[liedra]

I moved to continental Europe over a year ago (from Sydney) and was appalled by the terrible coffee here. Most of it comes from a push-button machine if you're lucky to get an espresso-based coffee at all. Those that are done by hand are not so great either: I've seen the same grounds be used for several coffees in a row, for example. I had to time my order so I got a fresh grind! The only good coffees (i.e. up to my Aussie standards) I've had were in Milan at a very top coffee shop and the top-of-the-range degustation restaurant in my city (in Belgium)! I've travelled a lot since I got over here too.

It got to the point where I decided to buy my own machine. But the ones you can buy in shops here for reasonable amounts are all the push-button stuff with substandard heaters etc. So I asked my boyfriend to bring one over from Sydney (just a cheapie Sunbeam one with a boiler) when he came to visit, and since then (and after acquiring a very expensive grinder locally) I've managed to make decent coffees. So much so that my local friends/colleagues continually ask me when I will be inviting them around for coffee next. I even had a bunch of Italian colleagues tell me that it was one of the best espressos they'd had. And I'm not a fully trained barista either, I just learned from my dad :)

Really though it makes me sad that I've had this experience, but it means I can really see the potential for good quality coffee making over here.

[Luc]

The whole Italian espresso culture is something quite recent in e.g. Belgium. Twenty years ago it was all drip coffee, and a cappuccino was a drip coffee with a dollop of Chantilly cream on top. I don't think there's anything wrong with that especially, it's just a regional variation.

A coffee salesman once told me they had to use different way of burning the beans between the Flemish north and the Walloon south (generally the more south you go in Europe, the more bitter the taste, according to him).

Also, Caffenation in Antwerp is pretty good.

[liedra]

I'm in the south so Antwerp is a bit far to go for a good coffee :) But yeah, it's definitely an expansion area here I'm sure. I don't know about regional variations on bean roasting between the north and south but you're right on the bitterness: the stuff I've bought locally is quite bitter! But I found a shop that sells a reasonable blend that's been freshly roasted, so I enjoy my good coffee at home :D

[elblanco]

I hope some day you make it to Barcelona, I'm pretty sure I never had a bad cup there, even from random street vendors. I missed the coffee I had there long after I left.

[liedra]

I await this with great anticipation! (I have been there but for a conference without much chance to get outside and experience the city - I am determined to return, however!)

[heresy]

I concur. I don't know what it is about Down Under, but the coffee in Australia and New Zealand is superb. That's the first thing I get when I'm back after a trip overseas.