The Politics of Coffee in Oz

Image by poolie via Flickr

I remember before the financial crash hearing a comedian remark that he knew the world was in trouble when he walked out of Starbucks, looked across and saw another one directly across the street. After a year living in Oz I now know that we Americans are lost when it comes to coffee. When I started working here last year, I received a crash course in the politics of coffee. Due to a lack of meeting space we often ventured out of the office for meetings. It was then that I learned that you can't just rock up on ANY coffee shop for a meeting. With at least 20 coffee shops within a block and a half walk, choosing an acceptable coffee shop for a meeting is of paramount importance. A few observations I made right away...

(1) Never go to the shop in the same building as the the office as coffee there is horrible (I think this holds true regardless of the building you work in)

(2) If you're American, by default your coffee tastes are suspect as apparently all coffee in the States is garbage (as a non-coffee drinker it was tough for me to waive the red, white & blue to defend a 2% soy chai latte extra hot w/a splash of water...grande please)

(3) While Americans think we're coffee mad due to the spate of coffee shops that have popped up over the last 15 years...we haven't even scratched the surface as connoisseurs of coffee & hot drinks like the locals here in Australia. "Tea time" rituals alone are enough to make us re-think the role of coffee in our lives.

So, in order to fit in (yep, still trying!), I've taken to sampling different coffees - flat whites (regular coffee), lattes, chai lattes, lattes w/leaves, lattes w/syrups, expressos, cappuccinos - you name it I've tried it! Strange thing is, it just all tastes like coffee to me! So, in the spirit of "keepin it real", I'm just going to have Moms send me over a couple of cans of Chock Full O' Nuts and call it a day. I'll let my fellow coffee loving Americans in Oz take up this battle.

Black2Oz out.