Coffee is Not Just Coffee

            I recently visited a friend from home, and while walking to her dorm, ran into someone I met while abroad. Although he lived in the residential building next door, his three Holy Cross College friends lived in the same building as I. This encounter had me reminiscing about my experience abroad, which has led me to this blog.

Yes, their accents can be sometimes hard to decipher and their wildlife is nothing like ours here in the States, but for some odd reason, I was not expecting Australian cuisine to be all that different from our own and for the most part it wasn’t. But there were certainly some surprises. Many of these surprises were in the form of food lingo. For anyone who has been to England, which I have not, I believe that Australian food terminology is very similar to that in the U.K. French fries are chips, cookies are biscuits, jello is jelly, potato chips are crisps, ketchup is tomato sauce, etc.

While I picked up what was what by listening to others, I also learned through experience. I’ll never forget my first attempt to order a plain black coffee. Since my arrival to Australia, I had lived in two locations, both of which only served instant coffee. I found it kind of odd that no one seemed to mind the instant coffee, but perhaps it was because tea was a more popular choice. Let’s just say, I was really longing a cup of brewed coffee by the time I came across a coffee kiosk on campus. By Australian standards, it was a brisk winter day and the anticipation of a warm cuppa joe had me practically running through the crowds (I also only had about 10 minutes to book it across campus to class). I waited in line for a minute or so before hastily asking for a black coffee. The student taking my order gave me quizzical look, but then quickly, as if he misheard me, asked, “What type of coffee?”

I liked the Bear on this picture of a flat white.

I again repeated, “A black coffee.”
“Well, what type of black coffee?” he asked. 

Thinking he was asking what type of roast I wanted, I asked, “What types do you have?”

Again he gave be a puzzled expression and then said, “Um, well, there is long black, short black, flat white.”

“I’ll take long black.” I said, thinking that this was simply a large black coffee.   

           

I was wrong. It wasn’t until later when I researched Australian coffee that I discovered what I ordered. Below are the three styles of coffee I was suggested.

Kere Kere kiosk at Melbourne University

• Short Black: This is a single shot of espresso.
• Long Black: Espresso with water (1/3 espresso 2/3 water). (Apparently this is the closest thing you can get to a regular black coffee.)
• Flat White: Developed in Australia and New Zealand in the 1980s, this is an espresso with steamed milk (about 1/3 espresso, 2/3 milk). The closest approximation in America would be a no foam latte.

Coffee to me used to seem so simple, you brew the coffee beans and you drink it, adding sugar and milk as you please. I often forget that even the simplest foods and drinks have different meanings across cultures.  

I found an article called “CoffeeCountries: How A Cup Of Joe Is Enjoyed Around The World,” that gives a couple of examples of how coffee differs in style and meaning from country to country