13 Apr Coffee!

So it was only a matter of time before I posted about coffee. I’m from Melbourne, and while similar to San Francisco in many ways, home, of course, has its own defining cultural quirks that make it a place like no other. One of the most obvious of these, is our love, or rather, absolute and undying passion for good coffee.

Melbourne takes coffee so seriously that it’s easily made fun of. The inner city suburbs are littered with more cafes than it seems the city could possibly provide business for, but somehow, on any given Saturday or Sunday morning, it can be guaranteed that any place that serves a decent cup and a well made poached egg will be nothing short of pandemonium. It’s the only place apart from SF that I’ve seen people line up to get into a cafe (a crazy practice that I have a strong personal policy against).

Anyway, San Francisco doesn’t do too bad a job. I don’t mean to sound haughty, any of my posts thus far praise this beautiful city in the absolute highest, however, in Melbourne, coffee is simply what we do. While it’s not as common as back home, one can definitely find a spot in the trendier areas, that makes a consistently amazing cappuccino or latte. I think the Castro is my pick for the area this is most likely to happen. Whether they consider it or not, for most people from home, having a reliable place that treats things like blends, temperature, microfoam and latte art with the respect they deserve, is a must.

One last thing. This place is huge on drip coffee! That’s not something we’re used to at home; espresso is generally the only solution. I’ll admit that when I arrived, I was very skeptical of the seemingly inferior liquid kept in silver vats, even to the point of turning my nose up at it. I have to say it’s grown on me, to the point of having respect for it. How could I not? I met a couple of very clever, industrious guys in the Castro, who literally have it down to a science. They’ve developed a one-of-a-kind, drip machine that uses a unique method of filtration to extract coffee that’s less bitter and isn’t as acidic. It tastes great. The thing is even entertaining to watch, with it’s two big, glass bulbs that gradually fill with a velvety, deep auburn fluid that sports a rich, bronze head, and literally looks like a science experiment. Yes. Coffee in this place is good.