What are you drinking?

[SurgicalBrute]

2 hours ago, FatherAlabaster said:

Been into lighter beers so far this summer.

You kind of have to this time of year. Other than the usual mainstays, I don't think I've seen a single dark beer come into my local stores in the last month or more...it's all IPA's and Sours.

I've taken to drinking lagers and hefe's myself

[AlSymerz]

Egg Flip BigM

[RelentlessOblivion]

A second glass of red wine, Shiraz, I can’t leave a bottle with just one glass well now can I?

[AlSymerz]

Right now I feel the same about the kettle, It's got enough hot water in it for coffee so coffee I must have.

[FatherAlabaster]

A mint julep-jito, I guess... lime juice, sugar, muddled mint, Jim Beam rye, soda water.

[RelentlessOblivion]

The morning coffee, unfortunately having done my barista course these Nespresso pods seem poor by comparison

[AlSymerz]

I love the fact that with 5 million coffee shops in Australia alone, (estimation only), that the non qualifying term barista has quickly became a name that is supposed to distinguish between the lacky who makes and serves coffee and someone who has read the instructions to their industrial coffee machine and can make a flat white with a frothy pattern.

[FatherAlabaster]

Having never taken a course in coffee preparation, I nevertheless feel qualified to say that Nespresso pods are shit and I personally make the best coffee I've had, never mind what my wife thinks.

[AlSymerz]

My coffee making skills must be brilliant because my wife refuses to make coffee when I'm home, she tells me that I'm the only one that knows how to do it.

 

[FatherAlabaster]

Making the coffee is totally my job, I just have to leave a bunch of hot water in the pot so she can make it weak but keep it scalding hot. I cannot serve it to her otherwise.

[AlSymerz]

I do suspect that when it comes to coffee around here it's not how it's made it's who it's made by, but I'd never suggest that because I'm a diplomat.

 

[FatherAlabaster]

There's an element of that here, too... Never let it be said that I'm anything other than committed. 

But yeah, no, I need to be the one making the coffee.

[RelentlessOblivion]

Pods are better than that terrible instant coffee, but I think it’s time to move on to the real stuff now. Still on the one who has to make coffee around here whenever we have guests who drink it because I’m the only one who can do it right.

[GoatmasterGeneral]

1 hour ago, KillaKukumba said:

I love the fact that with 5 million coffee shops in Australia alone, (estimation only), that the non qualifying term barista has quickly became a name that is supposed to distinguish between the lacky who makes and serves coffee and someone who has read the instructions to their industrial coffee machine and can make a flat white with a frothy pattern.

There are 24,929 Cafes and Coffee Shops businesses in Australia as of 2022, an increase of 4.5% from 2021.

I used to think making an espresso drink was a mysterious and complicated art form.

After spending so much time in Australia and NZ in 2017 where none of my wife's rellies seemed to own a drip coffee maker (which is standard equipment in most American kitchens) and neither did any of the cafes I visited, I just got used to drinking the espresso based "flat whites" (I had never even heard of a flat white before I went to NZ for the first time in 2011) because that's what they had there. When in Rome. But I quickly came to really prefer them because they were stronger than drip coffee and that has always been the reason I can't just run in and grab a coffee any old place, because most Americans seem happy to drink 30 minute old luke warm standing dishwater strength coffee.

So of course when I returned home I had to go right out and buy myself an espresso machine. I was a little put off by the pricetag at first because even the most inexpensive non commercial models were $400 to $600, while you can grab a basic Mr Coffee Machine at the supermarket for under $30, or one of the fancier ones at Target or Wal-Mart for around $100. But I did end up buying a $600 Breville with a built in grinder and it turned out to be a good investment because within a week or so I could pull a consistently supeior shot and make myself a better quad latte then most of the clowns (excuse me: baristas) I might typically find working at the local Starbucks who'd be charging me nearly $7 a pop. Unfortunately in the states we have chain stores for everything and it can be difficult to find the little independent mom & pop coffee shops. But it's tough when I travel because then I have to drink whatever shit coffee I can get my hands on. I know, first world problems.

[Dead1]

1 hour ago, KillaKukumba said:

I love the fact that with 5 million coffee shops in Australia alone, (estimation only), that the non qualifying term barista has quickly became a name that is supposed to distinguish between the lacky who makes and serves coffee and someone who has read the instructions to their industrial coffee machine and can make a flat white with a frothy pattern.

It's ridiculous.  Barista is not a technical trade despite some imbecilic bleating from hipsters and fashionistas.

I still prefer Nescafe Blend 43. 

1 hour ago, FatherAlabaster said:

Having never taken a course in coffee preparation, I nevertheless feel qualified to say that Nespresso pods are shit and I personally make the best coffee I've had, never mind what my wife thinks.

Wifey and I are on the same wavelength when it comes to coffee.  I've even mastered the art of her "pinch of milk" cups of tea.

 

We got rid of the pod machine because it's a.) expensive and b.) totally fucking environmentally irresponsible.

34 minutes ago, RelentlessOblivion said:

Pods are better than that terrible instant coffee, but I think it’s time to move on to the real stuff now. Still 

Pods are also terrible for the environment.  

