Jan. 25-31/16: Nelson (week's highlights, coffee)

It's February!! I've been one month now in Nelson and still feel I could not have chosen a better spot to stay. Since I'm settling into a routine of sorts and not taking very many pictures, I thought I'd briefly show you the highlights of my week and then try something new, a theme for the week. This week I'm starting with coffee, because it is such a big part of life here in New Zealand.

To start , some pictures of the week's highlights:

Mullet man, one of the entertainers

at the annual Buskers Festival

A concert at Fairfield House,

one of the city's historic  houses.

The group: Richter City Rebels,

a 9-piece band playing New Orleans

style music

A walk on Tahunanui Beach

on the other side of town.

And this was on a Sunday!!

And now for coffee. I'll start with the coffee menu from one of the local cafes. Most cafes here are independents, and also serve fantastc food. I'll get to food another week. And unlike  home, no matter which cafe you go to, the coffee types all have the same names. How sensible is that.

Yello is the name of the cafe

In case you didn't notice, filtered coffee does not appear on the list. One website said you couldn't  find drip coffee (other  than in your home) if your life depended on it. Too true. The coffees are all expresso based, and most often between $4 and $5. And if you want decaf and soy, add $.50 for each of those. Important to remember that  tax is included, and tipping not expected. The Canadian and NZ dollar are close. $1.00 Canadian =  $1.10 NZ.

Last year I had never heard of flat white, but when I got back to Canada, there  it was, at least in a few places. New Zealand claims  to be the creator of flat  white, but so does Australia! My extensive research tells me it is the most popular coffee here. It's certainly  what I most often hear ordered.

Here's a brief primer on NZ coffees:
- short black: single shot of espresso served in a demi tasse;
-  long black: single or double  shot of espresso OVER hot water although  sometimes the water is served separately. Apparently an Americano is quite different as the espresso  goes in first, then the hot water. Could one really tell the difference?
- cappuccino: shot of espresso with equal parts steamed milk, and a cap of foam;
- flat white: more milky than a cappuccino. One-third espresso and two-thirds steamed milk, with a touch of froth;
- latte: the milkiest. A shot of espresso with lots of hot milk and little or no froth.

The websites I looked at went to some length to describe the process for steaming the milk and creating the froth but by that time my eyes were starting to glaze over.

That's as much as I think I will ever need to know about coffee. Hope it helps you too. There are other types but I can't absorb any more,  and they are the fringe coffees, as far as I can tell.

By the way, Starbucks is here. I've gone in only to find out that they use New Zealand coffee terminology, and not the names they use back home. Yeah, New Zealand!!!