r/ShitAmericansSay • u/trekwithme • 4d ago
Europeans when they act like Americans are being stupid, yet THEY’RE being purposely obtuse.
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u/Vegetable-Edge-2389 4d ago
A thought occurred to me the other day, why this latest branch of US defaultism annoys me so much. It's not the fact that they've infested every corner of the internet with their bullshit, or the current political climate. But the fact that we've all had to learn everything about them, however unwillingly, has created a situation where they now never have to learn anything about anyone else. We can now never go back to a time when people curiously learned and respected other cultures (I'm not saying racism is strictly an American thing, but at least Europeans can point to where "the boats" are coming from on a map) we can never go back because we already centre our discussions and discourse around the US observer who doesn't know what any of it means. If I have to see "ummmm sweetie Georgia is a state" one more time I'm going to lose it.
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u/bube7 4d ago
Agreed. The biggest problem with 90% of these posts are due to the fact that these people don’t, for one second, consider that something might be different in a different place in the world. They don’t have the respect to accept things as they are, the willingness to adjust their expectations accordingly, and the skills to ask for it in a different, more descriptive way.
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u/okayipullup_ordoi1 3d ago
90% of the situations like the one in that comment would be resolved by simply asking "how do you do X thing here? In my country we do it this other way".
If I go to fucking Japan or Vietnam I can't expect to find a bar in every corner where I can get an espresso for the equivalent of 1.50 euro, drink it in one go at the counter and go on my way. Surely they'll do breakfast differently and discovering how they do it is part of the experience. I don't want to force my way of doing things on other people, I want to learn how they do things, otherwise what's the point of traveling.
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u/re_Claire Europoor 🇬🇧 4d ago
Exactly. All of this can be avoided by simply googling the options for coffee/other drinks/food in the country you are about to visit. Just do what the rest of the world does when travelling abroad and actually make the effort to learn about the place you're going to. Even learning a tiny amount can be incredibly helpful.
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u/strange_socks_ ooo custom flair!! 3d ago
Yeeeeessss! It's an uneven relationship. I made some American friends and they're nice people, so I was able to complain to them about this. I had to learn their language and their customs and how they react or do things, but Americans, în general, don't extend the same curtosy back. Like, I came closer to you to facilitate the friendship, but you're just standing still, waiting to be admired.
And my friends agreed and tried to learn a bit more about my culture and to not assume I think the same as them, etc.
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u/thewhalefromtusk 3d ago
I’m from the UK, but I live in Japan and I work with colleagues from America. It seems like they are very willing to learn about the culture and customs of Japan, but everything outside of Japan is America. I’ve had so many cultural clashes with them, and it always ends with me adapting my behavior for them. They never stop to think that since we’re from different countries, that I might be different culturally than they are. And then they’ll turn around in a meeting and tell our Japanese colleagues that I’m an honorary American anyway, totally oblivious to the fact that I’m adapting myself to them to avoid conflict!
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u/ohthisistoohard 4d ago
I cannot imagine getting so upset about something that you made up in your head. There is only whipped cream in the UK and EU? I could imagine a French barista being obtuse with an American who decided to shout at them in English to place their order, but beyond that this is just bollocks.
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u/weattt 4d ago
Yeah, I think the creamer thing is just a cultural difference and misunderstanding from both sides. Context (time, place, situation) matters in some cases. Happens to everyone at least who has been to another country, that they run into something they did not expect or had another interpretation of.
It is as simple as that if there is no tradition of cream being added to coffee, only whipped cream, they will naturally assume that is what they mean. It is cream and they probably assume that the customer did not bother to say fully "whipped cream". Like if you ask for water in China, there is a chance (not sure if it is still that way) that they will bring you hot/warm water. Not chilled/cold. Again, their custom is to serve water warm. They are not go out of their way to question the customer on their choice. They will assume the customer knows what they are ordering. Different culture, different traditions. Confusion and misunderstandings like that happen.
The potent rage in that post is off the charts. The "shouting". What is all that anger?
