Claim to Fame

On a barista training course at Auckland’s Allpress Espresso, the Guardian’s Chris Mugan learns the flat white-making mantra: “stretch, whirlpool, surf” in the city that claims the iconic drink as their invention. “The brew is gearing up to become as widely known in the UK as the country’s last great export, Flight of the Conchords, as at the beginning of the year, the nationwide chains joined in. Peter Andre launched Costa Coffee’s maiden flat white in January, around the same time that Starbucks got in on the act. [In September], Allpress is due to open a roastery/café in Shoreditch. Mugan goes on to recommend Auckland’s Queenie’s Lunchroom in Freeman’s Bay; Frolic Café in Grey Lynn; and Good One “off the uber-trendy Ponsonby Road”.