to think that British coffee is just as good as Australian?

[EmmaGrundyForPM]

DNiece has arrived at ours, she's visiting from Australia and I haven't seen her for 5 years, since she was 15.

She's been in the UK for a few days and keeps banging on about how British coffee is horrible and not a patch on Australian coffee. Her dad, my BIL, always says this when he's in the UK but I'm not convinced it's true. I've only been to Australia once, but I wasn't blown away by their amazing coffee. I think DN is just parroting her dad and wouldn't be able to tell the difference in a blind taste test.

So, I think I'm not being unreasonable. Anyone agree?

🤣

@Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain agreed. There’s a small number of chains in Australia. I think there’s 2 Starbucks in Sydney? But almost all coffee shops are independently owned and there’s always some better than others!

I’m not Australian (I travel there for work) but coffee is particularly good there, especially in Melbourne

😂

British coffee is not as bad as French. They are rubbish at it. Italian is better.

Coffee in Melbourne is so good! Definitely noticed when I've been there. And their iced coffee is delicious.

Oh my laughing face is now a few posts. It was to the melbourne poster.

I think it's a cultural indoctrination!

New Zealanders fight with Australians over whose got the best coffee.
I think it's because both countries have more thriving independent cafes and chains like Starbucks can't get a much foothold because of them.

The UK has alot more chains.

If you’re drinking coffee with milk, you’re doing it wrong!

The only decent coffee had in months is the coffee I make at home, it's too weak in shops!

Coffee is generally pretty awful in the UK.

I personally think the nicest spots for coffee are Italy, France and New Zealand. But really anywhere but here.

What does she mean by British coffee? Coffee isn't grown in either Britain or Australia.
If she is talking about chain shops, then I can recommend The Colombian Coffee Co or Monmouth Coffee Company.
I don't think you can get a decent cup in usual chains like Nero or Starbucks but I would imagine it being the same in Oz.

Sorry, she’s right.
Basic coffee there is of a higher standard than basic coffee here.

I don't know about Aussie coffee, but Kiwi coffee is a LOT better than UK coffee. You can walk into basically any cafe in NZ and get a really great coffee. Not bitter, not weak/watery. (And the cafe staff will be friendly and professional and efficient)

at typical Aussie attitude!

One day with Aussie friends when I had a bbq at home, I got a few things like Vegemite sandwiches and marmite ones, Tim Tams and Penguins and other items, placed them on a plate and told them to help themselves (the chocs inside) but the Aussie ones I put separately on a plate in the fridge). I’d ditched the jars and wrappers beforehand. Several people said to me they the Penguins and marmite were lovely (Aussie family friends had brought Aussie foods for me back when they did a family trip home) and they appreciated my effort in supplying Aussie foods (I’d kept the Aussie ones in the fridge covered up). I then produced the Aussie ones and once they knew they’d been fooled they all said “oh we knew the ones you’d put out before weren’t really Aussie ones but we were being polite!”. I just smiled.

In West London there's a couple of cafes called Carbon Kopi which are Kiwi owned I think. They are always super busy and really good for coffee.

British and Australian coffee? I’m not sure about Australia, but I’m pretty sure there is no British coffee

I am British and the Aussies (in Melbourne) generally take far more care over coffee preparation. Over here I have had to pour away a Costa flat white for being too bitter and one from an artisan van that looked like it was left over dish water. They also think we want a bucket size cup with way too much milk so I hardly ever buy coffee out in uk unless from an independent with smaller cups .

I'm Australian, have been living in the UK for the last 20 years. Ready to be beaten up 😁

British coffee has improved out of sight since I've lived here and there are a lot more properly trained baristas, decently roasted coffee, and cafes that take proper pride in what they do. But it's still patchy as hell, the chains are awful and rarely have people who have trained properly, a lot of the indies get so desperate for staff they cut corners sometimes too and your overall chances of getting a consistently good coffee are lower than in metropolitan Australia.

It's much less about the beans here tbh (though Australians as a whole are a lot more snobby about coffee beans than most folk I've encountered in the UK, and I find very few people who have coffeemakers grind their own beans here) and much more about the skill levels of the people making the coffee.

TL;DR: Australians overall are demanding snobs about coffee, but you're much more likely to get a good coffee there than here, though here is improving all the time.

YABU as Australia produces its own coffee so the two can't be compared.

Australia isn't know as a prime coffee grower however. Wouldn't be anywhere near as good as say Columbian coffee!

What does she mean by British coffee? Coffee isn't grown in either Britain or Australia.

Some coffee is grown in Australia - it’s actually pretty nice! Expensive, though, as I don’t think they grow much.

Like anything it depends on where you go.

Coffee culture is HUGE in Australia, especially Melbourne so on average it’s probably a bit better.

But thing are much better in the UK now so of course you can get great coffee here too.

Thankfully the days of instant are almost gone unless you’re my mum!

They, like Americans think they have the best coffee. I think their coffee is shit in general (lived there for 3 years). Italian coffee is the way forward

You’re coming to the wrong places! Where I live there’s an award winning barista, he used to and I think still does sell coffee (he sources his own beans and sells and grinds them) at a market in SE London and then he has his own cafe/chocolate shop with his wife. In London there are so many artisan coffee shops it can be hard to choose, one area I lived there was even a South African coffee shop, but they had lots of South Africans living there so one of them decided to open his own one.

When I lived in Australia in 1998-2000 coffee was definitley better there, but these days coffee in the UK is just as good. It’s like it’s kind of a collective myth that Australians all seem to parrot, but it’s no longer true..