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WINE&DINE
210
July14
Coffee Culture:
Stephanie Batot
is from Brazil and is
executive director at
Grayling PR agency
in Singapore. She
started drinking
coffee when she
was “probably too young”.
Jean-
Christophe
(JC) is French,
is general
manager APAC
for HTTV, and
was 15 when he had his first
coffee.
Italian
Corrado
Riccio
is group
operations
director at
Mangiatutto Group
of Restaurants.
“Espresso started to be a daily
routine when I was 15 years old.”
Kathy Campbell
is from Melbourne
and runs a millinery
business, Hats Off.
She had her first
“very weak” coffee
when she was 17.
What’s your coffee
of choice?
The Panel
If I wanted a coffee
in your country, what
should I order or do to
avoid being laughed at?
I prefer an Arabica mixture with
a combination of Colombian,
Guatemalan and Brazilian beans.
In Italy, families get used to one
blend, often created by a
torrefazione
shop selling coffees and teas, and
it’s delivered regularly to your home.
Nowadays, supermarket shopping
has replaced that, and if I had to pick
a brand it would be Illy.
I use Nespresso for convenience,
and prefer to use South American
blends. In the morning, it’s boring
Nescafe with milk.
At home we use Nespresso’s
Arpeggio capsules.
Don’t try to dip your breakfast pastry in
your coffee like the French do; the cups
are just too small.
If you order a latte, which literally means
“milk” in Italian, you’ll probably be served
a cold glass of plain milk, without any
coffee in it! We have two ways of mixing
milk with coffee, either a
macchiato
, a
double espresso with just a few drops of
milk, or a
caffelatte
, a glass of milk with
one single espresso poured into it.
We rarely say
un café
; we say
un
express
,
un grand crème
(and not
un
café au
lait,
as most tourists say),
une
noisette
(drop of milk),
un alongé
(with
more water),
un serré
(short), and most
lunches in a café end up with
deux cafés
et l’addition
.
I reckon that if there is any place that
you can just about do anything, it is
Melbourne. Order whatever you like – no
one will raise an eyebrow.
Drinking habits from around the globe