There is nothing more quintessentially Australian than Vegemite. It’s an acquired taste—some would say aggressively so—that many swear by (mainly Australians). Most first-time Vegemite tasters find the substance, which is a kind of brown flavored paste made from leftover brewers yeast and secret herbs and spices, to be quite off-putting. Perhaps only good in small doses. But now, Vegemite is being combined with the other source of great Australian kvetching: the flat white.
As reported by MSN, the deeply Australian drink was made in collaboration with Australian-inspired London-based cafe chain Farm Girl and it will be premiering at this year’s London Coffee Festival. The drink combines a traditional flat white, which doesn’t actually have a singular referent but in this case means a 7.5:1 milk to espresso ratio, with a dollop of the intensely salty and savory black paste that some say tastes like “concentrated soy sauce.”
“The Flat Vegemite is destined to be our new best seller, what a flavor sensation,” Farm Girl’s Co-founder and Creative Director Rose Hood tells MSN. “We can’t wait for customers to level up their coffee game the Aussie way!” (While Hood’s coffee shop is in London, she is at least from outside Melbourne, so at least this isn’t another Brit weirdly going to bat for the Aussies.)
And while I would like to dunk on the drink, I regret to inform you that I think it might actually be okay? I mean, miso lattes lean into the savory-sweet thing with aplomb, so maybe the Flat Vegemite could follow suit.
What I am more confident about is that this isn’t the last we’ll see of the drink. The London Coffee Festival was regrettably ahead of the curve on the whole Espresso Martini thing—you could even argue they were one of the popularizing forces that brought it back—and so if they are repping the Flat Vegemite to their 30,000+ attendees, it stands to reason it might create similar outcome. Combine that with the global affinity for Australian-style cafes and it’s a recipe for success. Salty, savory success.
If you can’t attend the London Coffee Festival but still want to try the Flat Vegemite, Farm Girl shared the recipe with MSN, which is as follows:
Ingredients
20g Ristretto (double shot of espresso)
One Teaspoon of VEGEMITE
150ml hot milk (preferably steamed)
Method
Pull a 20g double ristretto shot.
Stir in one teaspoon of VEGEMITE until fully dissolved.
Top with 150ml of hot milk, finishing with a thin layer of foam.
Optional: serve with hot buttered toast for dipping.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
