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The coffee lingo in Australia certainly takes a At left, Stu Grant from Ritual Coffee Tasmania at Proud Mary. The food selection at most cafés was unbelievable—specifically at Proud Mary. At right, the worn bar at De Clieu, a testament to the amount of traffic these shops see every day. bit of time to get used to. Here is a brief rundown: Short black is a shot of espresso. Flat white is somewhere between a cappuccino and a latte (depending on what café you are in). If you ask for just a cappuccino you may get chocolate on top. Take-away is to-go. Table service is common (don't forget to tip). Cold drip is sometimes served in a shot glass. A long black is similar to an Americano. And drip is any manual brew. One cafe, Patricia, had the most amazing menu I have ever seen. It only had three items on it: Black, White and Drip. Black was a shot of espresso; White was a five-ounce flat white, and drip was drip. Extremely simple, and yet they were slammed with a line out of the door at 10 a.m. Food—specifically high quality eats—drives people to these esteemed cafés, as well. I was completely blown away by some of the full-menu breakfast and lunch options at these "coffee shops." It seemed that some people would visit these places for the food and ultimately stay for the coffee. One was definitely fueling the other. It's kind of a cool way to introduce someone to specialty coffee, especially a person who might be initially reluctant. The combination of high quality ingredients, with a no-nonsense, straight-forward approach in the kitchen, resulted in dishes that would receive national praise in any restaurant in the U.S. Someone in Melbourne told me, "We sort of skipped molecular gastronomy here, mate. We just went direct to real wholesome food prepared right." I am by no means an expert an Australian culture, or even Australian coffee, but this trip allowed me to really see some new and exciting ways that coffee is being done in other places outside of the U.S. My work with Café Imports has allowed me to see firsthand that Australians are buying and constantly searching for amazing green coffee, and that their shared desire to obtain the top lots is just another example of the same kind of commitment to quality that I saw in their café design, culture, attitudes, food, and coffee skills. Roasters are roasting with intention here, and clearly training their accounts very well. Australian coffee is certainly paving the way for some exciting things in the culinary world as a whole. Seeing the warm embrace of coffee here by both the people of Melbourne and the coffee community really left me feeling excited about what is possible for the larger global coffee community. I can't wait to get back down. 30 barista magazine FIELD REPORT AUSTRALIA SUMATRA