Drip coffee — a novelty in Australia
I was about to start uploading pictures from my mudcrabbing excursion, when I came across this picture of McDonald’s coffee and it doesn’t really go with the mudcrabbing so I decided I’d devote a blog blurb to it.
In case you didn’t already know, I [heart] coffee. In fact, I love coffee so much that my first two university papers were written about coffee (the history of it for an English paper and the effects it has on memory for a Psychology paper).
Australia has great coffee, but there are a few differences in terminology here that I think are noteworthy for a North American coffee lover:
In North America, a “regular” or “black” coffee means a cup of drip coffee. In Australia, a “regular” is usually a “flat white” (think latte but without the 1/4 foam) and a “black” is usually a “long black.”
Around 2004, Starbucks changed all of their coffee machines in Canada from the traditional manual hand-held espresso machines to the fully automated monsters. Since then, they haven’t been able to produce a real “long black.” A long black is a black coffee made through the espresso machine where the water goes through one scoop of grinds until you tell it to stop. Because the automatic monsters will only allow you to produce one shot per scoop, if you order a “long black” at a Canadian Starbucks you’ll either get several espresso shots that fill up the cup (if the barista is really nice), or an Americano (a couple shots of espresso with hot water). If this has changed, please let me know.
In North America, a “macchiato” is like a latte except the shot of espresso is put in after the hot milk is poured rather than before. In Australia, a “macchiato” is a small but strong cup of espresso with a bit of milk on the top to give it a sort of light brown top that trickles down through the coffee. In North America, you normally don’t have to add anything to the macchiato because the fancy drink you’re ordering (ex. caramel macchiato at Starbucks) already has lots of sugar in the syrups. In Australia, you need to add your own sugar and I usually put two in mine.
In North America, a “short black” at a Starbucks is a very small cup of regular drip coffee. In Australia, it’s an espresso shot! I found this out at a McDonald’s one day when I ordered it and thought the cup they gave me was really light (they serve the espresso shot in the same cup size as a regular coffee). I opened the cup to find that it was 80% empty but the shot that was in it was strong stuff.
I’ll admit Australia has a much better appreciation for coffee than North America, but sometimes you just want a cup of the stuff you get back home. Whenever I asked for drip coffee, the barista would look at me as if I was daft. Who wants drip coffee? That’s shit. Yeah yeah whatever. I eventually stopped asking at the nicer coffee bars.
Then one day when I was in Mooloolaba I got all excited because I found regular drip coffee on the menu at McDonald’s! When I ordered it though, the server said they didn’t have any and they only served the espresso pronto drinks (ie flat white, latte etc). You have no idea how disappointed I was. 
Then last weekend when I was waiting for my train at Central Station, I walked into the McDonald’s to get breakfast and lo and behold I saw a pot of DRIP COFFEE!!!! I was SO EXCITED! The server was laughing at me a bit, but I didn’t care. I’d been here for over a month and a half and this was the FIRST time I came across actual drip coffee. It cost the same as a flat white, and it was worth every penny (by the way, Australians don’t have pennies — your total price gets rounded down to the nearest five cent denomination).
ah-ha! Your method for a long black seems a little bit off. Or rather, if you over extract the espresso shot by letting the water run through the coffee until you have a full cup you’ll have a very bitter (and probably quite nasty) cup of coffee in front of you.
A better way to make a long black is to pull a shot of espresso and then add hot water until your cup is full.
That coffee appreciation course I did just paid for itself
— Nick “I heart coffee too” McIntosh
Ack! Just plain hot water with a shot of espresso is an Americano! I’m not a fan of Americanos. I prefer the over-extracted espresso shot.
It took a while for me to adjust to Boston. In the midwest, “regular” meant black; in Boston “regular” means cream and 2 sugars.
It’s no wonder there are so many books written about coffee!
I like roughing it in the coffee world too Anny! I have a little drip coffee maker at home and I love it! None of that Starbucks hi-tech coffee culture for me. I see people clutching their coffee cups making long pilgrimages from their homes to local Starbucks coffee temples and I laugh.…
A lot of Starbucks employees also prefer the drip coffee. It’s the best way to appreciate the different types of coffee available.
