Not Your Average Cup Of Joe

I can't believe I haven't blogged about this before, but as our year here comes closer to it's end, I start to think about what my life will be like minus the coffee in Sydney. "Coffee" is actually espresso - nothing like your Starbucks variety. Every cafe has an espresso machine, and you cannot buy a cup of "coffee." It's a latte, cappuccino, or if you want to feel more like a local, order a flat white, short black or a long black. A flat white is in my eyes identical to a latte (although technically it's got more or less foam or something like that as barrista's have explained in the past but everyone seems to make them slightly different anyway) and a long black is similar to an Americano. A short black is espresso.


The currency here has a coin for $1 and a coin for $2, so it's easy to use these for a nice flat white, and not feel guilty. Since I live in Manly, the coffee around here is what I know, and I have searched high and low for the "best" coffee in our area. After seeing the discussion on Mainly Manly (highly recommend if you're thinking of living here or in the Northern Beaches), I tried Troubadour and Barefoot and now it's hard to decide which is better (that was the debate on the forum). I think Troubadour wins it for me and both were better than the other places I was trying around town. And Barefoot has a place next door with killer macaroons. Before these, Bacino was my favorite.

I'm thinking when I return to the states, I will need to either figure out a way to open my own coffee shop, and bring an Aussie barrista with me, OR search high and low for a good coffee place in Orange County. I'll likely be searching for a long, long time.

Check out this photo from Troubadour. We loved how the shot glass (sparkling water served to cleanse the palate! I tell you they are serious about coffee here) was from Barney's Beanery in Hollywood.