[jnsaff2]

I never appreciated coffee before I lived in Australia.

The consistently excellent quality of coffee one got from any local cafe in Melbourne and Sydney was by far the highest I've seen anywhere in the world. Including Italy.

The only Starbucks I ever saw there was at the cruise ship terminal in Sydney.

I then moved to London and it was a very sad affair with coffee, I missed a good cup so much. Tho over the years they got more and more cafes that cared and had actually comparable coffee.

[dano]

This! I was stunned by the quality and availability of good coffee down under. I figured it was a tea culture and wasn't that a mile of the mark.

[Affric]

Used to be a tea culture until post Second World War migration.

[sjm]

London has good coffee, as well as NYC where I currently live. You just need to look for us Aussies behind the espresso machines :) Kiwis will do too.

[quotz]

NYC has not great coffee culture (everyones on their laptops) despite some cafes serving okay coffee like Devocion perhaps among others. The Balkans where I am from has completely turned on the third wave coffee and combined with the coffee culture its amazing. People have 2-3 coffees a day just chilling under the sun. NYC should be ashamed. London is much better

[sjm]

NYC doesn't have the time or space for the kind of coffee culture you're talking about, but the coffee itself is as good as anywhere else — not Devocion though, that's pretty bad IMHO. SEY is where you wanna go, or Black Fox or maybe Saltwater if you're in Manhattan.

[quotz]

Definitely has the space, and can make the time but does not want to. It takes immense selfhatred to work that much to please your boss instead of enjoying your coffee with a friend. I will note down your recs though. Everyman espresso and La Cabra are also good. Here in the Balkans in the specialty cafes which are handful, I can actually choose between which beans I want to wnjoy, maybe competition coffee from 1600 meters from Peru, maybe Mexico 1300 meters, maybe Ethiopia or Tanzania, even Indian competition coffee that won the cup #2. I have never seen anything similar in NYC, not even close. The baristas dont even know how many grams they put in the portafilter. Its sad.

[sjm]

Yeah I like La Cabra but it's become a bit of a TikTok spot. The last time I walked past the SoHo location there was a line 50 ft out the door.

Agreed it's a shame people here are so proud of the "hustle" culture. Brooklyn is a bit better — I think you would really like SEY :)

[quotz]

I would try to go to SEY, its a bit far but that could be a perk. I liked the cafes in LA and Miami they were far more laidback