Brits are being sold guff about coffee
Posted by TheShot on 30 Mar 2010 | Tagged as: Add Milk, Foreign Brew, Quality Issues
Today’s bit of European coffee controversy actually has nothing to do with the undropped espresso machine name from French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who recently demanded a decent espresso machine of his choice while visiting Columbia University: French President Nicolas Sarkozy demands special espresson machine during Columbia University visit – NYPOST.com. (Meanwhile, the French press made news of the fact that the espresso machine made news in the U.S.: La machine à expresso de Sarkozy intrigue la presse US – Politique – 30/03/2010 – leParisien.fr.)
No, we’re talking about the familiar call-to-arms article for bad local espresso standards. This time it came from the UK’s The Guardian: Brits are being sold guff about coffee | Julie Bindel | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk. The usual suspects?: massive drink sizes and milk tsunamis. Evidence of her despair: only the Australasians and their flat whites seem to produce a tolerable, cappuccino-like beverage.
For all the love given to the likes of recent world barista champions from the UK, we’re reminded of one of our all-time favorite coffee quotes:
“Coffee in England always tastes like a chemistry experiment.” — Agatha Christie
UPDATE: Feb. 6, 2011
The Australian gets in on the act a year late: Aussie flat white is the toast of the trendy coffee set in London and Berlin | The Australian.
1 Comment »
Did you mean to say “the French Press” in the context of a story about espresso machines? Nice pun. Nice enough to bring me out of my status as a long time lurker and into commenting.