Americano

Americano

1.70Gbp

1/5

The coffee that takes the blame for all my bad coffees, Jesus coffee if you will...

Coffee, I never though I was all that much of a coffee snob, I liked a good long-black, but thought they were all much the same. I think in the end I was right... but only in New Zealand. Don't get me wrong, I've had some less than amazing coffees, but the mighty NZ, ('specially Orkland) have fairly consistent coffee, according to my pallet.

I was on the tube a week or so ago (after missing the last train home, and having to ask an acquaintance in London if I could stay at his...) and chatted to a guy who worked with a guy from ChChurch and said that it was a bit of a Kiwi thing to whinge about the state of coffee, so I feel bad saying this, but it's hard, near impossible to get a decent coffee here. FIRSTLY, you ain't going to find many places that don't think your just having LOLS asking for a long-black, SECONDLY the few places that do them are "Kiwi" cafes, and one doesn't fly around the world for that...

The final part of my whinge is that an Americano (kinda close to a long black) at one place maybe pretty much a Double Espresso, at others will be a big Black Coffee, it's a painful, often disappointing lucky dip.

The beast pictured above was a sort of murky thing, neither here nor there, I think the barrister slipped a little milk in, half heartedly, so it's no white nor black. To be honest it's one redeeming feature was that I got it in a lovely, sleepy village (Kineton?), like many dotted around this country, rich in history, just not rich in coffee finesse.

One day I'll be all grown up and not get mah LOLS from this...

While we're on the subject of fox pee (sorry for this abhorrent segue, I really am!) but I've had a wee checklist of wild-life I wanted to see, which I've just finished...

Firstly was the squirrel. These strange beasts, a cross (probably) between a rabbit and a mouse was something that rates pretty highty in the novelty rating (think of all those songs, albums and films they're known for?). Can't remember the first one I saw, but can remember getting kinda excited about hearing they had been running around the backyard to the amusements of the cats; squirrels are fairly common here and seem happy to reside in tree's in central London, don't tell Boris though, as I think he might come up with a way to charge them for their multi-million dollar views...

Next was the Fox. Guess these guys are pretty common too and also share the squirrels taste for the high life in London. I saw one in Camden once (central London), I was pretty drunk at the time, but was pretty sure it was a fox. Word on the street is they come out at dawn & dusk and search through bins on a fruitless hunt for the dregs of a decent coffee. The legend goes on to suggest that when they find one they turn into some awesome man beast. Think thriller. It has happened only that once...

Lastly is the bat. A cross between a mouse and a pigeon. It took a while to see a couple of these flying mouse things, as they prefer to keep it rural, but they're out there. Unless it was just a busy night for batman, but will we ever know for sure, he like's to keep these things quite.

Kineton, the mean streets.

The're are also wild deer down Sussex way. They add a quaintness to the area, which the place already has in spoon-fills. I've heard that if your driving and happen to survive hitting one, that you're not allowed to take the corpse, instead the car behind you is the one that is allowed venison caserol... just in case you were wondering...

I like how they too are unsure about the title.

My quest to find a decent kitshless coffee endures. On the wildlife front, I would still like to see a snake. I've also have been chased by a wasp from the south to the north, I think it maybe the same one. If any one has any tips on how to get rid of it, I'm all ears...