Australian coffee drinkers addicted to textured milk brews.

A funny thing happened on my recent Xmas holidays.

No, it wasn't some weird, relaxed state of mind or the discovery of a new coffee innovation.

It was a simple observation that came as a shock.

We stayed at the wonderful RACV resort in Torquay between Xmas and New Year (a great place and highly recommended).

One thing, in particular, was noticeable - the unusual display of human herd activity at the generous buffet breakfast sessions each morning.

Here is a place that puts on a massive scale brekkie - it's my favourite meal of the day, and I am guilty of partaking in 4 or 5 plates of food each morning. It's impossible to resist and leads to a food coma from over-eating.

Near the juice and beverage section sat two large Nespresso commercial capsule machines, The big automatic systems with fresh milk units found in large corporate offices and premium car dealerships.

Commercial capsule systems use a far higher dose, proprietary flying saucer capsules, which are not compatible with domestic capsule machines. 

So, what's so special about that, I hear you say?

Those systems are everywhere in portion control hospitality these days.

Well, it was the constantly long lineup to use these big self-serve capsule machines.

Now I'm talking about lines that were constantly 3-wide and eight deep with people waiting to grab themselves a capsule cappuccino.

The machines would clog and run out of milk, so the speed of service could have been better.

Nor was it helpful when people confronted by so many capsule choices took ages to work out which capsule they wanted, seemingly oblivious to the caffeine-deprived souls rolling their eyes standing behind them.

This breakfast buffet offered a choice of 3 different coffee beverage preparations:-

1. the never-ending supply of freshly brewed filter coffee,
2. a self-serve capsule or
3. you could purchase a cafe-quality barista-made beverage for a few bucks, well, more than a few bucks.

The shock of observing this herd-like ritual was trying to figure out what the obscene and perverse attraction to the capsule systems that had captivated the attention of the majority of coffee drinkers in the room.

Truly bizarre. 

Perhaps they were coffee drinkers who themselves owned capsule systems at home.

Who knows? I certainly did not interview anyone waiting in the lines.

One of my pet hates is to wait in line for anything. It's not a sense of entitlement. I just can't be stuffed waiting for a coffee.

There was no way on earth I would stand in those lines like the herd of caffeine-starved cattle.

I already knew the abundantly available freshly brewed coffee was superb with a dash of milk.

As expected, the taste was clean and sweet, with no sugar needed. 

It's a fully flavoured brew and some of the best I've tasted in that style (take a bow, RACV......well done!).

I'm sure a Nespresso capsule machine is no longer a novelty factor.

After the 3rd morning of watching the herds struggle with their capsule coffee creations, I spotted a rare moment of a shorter queue at one of the capsule machines and made my dash.

5 mins later, I was the proud owner of 3x concoctions - a double (2x capsules) of the most intense ranked capsule with milk, a single intense-rated capsule with milk and a mid-range capsule with milk.

Walking back to the table, my dear wife shook her head, and the faint sound of "scolding" slipped from her mouth.

"Why are you doing this ?" she bellowed at me in a volume that startled the couple seated nearby.

In my defiant response, I said, "Because I have to find out what all the fuss is about".

To avoid desensitizing the palate, we started with the medium-strength capsule latte - working from weakest to strongest.

First impressions - completely devoid of flavour, tepid cold and unpleasant.

There was no need to take a second sample as the temperature was unacceptable and the cup undrinkable.

Seriously, that was no exaggeration. What the hell is all the fuss about?

Next, onto the strongest single-intensity capsule prepared as a lungo with a manual milk top-up - the ratio was, say, 50/50 coffee and milk.

There were faint hints of coffee flavour, but it was a warm milkshake with a touch of coffee.

As a fair and honest comparison, the capsule machine-made coffee was nowhere near as good as the freshly brewed filter coffee dispensed from the vac flasks by the waitpersons.

Finally, it was time to test the double (2x capsule) of the strongest capsule with milk.

It was prepared as espresso to retain intensity without excessive dissolved liquids from a lungo.

The black capsule coffee was topped with foamed milk, as I feared it would be too bitter without sweetener.

The result was presentable regarding coffee taste, but again, it was far from what the staff had been dispensing from brewed flasks.

All this begged a serious and confusing question - why were people clamouring to line up for capsule coffee each morning when the result was inferior?

My only answer to this is that customers were seeking a coffee beverage that resembled barista-made milk-based espresso without having to pay for it (strange, considering the rooms were $400 per night).

These capsule coffee drinkers were yearning for the warm, fluffy, creaminess of textured milk from the Nespresso capsule machine as it provided increased body and viscosity compared to a brewed coffee that was 90% brew and 10% milk.

Flavour and balance were unimportant, and that, folks, is a real eye-opener.

A few days later, I found myself again at the beverage section during breakfast, topping up my juice.

I turned and asked a lady standing in the Nespresso line barely a metre away if I could please ask her why she preferred the capsule coffee over the brewed coffee.

"I like how it does the milk with the coffee", she responded.

Even if the milk is not hot enough, she added afterwards, it's the creaminess I crave in the cup.

It certainly got me thinking about why these systems are so popular.

One thing all of the most successful cafes we supply have in common is that they constantly nail their milk preparation.

They do this perfectly, making all the difference when competing with other cafes in their area.

Beyond having the best coffee in their area, they are more precise with their milk skills compared to their competitors, and this goes some way towards contributing in many ways to why they have more customers and their cafes are always busy.

Well-prepared milk does wonderful things to coffee, and as it has been said before by others, "milk hides a multitude of coffee sins".

There is an incredible amount of sweetness released from correctly textured milk, and the body it brings to the cup means the experience is far more rewarding for the drinker.

We are unsure whether Australian coffee drinkers are addicted to coffee or textured milk.