Technically speaking, a flat white is two-thirds coffee and one-third milk, while a cafe latte is one-third coffee and two-thirds milk. However, many places don’t honour the distinction and they end up being the same drink.
My favourite is a properly made cappuccino or macchiato, but in the US I’ve been drinking drip coffee. It’s cheaper (often with free refills) and it’s harder to mess up. Nothing better than well-made espresso but nothing worse than badly made espresso. I can’t stand sugar in coffee.
Australia has good coffee because we had a lot of Italian immigration in the 1950s and 1960s and they brought cafe culture with them. (Whereas I believe the Italian immigration in North America started in the late 19th century). Starbucks came to Sydney in the late 1990s and it’s actually had to close a few stores (the Balmain one for example) because people know they can buy better coffee for less money from the Italian cafes.
That’s really interesting Caitlin! I didn’t know there was a big Italian immigration back then.
just noticed someone saying ‘technically speaking a flat white is 2 thirds espresso and one third milk’ — well thats much more like a macchiato.
ideally a flat white should be small — ideally i think in a 6 or 7 ounce cup — always with a double-shot of espresso — approx ratio two-thirds milk and about a quarter to a half centimetre of foam.
the key difference between a latte is the ratio of milk/espresso and different depth of foam. at our cafe we serve our latte in an 8 ounce glass and the foam is about 1 cm. we serve it with a double-shot — other cafes i’ve worked at make exactly the same drink and capacity, but with only a one-shot which makes the difference between flat white and latte more distinctive.
nice blog by the way!
I am so happy to find someone else that loves “good” drip coffee. As a Canadian living in Perth,WA for two months I was always trying to find a good cup of coffee, in the end I had to make my own coffee in a tea strainer, it was the best I could do till I hit LAX and got a real cup of coffee~! Next trip Iam taking my own one cup drip maker with me and my own coffee, but I now see they have “coffee bags” like tea bags so I am going to give them a try in hopes of having good coffee away from home.
LOL I LOVE the Robert Timms coffee bags! I have one every morning and buy the big bulk boxes. I think they should start selling them in Canada too!
I’m a bit late in this forum, but it was great to see this blog on the pros and cons of Australia’s love affair with Italian coffee machines. As a Canadian-Australian (another commenter enjoying life in Perth), I applaud Australia for having some of the best baristas and for being an early adopter of Italian machines for the variety of coffee available. But unless you want special coffees (expresso, cappuccino) Australians lack the many benefits of being served quality drip coffee in restaurants and cafes.
One problem with the Italian coffee machines (so I read a decade ago) is that their water intrusion process is too hot (boiling) for good coffee. Coffee should be off the boil whereas machine steam intrusion is boiling. Drip machines intrude off the boil. Also, without a paper filter, the strong acids remain in the coffee, thereby obscuring the coffee/caffeine flavour (but that is a matter of taste, too).
Another issue: Have you ever noticed the positive correlation between use of Italian coffee machines and sales of instant coffee? Come to Australia and you’ll find folks paying obscene prices for machines, but use them only on special occasions. The time for preparation and clean up means that many Australians still drink instant coffee in the morning and at the office (much less so in North America).
A final nuisance with Italian machines is that cafes with Italian machines take MUCH longer to serve coffee, whereas drip coffee is made in batches so served quickly. Fact is, I find more lineups for coffee in OZ than in North America or other places where drip coffee is brewed.
Two asides: (1) No question that coffee in many US restaurants is weak. That’s a water ratio choice, not an issue with drip coffee, per se. (2) OZ friends recall that drip coffee was bitter. The reason is that coffee should never remain on a warmer. Keep it in a carafe for up to an hour The best US/Euro coffee makers (none available in OZ) have carafes without warmers, not glass containers with warmers.
