Café culture — or should I say Coffee culture is well-established in Melbourne. These days coffee lovers have a reasonable expectation that they can get a decent coffee at most places. Anything inferior is quite likely to result in a backlash and loss of patronage.
As I’ve remarked previously, the standard of tea hasn’t come this far. Far too many cafés and restaurants will go to enormous lengths to do a great coffee, but us tea drinkers pay our $2.50 or $3.00 or whatever and get boiling water and a teabag. I’ve even had to ask for milk on occasion.
Woe betide if it’s a hot day and you want an iced chocolate. Some places know how to do it. Yarraville’s Just Try This, for instance, do a superb iced chocolate, as do many other places. A good iced chocolate should be in a tall glass, with icecream, maybe a little cream, a long spoon. It should attract envy from the coffee drinkers.
The Rive Gauche Café at Southgate, despite the wanky name, does a terrible iced chocolate. It didn’t have any icecream in it. Milk, chocolate stuff and a whole bunch of whipped cream on top, in a plastic cup. They were smart enough to collect the $3 ($6 actually, Marita wanted one too) while the drinks were still being prepared. An old style milkshake in a big metal cup, or even a Big M would have been better.
I wonder if their coffees are any good. Not being a coffee drinker, I might never know.
14 replies on “The art of iced chocolate”
I don’t drink coffee and I’ve often thought of starting a ‘tea blog’ which grades the quality of tea at all the cafes my boyfriend drags me through. He uses me as his coffee grader – I grade from the quality of the frothy fuzz on his cappuccino.
But tea. I much prefer places that use teapots and loose leaf tea. Getting a teabag in hot water is what I do at home if I’m in a hurry – I definitely don’t want to pay $2.50 for it. The same goes for the increasingly popular chai latte.
On of the highlights of a trip to Boston a few years back was a cafe called TeaLuxe – which only served tea. No coffee to be seen. It was excellent.
Also, doesn’t the “iced” description infer that your drink will be at least leaning towards the cold side of the temperature guage. I’m not an iced coffee drinker myself (although I am addicted to the hot stuff) but I have yet to see a cold iced coffee purchased by any of my friends. The worst case was when my best friend purchased one and it actually came out in a glass which had obviously just been removed from the dishwasher. It was hot to the touch lol
BTW Just Try This also makes a mean egg and bacon pie – yummy.
What’s the place in Block Place? Is it Café Segovia? Ordered a hot chocolate and came out with the most amazing decoration; chocolate topping layered over the froth on one side in a pattern, while the other side had the usual cocoa dusted over it. I’m sure that had the coffee drinkers envying me that night. Oh yes and it tasted good too.
I’m old school when it comes to that stuff. I prefer stopping at a road house and getting an milkshake that’s whizzed up in one of those milkshake whizzer things. That stuff is nothing but chocolate and milk. Suits me down to the ground. They can keep the cream.
I don’t drink coffee anymore, but I never once found a place that could serve a decent ‘cino.
Never tried an ‘iced chocolate’, but sounds tempting. Hope its better than a “vanilla milkshake” that I got from a kiosk at Doncaster S’town recently that was just milk mixed with ice cream in the milkshake machine. I expect some flavouring, fella!
My luck is that my “iced chocolate” will be a chocolate milkshake with a couple of little bits of (frozen, to make it ‘iced) Cadbury chocolate floating on top. And a spoon for me to eat the bits of chocolate with.
I have this dream of opening a tea shop where tea is made and served properly, and coffee is also available. Anyone ordering coffee gets a cup of hot water with a sachet of Nescafe Blend 43 on the side.
As for froffy hot chocolate: damn you all, I am on a diet :(
I hate when you go into a cafe for a coffee and a quiet read of the paper, you find someone is already reading the Herald-Sun. And that someone is one of the staff! D’oh!
Rog.
Not sure about iced chocolate. Iced coffee is good, especially with whole coffee beans on top to eat.
I love both tea and coffee. It’s quite easy to get a nice cuppa tea in Spore for only 80cents.
I love a well made iced chocolate (as Daniel described – one with adequate amounts of cream and ice cream, as well as a good chocolatey taste. Definitely has to be served in a tall, cold glass!
Hudson’s Coffee make really nice iced chocolate (in both milk and white), as well as a good looking iced coffee. Reasonable prices too…
> Not being a coffee drinker, I might never know.
>
Daniel, Daniel, Daniel…
Next time you are up on a cold winter morning, brew a triple-strength pot of coffee, then snag that first cup that comes out.
Now add triple sugar, and triple cream.
This confection is a delicious but still legal compromise between hot chocolate and cocaine.
I’m not a coffee drinker either.
Most of the coffee places around here (Victoria BC Canada) serve fancy tea as well as the fancy coffee.
Spiced Chai Tea Latte (Oasis on Johnson St) is to die for!! :) Spiced Chai Tea is good anytime but with the Steamed Milk (Latte) it is so much better!!
I’ve never tried Iced Chocolate. Wouldn’t a Chocolate Milk Shake (with whipped cream and a cherry on top) be the same??
Take care
j :)
I’ve known it for years, but its never struck me before today, a programmer that doesn’t drink coffee! Don’t tell me you don’t use profanity either, I couldn’t take that!
I love a milk chocolate, too…if made with soy milk and soy ice-cream. Occassionally I find a cafe that can do it. What a fanstastic way to ensure repeat custom!
Before I became a cow dairy free, wheat free crank I loved the real McCoy…
The best milkshake ever was at Bright, at the shop down near the creek that makes its own icecream from local fruits.
Their version is fill up a metal milkshake container with the icecream of the chosen flavour. Add just enough milk to make it slurpable. NO SYRUPS! Beat that. And the paragliding is good, too!