Coffee Three Ways

Sunday, January 31. 2010

When I was in Wellington recently, I found out that they have their own names for espresso drinks. I don't know why I was surprised; it seems that, while espresso machines have conquered the world, how you order and what you get vary pretty significantly depending on where you are. Here's what you'll get, depending on where you order it.

"A coffee"

Starbucks: 12 to 20oz of drip coffee.
Rome: 1oz to 1.5 oz of intense espresso.
Wellington: a blank look. "What kind of coffee?"

"An Espresso"

Starbucks: 2 to 3oz espresso shot
Rome: 1 to 1.5oz espresso shot
Wellington: 1.5oz espresso shot

"A long espresso"

Rome: 2.5oz espresso shot
Wellington: "You mean a long black? Coming up." 2oz espresso shot with 2oz hot water.
Starbucks: "A what?"

"A machiatto"

Rome: 1.5oz of espresso, topped with 1 teaspoon of milk foam.
Wellington: "A what?"
Starbucks: Some godawful concoction involving a pint of warm milk and several ounces of flavored sugar, and maybe some coffee.

"A cappuccino"

Wellington: 2.5oz of espresso topped by 2-3oz of milk foam and a little warm milk.
Rome: 1.5oz of espresso topped by 2-3 tablespoons of milk foam.
Starbucks: 2-3oz of espresso topped by 4 oz of warm milk and another 4 oz of foam.

"A latte"

Starbucks: 2-3oz of espresso topped by a pint of warm milk and foam.
Rome: a glass of cold milk
Wellington: "A what?"

"I mean a caffelatte."

Rome: Same thing they'd give you at Starbucks for a cappuccino, only with half as much milk.
Wellington: "Still don't get you, mate."

"Oh, I think I want a 'flat white'"

Wellington: "Why didn't you say so, then? Coming up."

Incidentally, the "flat white", which is an espresso shot topped with around 4oz of steamed milk (pictured at top), seems to be the #1 favored espresso drink in Wellington. Myself, I mostly had "long blacks".

Posted by The Fuzzy Chef in Humor at 18:07 | Comment (1) | Trackbacks (0)