | 06/30/2010 at 01:42 AM
Shanda, Thank you for all of the encouragement. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be doing this. I have had the privilege of enjoying your blog for several years, and am finding having my own to be more rewarding and fun than I could have anticipated.
Posted by: Christie | 06/30/2010 at 02:00 AM
Christie: You are very welcome..and by the way, the above comment from me is supposed to say that you are a "natural blogger"...not "nature"...oops!
Posted by: Shanda | 06/30/2010 at 05:24 AM