Dave Smith It was like that here when I was growing up. Everybody drank tea all the time. Instant coffee was available, but drinking real coffee was very rare in the Anglo/Celtic population. My Auntie Ann was an exception, and she got me used to coffee in my early teens. I recall that I didn't like the taste at first, but I didn't like tea either. In fact I used to drink milk with my meals all through my teens, long after the age when you grow out of that.
Starting in the mid 70s the whole coffee thing changed in Australia. Espresso machines started to appear everywhere, even in pubs! Filter coffee was tried and found wanting, but plunger pots became all the rage and people were no longer willing to put up with the stewed brown muck that you still get at conferences and cheap fast food places - nowadays even Maccas do espresso. And of course in the last five years no home has been complete without a domestic espresso machine.
People still drink a lot of tea, mind you. Tea is the new coffee. All respectable cafes and restaurants offer a choice of varieties, usually from boutique suppliers, of both regular and herbal teas. Tea bags are regarded with disdain. I always have peppermint tea after dinner - we usually have Hunan (slightly smoked), Dilmah (regular), Chai , ginger and chamomile on hand.
This is all very middle clbutt, you understand. Lots of people still drink Nescafe and Bushells tea bags. And it's not easy to get a decent coffee in the bush.
Christine
