Topic: Coffee ... and stuff

[Critter]

BTW: It was cream for the coffee and bacon that I bought,

Cream... for the coffee?
Okay I'm sorry for how off topic this is but I just have to ask, in America/Canada etc do you really put cream in your coffee? I have always found it strange, in American films and TV shows etc I often hear characters talking about putting cream in coffee. The thought to me is crazy, here we put milk in coffeee and have cream on cake. Cream here is a much thicker type substance and I couldn't imagine ever trying to stir it into a hot drink. So do you use milk in coffee as well ever or is it really just this 'cream'?

[Antares]

We have 3 variations on cream here...

Half & half - Half milk, half light cream
Light cream - For Coffee
Heavy cream - For whipping, I think the cream your talking about.

[Touti]

Sophie I really don't know what's available in the stores in Europe but here we have many types of dairy products.

Milk: Simmed, 1%, 2% and 3.25%
Coffee cream, 10%
Cooking cream, 15%
Real cream, the thick stuff !
There's also a mix of milk and cream which I don't know the english name of but has 5% fat.

[Critter]

Ah so you have some creams for putting in coffee and some for things like cooking and cake etc. Here it seems to be just milk goes into coffee, never cream. Wouldn't cream make the coffee really thick and gluggy?

[Antares]

You either use half & half or light cream for coffee. Your still thinking of the whipped topping.

[Kathy]

Sophie I really don't know what's available in the stores in Europe but here we have many types of dairy products.

Milk: Simmed, 1%, 2% and 3.25%
Coffee cream, 10%
Cooking cream, 15%
Real cream, the thick stuff !
There's also a mix of milk and cream which I don't know the english name of but has 5% fat.

Maybe you are thinking of buttermilk?

[Jimmy]

Every jobs I had in the sales field I've always let that pass.

It's just some change,
that makes the costumer happy,
most of the time they will give you more a couple of days later,
I've even loan money to some regular costumer when the ATM weren't working.

Why? Simple the best way to have a good time (if it's possible...) at a low wage clerk jobs is to please the good costumer so they will like you and praise you at your boss (you can even got salary raise this way) or give you a better tips. Anyway, none of my boss cut my pay because my cash was short (wich almost never happen, since you are over most of the time).

[Achim]

Maybe you are thinking of buttermilk?

But buttermilk is sour...?


In Germany we often use "condensed milk" for coffee, which is rather yellowish/ivory in color.

[Tom]

In Germany we often use "condensed milk" for coffee, which is rather yellowish/ivory in color.

Which is a type of "Kaffeesahne" (coffee cream). It is just a type of milk. I always understood that the American "cream" is the same thing. And I understood that the cream which is put on cakes is called "whipped cream" ("Schlagsahne" in German).

[snowcat]

Good grief! And I thought our average check-out assistants were bad. 

Cheaky git! 


Well, I know where I work if you are running low on change you call someone else over to get you some or you have to ask for change.... if we physically had no change and I mean I didn't even have a pennies then id have had to give you more then you were supposed to get, and hope you returned it to me on your next visit 


Although, at the same time I know how annoying it is to have no change and have people pay with big cash, for example just last week I had pound coins only in my till, a customer comes in with a £50 (which are pretty darn rare anyway) And buys a £5 t-shirt, I clearly stated, I have no notes in my till just £1 coins So, I gave her £45 in £1 coins to which she replied I want cash... I looked at her and said I just said I have none... you are the first customer of the day.... I now have £5 in 20p's and a £50 note in my till.... im the only cashier.

...  then someone came in for a £30 refund!

Anyway, I can sympathise with parties, when the tills are checked at the end of the nite that cashier will get in trouble for have too much (or too less) in her till. But its also annoying when you are served by a rude cashier when you have done nothing wrong.

...On a personal note, I hate rude customers, I also hate customers who cue up in a large cue when we clearly have two members of staff on our tills who huff and puff about how slow it is.... I admit, I am fairly rude to those customers myself.... infact, I have no idea why I have not been fired.... im nasty to some people  some wouldnt give me her address for a refund, i wouldn't give the refund... she had to wait an hour until another cashier started. Anyway... back on topic, rant over.

[Achim]

Which is a type of "Kaffeesahne" (coffee cream). It is just a type of milk. I always understood that the American "cream" is the same thing. And I understood that the cream which is put on cakes is called "whipped cream" ("Schlagsahne" in German).

That's how I see the situation as well.

[Najemikon]

Weird topic!

In the UK, with common everyday instant coffee, you would use milk. I prefer "Whole" milk, but Semi-Skimmed seems most common now. There is also Skimmed milk, but you might as well have bloody water. These types refer to fat content and Whole Milk is slightly creamier than the others, but would not be called "Cream".

This is what we refer to as "White Coffee". The French term Cafe Au Lait, is white coffee made with hot or steamed milk.

Whole milk is also what I would choose to pour on me cornflakes.   Or drink separately, especially as I've found it can ward off hay fever. Weird, but true.

Coffee prepared in a more traditional way, like a percolator, would normally be served with cream, if not just black. It is often sold here as "Single Cream", as opposed to "Double Cream". Single Cream is more like thick milk and is also used in cooking, such as with soup or mash spud.

Double-cream, whipped, is used in Irish Coffee, but that needs a shot of whiskey too!

Single Cream really is just thicker milk. Actually, with a bottle of fresh whole milk that has settled, don't shake it and the first pour will be creamy enough as a substitute.

I don't like condensed milk in drinks. It's whole milk with much water content removed, sold in cans and has a distinctive, if creamy, taste. It's often used here for cooking and I don't mind it poured over fruit. One clever trick, if you've ran out of normal milk, you can add water to condensed milk and it's a viable substitute.

As Achim and Tom have said, it is the same stuff sold as a Coffee Creamer here. Strange stuff. You can get various flavours, to add a hint of caramel, etc. I believe they are right as well, that it will be this that the American's think of as "cream". It's not proper cream, because it's manufactured and I don't believe it is necessarily sold as "fresh" milk or cream which only has a day or two before it "turns".

Tea is another matter. I've never heard of creamy milk or full on cream being used in tea. To save confusion, when we posh British types refer to a Cream Tea, we mean Cream Cakes at Tea Time; PG Tips is not compulsory!

[DJ Doena]

I used to drink my coffee with condensed milk (7.5% or 4% fat) but at some point I switched to regular milk (1.5% not the 3.5% fat kind) and since then I don't like condensed milk anymore.

But I'm also not a big fan of all these other coffee variations (like Latte Macchiato) or that undrinkable stuff Starbucks sells.

[Kathy]

I like Colombian coffee. I don't use milk or anything like that in it. I will, on occasion, put fresh cinnamon in the filter before I add the coffee.

I tried Starbucks once and couldn't drink it. Maybe they only know how to make the fancy stuff and not good old black coffee.

I never buy milk or milk products. Of course not having a refrigerator might be part of the reason! I get my calcium and vitamin d from a pill and the sun. 

[kahless]

[...]
But I'm also not a big fan of all these other coffee variations (like Latte Macchiato) or that undrinkable stuff Starbucks sells.

Same here! I like my coffee just simple black and sweet. We don't drink so much coffee in our family, so mostly we use a pad machine. This way we get our coffee fresh, fast and simple - and we like it!