Enough said, but my views struck home recently when a Canadian acquaintance toured around Australia for a few weeks before visiting us on the Left coast (Perth). I served a drip coffee in a basic (Breville) coffee maker. His immediate comment: This is the best coffee I’ve had on this trip! And believe me, my coffee making skills are average. I suspect the Italian coffee machine trend will someday appear as another king-wears no-clothes, unless you want very strong specialty coffee.
I stumbled across this while looking for some information on Australian coffee, as I was trying to describe to a foreign friend what it’s like here!
But first and formeost, I believe that it’s impossible to quantify “the best coffee”, as like music, sport, fashion and so many other things in life, it’s all about one thing– PERSONAL TASTE!
Actually, it may be even more than that, as where you grow up, what your friends/family drink, your own culture and background and, of course, personal preferences.
I’m looking at this from the other side of the coin, as growing up in a half-Italian family in Melbourne (where pretty much EVERYONE is Greek or Italian or whatnot, and the coffee is correspondingly so ;P), I EXPECT coffee to be from a machine, and not from a drip-filter.
I’ve never been to North America, but when I was in Northern Europe recently– Norway, the Netherlands, Germany et al. (which appears to have coffee very much like that served in the U.S./Canada, or so I’ve been told), I was astounded to be served drip coffee– the first time in my life this has ever happened to me!
Now, I’ve seen percolaters at peoples’ homes (in Norway I found everyone has one, seeing as alcohol’s so expensive ;P), but I NEVER expected to be served drip coffee at a cafe/restaurant!
To me (and to many other Australians, I suspect), drip coffee is something you give to friends or have early in the morning when you can’t be bothered making something more elaborate (we have a coffee plunger for this purpose, not a fancy-schmancy machine)- you would never PAY for it– that would be cheating you out of a “real” coffee– one made fresh, right there in front of you, specifically for YOU, the customer– not one reheated from a slow-dripped batch made earlier! Besides, if it really IS a good coffee, you can afford to wait! And often, it is good– REALLY GOOD
Just putting my two cents’ worth out there, as I felt someone had to stick up for the home side, and for our EXCELLENT coffee
haha
LOL Thanks for the feedback Steve!
I’ve heard people say McDonald’s makes good coffee. This somehow terrifies me.
We have a local fair trade supplier for coffee here in Nova Scotia, but it’s still nearly impossible to find a place where you can get a decent cup o’ Joe. Mostly they just wave the beans at the water, so I make my own with French Roast.
I won’t confess I can only drink decaf. No, I won’t do that.
I like McDonald’s coffee
It’s like a happy medium between the dirty water at Tim Hortons and the strong black stuff at Starbucks. Sweet, cheap, perky, and hot.
McDonalds in the USA prides themselves (justifiably) on having good drip coffee. McD in Aus has dreadful drip.
“Regular” in New York City means coffee with milk. If you want no milk you need to ask for it “black”. Nearly everywhere else in the USA “regular” means black (except Boston, per commenter above).
This is a great post, Anny — very well written, and it’s nice to see I’m not the only one who felt the need to discuss Australian coffee.
Absolutely baffling to me that they don’t offer drip coffee, and as someone who has worked in a cafe in the past, I cannot imagine the stress of not having a single ‘easy’ customer. Just espresso, espresso, espresso!
Anyways, I’ve linked the article below, and would love to hear your thoughts!
Cheers!
http://hubpages.com/_jblogs26/hub/Enough-With-the-Long-Blacks-Flat-Whites-Australia-How-About-Some-Regular-Coffee
As another Canadian living in Australia for many years and a black coffee drinker, I too struggled with finding a place for drip coffee, and McDonald’s was the only option especially for a free refill. I miss my strong black from any of the many coffee shops across Canada and I really miss my non bitter strong Columbian coffee. My sister will once again be bringing me a care package of Columbian when she visits at Christmas and I’ll be getting a new drip machine in her honour. The one we had for her last visit started leaking about the time she left. It will be nice to have someone with whom to share a pot of coffee.
I’m thinking of opening a cafe where I offer drip as well as machine, but thought I might go broke! Your blog has given me new hope..tx a million and if I open you’ll have to come down to vic to find me. Cheers