An Australian in London misses an Aussie coffee classic during lockdown
For an Aussie in lockdown in London, giving up simple pleasures was the hardest part, including Australia’s gift to the global coffee community — the humble flat white.
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I was wrong, completely wrong.
After the cafes closed in the UK in March I had got on with it and happily slurped up instant coffee.
I had even started to think that I may have kicked my takeaway coffee habit, which in normal times had on occasions become obsessive.
If I had gone this long without a flat white, why bother when life went back to normal?
But then it happened this week, in an ice cream shop of all places.
I had taken the ratbags out to stop them drawing on the walls that they had been climbing.
It has been a glorious week of sunshine here in the UK, the kind where blokes rip off their tops and women sunbathe in bikinis in London parks. It topped 25 degrees.
The ice cream shop also had coffee, and after being prompted by the shop worker if I wanted anything else, I took the plunge. It was amazing.
I had not realised how much I had missed it.
A lot of Australians come to the UK and make an Olympic sport out of complaining about the quality of the coffee.
And while some of the chain cafes serve something more like hot milk than actual coffee, overall, Australians should stop whingeing.
Even the ice-cream shop coffee was brilliant, with most cafes now serving flat whites, which were likely influenced by the demands of Australians here.
This was one of the signs that life was starting to get back to normal.
The hot weather was severely testing people’s ability to stick to the social distancing rules, as beaches and parks were swamped.
Face masks have become much more common, but the queues at the local supermarket have become smaller than in recent weeks.
Some schools will go back next month for early grades and Year 6 as they try to jam in some time before the summer break.
But there was a sense among some of my friends that they did not yet feel comfortable sending their children back, while others couldn’t wait to get them out the door.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has declared a war on obesity, after privately telling friends that the best way to avoid coronavirus was not be a “fattie in your fifties.”
The new dad has been out jogging this week in some T-shirts and shorts combinations that make John Howard’s famous Australian tracksuit look chic.
McDonald’s drive through reopened and there were cars queuing for hundreds of metres for their Big Macs.
Pubs are still at least a month off, and those with a beer garden will be first to pour pints.
Booze sales are up across the UK by as much as 30 per cent.
On a job during the week, a fisherman in his 60s joked he was looking forward to the pubs reopening so he drank less.
I’m looking forward to the pubs opening too, but for now I am stoked that coffee’s back. I’m imagining how good it will taste when it comes in a cup, with a table and a newspaper. Bring on July.