Long Tall Sally

   Or rather a long black, short macchiato, or flat white. These are coffee drinks in Melbourne.  Melbourne is famous for its coffee culture, for good reason. The coffee here is outstanding and fortunately, unlike many other items, coffee here is no more expensive than it is at Starbucks back home. 

   Speaking of Starbucks, when you come visit us (hint hint) you'll see that Starbucks are few and far between here. I can think of only two locations in Melbourne off the top of my head, whereas there are four within a mile of our house back home. Aussies have pretty much rejected the corporate behemoth, perhaps because, well, the coffee just isn't as good. And they much prefer their local, independent cafes, some of which even offer "cuppings," which are like wine tastings, only for coffee. (Note: I'm pretty sure it's a law that the Sunday newspaper magazines are required to have at least one article about coffee as well as several coffeehouse reviews, along with the requisite footy article)

   Inspired, my friend Tierney and I headed into the CBD to learn the secrets of this great coffee and to see if perhaps we'd be able to make it ourselves. I love the flat white, an Aussie invention, and if nothing else, I hoped to find out how it differs from a latte. Answer: different containers (glass for latte, ceramic cup for flat white) but mainly there's a lot less froth with a flat white. 

   The class was three hours, some theory and lecture, but a lot of hands-on time on commercial machines. We learned the tips and tricks on how to grind and properly store beans, how to heat and froth milk, how to tamp the coffee and make the espresso. We tasted the effects of too-finely and too-coarsely ground coffee. And finally we made most of the drinks on the basic coffee menu: cappuccinos, latte, flat white, caffe mocha, chai latte, short and long blacks, short and long macchiatos, and hot chocolate. (We skipped the babycino, a small drink of warm milk and froth with a sprinkling of chocolate, popular with the under 5 crowd.) 

   Alas, we didn't stay for the coffee art class, which teaches you how to pour in the heated milk/foam to create hearts, leaves or other designs:

Not unusual to be served a coffee that looks like this!

   We were allowed to drink whatever we made, so I left with a nice buzz, as well as two certificates:

Certified Barista

   So will I go forth and spend many hundred of dollars to purchase the grinder, espresso machine, frothing jugs, thermometer, not to mention fresh coffee beans every week? Let's just say for the time being we'll just continue to visit our local cafe. It was fun learning how to do it though, and I've gained an appreciation for what it takes to make really great coffee. And hey, with my TAFE certification, who needs a masters degree in Mechanical Engineering? I can always get a job as a barista!