Milk

Apologizes for no writing yesterday – was a great day; played tourist. I managed to see a large amount of Sydney, although I am still only beginning to experience it.

This morning I woke up close to 3:00 AM local time, which makes sense considering I fell asleep close to 7:30 or 8:00 PM last night. Slept well, watched TV for a bit – which is very similar to US television except there are far fewer channels – but ABC and NBC apparently exist here. Anyway…

Went down to the hotel’s breakfast as I don’t know the local establishments and I need to ensure I meet Sam, my boss, at 9:30 here at the hotel. Had steak fries, fried egg, very thick bacon – and it was bacon, not Canadian bacon, a couple sausage links which I believe were chicken sausage, but I’m not sure and baked beans. I went back up for some of the broiled tomatoes, some orange juice, and then tried the coffee. Actually, before I get into the coffee I’ll let you know that I did in fact try the legendary Vegemite. It has the consistency of creamy peanut butter, and the color of tar. Taste wise it definitely screams “yeast” and is extremely salty. I had two bites of it on toast and then made sure I wiped my butter knife off before going back to the bacon.

They had an automatic coffee maker, which could make a latte, cappuccinos, and Americano. I went with the Americano selection, as “coffee” was not available. My God was it good. This machine outside any, and I mean any, Starbucks barista in the US. The genius developers of Starbucks in Seattle should be concerned – this cup was just outstanding. Keep in mind that I love my coffee maker at home and have been “that guy” who’s gone to Starbucks every day to get a Venti sized bold and thought it was great.

So, having enjoyed, yes enjoyed, my breakfast I thought I’d treat myself with the cappuccino selection to see what this machine was capable of. Press the button and within a minute I’ve got a cup of cappuccino. On my first sip of the froth, which I generally try to mix in, I said out loud “holy shit”. I have never had a better coffee drink in my life. Well, except for that time at my friend’s Keith’s wedding where I was drinking ¾ Kahlua with ¼ coffee in it, but this is a different scenario altogether. The coffee itself was very good, but what’s made this so much different and better is the milk. I was told that the Aussie’s do not pasteurize their milk, which provides a much different flavor, but did not think that the result was so dramatic. Flavor and texture – this was a much thicker and richer beverage. To compare the US Starbucks cappuccino and the ibis Hotel’s machine would be to have a cup of instant hot chocolate made with water compared with real melted chocolate mixed with whole milk. I found it to be that much different.

I’ve got another 45 minutes before Sam comes to pick me up so I suppose I’ll write something up regarding yesterday’s experiences and will most likely post it prior to this post.