[AlSymerz]

I did say 5 million was an estimation. But we've had a surge of coffee shops pop up in the last 10-15 years as stupid people rushed out of their houses to pay $5 for a coffee someone else makes because drinking coffee is the thing to be seen doing. It went even crazier during covid when mask wearing was mandatory, suddenly every man and his dog carried a coffee cup with them because the rules said people could take masks off while eating or drinking.

Smart people here realised the business to be in was coffee shops, shop owners could nearly write their own pay cheques with all the idiots out on the street who had to be seen with coffee or drinking coffee. Having a coffee shop in a supermarket was risky, too many rules, too much rent, no choice in opening hours and forced renovations got in the way of all that brown gold profit but it was a risk many took either buying into chains or going solo. Having a coffee shop on a shopping strip was an instant gold mine, rents were cheaper, and the $4 coffee was 60% profit even after taking out wages and the raw products. In the more affluent areas $6 coffees became the norm and people still flocked to these places. Many of them were Mums sitting around gossiping wearing active wear and pushing prams (i.e getting exercise). 

But then when the small street side coffee makers (who wont be counted in your coffee shop numbers) started popping up everywhere it became the thing to no longer drink free coffee in the kitchen/lunch room of your employer but go outside and pay for a foam cup full of something that resembled coffee but you told everyone was the fuel you needed to get through the day. The coffee culture in this country is massive and people don't care where the coffee comes from, if it's made by a machine it's the best coffee ever!

 

I've had several coffee machines overs the last 20 years, the first one was a great little machine, it cost about $150 and lasted us 10 years. By that time coffee culture had blown up and wankers everywhere had to be seen with a coffee machine on their kitchen bench and replacing the unit that broke was going to cost over $300. A few years ago when I looked again those same machine were over $500.

I wont ever buy another machine because in this country we pay a 'dumbarse' tax, that's the tax shops add to items because people think they have to be seen with one.

[Dead1]

14 minutes ago, KillaKukumba said:

I wont ever buy another machine because in this country we pay a 'dumbarse' tax, that's the tax shops add to items because people think they have to be seen with one.

Just about everything in Australia is more expensive than anywhere else.  It's cheaper for me to order my toy soldiers from New Zealand or UK or Germany (and before COVID US) than it is to order from an Australian online retailer, let alone a brick and mortar store.  Used to be same for CDs from US (shipping became problematic since COVID and as US Post stopped sending stuff to Australia)/

The best one is gas - we're the biggest fucking producer of natural gas on the planet yet there are shortages of it and prices are through the roof.

Oh and lamb - we have so many sheep yet even lamb chops are now rich man food.  It's cheaper to buy steak!

Oh and it seems something like 33% of current high inflation is profit taking, not actual cost of goods let alone wages.

 

Australians capitalists (well actually oligarchs for most part) need a nice hefty dose of proper regulation - ie a government boot on their necks with price caps on everything and rules to ensure proper adherence to industrial rules (wage theft is endemic in Australia).

 

It would help people like you too KK - if prices are regulated, then farmers can get a proper deal unlike now where the two major supermarket chains screw the prices they pay down whilst jacking up prices we pay.

 

From memory they used to have such boards to help regulate prices up to the 1990s (eg Australian Wheat Board") but were scrapped "coZ maRket knowz bE$t".

 

Note all this stupid privatisation screwed us during COVID.  We used to have CSL to manage vaccine development and production  but they were privatised in 1994 and refocused on more profitable areas instead of being a government asset used to manage public health.  And to add insult to injury CSL charged the government a ton for AstraZenneca vaccine manufacture.

[RelentlessOblivion]

Guess I’m one of those idiots now with my proper coffee machine + grinder, oh well at least now I can make a decent flat white now.

[AlSymerz]

You should call yourself a barrista

 

[GoatmasterGeneral]

1 hour ago, RelentlessOblivion said:

Guess I’m one of those idiots now with my proper coffee machine + grinder, oh well at least now I can make a decent flat white now.

Not wanting to settle for anything less than a freshly ground proper coffee does not make us idiots. It makes us discerning. Leave the instant brown dishwater to the Pantera fans.

 

18 minutes ago, KillaKukumba said:

You should call yourself a barrista

 

The title of barrista is reserved for those who wear aprons while they extract and make little designs in the foam when they pour.

[AlSymerz]

I once made a love heart in the foam of my wife's coffee, she didn't even notice, but the next day when it looked like a butt she just had to tell me!
 

[markm]

High West Double Rye!

[AlSymerz]

Lavazza instant coffee.

I'm usually not fussy what coffee I drink over breakfast because it's usually instant, but someone gave the wife a few tins of the over priced Lavazza instant coffee. Given how little of a coffee 'expert' I am I've seen the name Lavazza at every second coffee shop and cafe, but there's no way I'd be able to pick it out without a label. Not sure the free sample will swing my vote towards Lavazza, but then breakfast coffee is all about quick and easy not getting excited about.

[Thatguy]

2 hours ago, KillaKukumba said:

breakfast coffee is all about quick and easy not getting excited about.

I know you've got to get on with your day, but even when I was working I always felt life is too short for bad coffee. I do not drink instant except at the in-laws.

[RelentlessOblivion]

5 minutes ago, Thatguy said:

I know you've got to get on with your day, but even when I was working I always felt life is too short for bad coffee. I do not drink instant except at the in-laws.

+1, I’m never going back to pods, so I’m certainly not going back to instant coffee.