Meet The Team / Erin Meister

Coffee can be confusing: How come when you order a macchiato at a shop adorned with that ubiquitous green mermaid, the drink comes out as a tall, steaming cup of foamed, caramel-latticed milk kissed with just a hint of espresso and vanilla -- while at some other boutique cafes it arrives in a doll-house-sized demitasse?

It's all about vocabulary.

Didn't think you'd actually have to learn Italian in order to order a coffee? Well don't worry -- just one word can unravel the macchiato mystery once and for all.

Read on after the jump to find out more about macchiatos.

Plenty of places consider themselves coffee-centric, but few with the passion, conviction and seemingly quirky drinks of Australia. (Of course, they may just seem quirky because we're so busy with our Caramel Macchiatos.) The coffee culture of Australia and neighboring New Zealand, driven by waves of Italian immigrants that have historically settled in the region, are widely considered light-years ahead of the relatively fledgling one in the States, but what makes them so different from us?

Find out how we differ from our friends Down Under after the jump.

Is coffee just a caffeine-delivery system?

It seems like the folks behind Stōk "black coffee shots" think so: Packaged like individual creamers and smothered in warnings blaring "Limit 2/day" and "Not for those under 18, pregnant or caffeine sensitive," these little jolts are designed to get dumped into a cup of convenience-store coffee.

Of course, no one who drinks convenience-store coffee is doing so because it tastes great -- they're looking for something to stave off that highway hypnosis. But do these "shots" go too far?

If coffee beer sounded like a paradox (a stimulant and a depressant, all in one!), then coffee soda might be overkill. Wouldn't it be a sugar-caffeine rush just waiting to push your heart into overdrive?

But believe it or not, coffee sodas have existed at least since the late 19th century, when Manhattan Special released its Espresso Coffee Soda -- a blend that includes brewed coffee and pure cane sugar. (It's also available as a "diet" drink, made with NutraSweet, and in caffeinated or decaffeinated versions.) The dark-as-night brew is still commonly found in bodega coolers today, sipped by both staunch devotees and those trying to quickly (and probably unsuccessfully) recover from a night of revelry.

Read more about coffee sodas after the jump.

Coffee beer: blasphemy for lovers of both brews, or a delicious paradox? The combination of stimulant (caffeine) and depressant (a frosty mug of suds) might sound like a weird contradiction, but au contraire -- one sip may convince you they were made for each other.

After all, why should whiskey and sambuca have all the fun when it comes to coffee?

Read more about coffee beers after the jump.