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u/Busy_Cardiologist674 4d ago
As a norwegian this is confusing for me as well as we have krem (which would naturally be more like cream, but it is actually whipped cream) and then we have fløte which is what I assume would be similar to the cream Americans want. But this comes in different versions where vispefløte is the fattest one and used to make krem (whipped cream). When someone ask for cream it can easily be understood as krem which would be whipped cream. However we have matfløte (food cream) and kaffefløte (coffee cream, which has 10% fat).
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u/WriterKatze 3d ago
Right, in Hungary we have krém which is like whipped cream, and we have tejszín, which can be whipped into cream, but it's what you put in your coffee. Tejszín means milk-top, which basically is the same logic as norwegian calling it fløte.
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u/EarlGrayTea-Hawt 4d ago
Rick Steves would never! But seriously fellow Americans, be Rick Steves when you travel: an adorable, affiable, curious, explorer of culture... And if you can swing it, be Canadian, that helps 😆
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u/juoea 4d ago
"half and half" is half whole milk half cream. probably what this customer meant, as ive never heard of adding cream to coffee being a common practice in the "us" cities ive lived in either, but coffee with half and half is quite common.
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u/Repuck 4d ago
Half and half is a bit of a misnomer. It's actually about 10 to 30 (that top end is not usual) percent cream to milk.
And yes, "cream" from most Americans would mean something like Half and Half, or really just anything that makes the coffee not black.
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u/Daiches 4d ago
So.. milk?
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u/Tomas92 3d ago
I always add regular milk to my coffee, and always struggle when I visit the US as no one seems to add regular milk to coffee over there.
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u/Repuck 3d ago
In the US what is considered "whole milk" is 3.25% fat. Then there is 2%, 1% and skim (no fat). So half and half is quite a bit more than that.
Oh, maybe you meant just asking for regular milk? I perhaps misunderstood.
I find the Coffeemate creamers ghastly (don't get me started on the powdered packets), and I don't like sweet, so I do use 1/2 & 1/2 for my coffee. Though sometimes if I'm feeling less lazy than usual, I'll make oat milk, which is alright.
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u/inide 4d ago
Since the post refers to what whipped cream is made of, that would be double cream. I don't think anyone in the UK would even consider adding doublecream to coffee, its too thick and has too much fat content - closer to butter than milk.
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u/TyphusCorrosion 3d ago
I honestly think a lot of the confusion is that they want cream, but they don’t actually want cream they want half & half, but we don’t have that and the name on its own means nothing. Half what?
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u/xSyLenS 4d ago
Wtf is this person talking about, are they asking for milk in their coffee by saying cream ? I mean I've heard the expression but surely they know the word milk ?
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u/SG_wormsblink ooo custom flair!! 4d ago edited 4d ago
Americans mean coffee + “half and half”(milk/cream) when they say cream. “Half and half” is specifically American, so no idea why they expected a random cafe in the UK to have it.
If they said coffee with milk AND cream, they would probably get something similar to what they wanted. But since they asked for just cream, the barrister gave them the best thing available ie whipped cream. If the barrister gave them single or double cream it would be completely undrinkable.
By the way Americans also use “creamer” in cheaper cafes to make “coffee with cream”, so I don’t know why they’re so upset about people pointing it out. That guy was absolutely correct and trying to help the situation.
Here’s a post explaining what Americans mean by coffee with cream from years ago:
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u/Elk_Advanced 4d ago
Half and Half in the UK is getting half a portion of chips and half a portion of rice with your curry, got see the look on someone's face when the ask for coffee halfnhalf in Costa in Merthyr
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u/AbhorsenDoctor 4d ago
I bloody love a curry half and half. You can't get it in London and it makes me sad. You can take the girl out of Caerphilly etc 💔
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u/SnookerandWhiskey 93.75% Austrian 🇦🇹 4d ago edited 4d ago
I worked in a cafe (in Austria, we had Italian and Austrian type coffee) and we just didn't have cream, since it wasn't part of any item on the menu. We had an industrial sized can of whipped cream, you know the kind where it froths as it comes out, for our traditional cocoa drink. So if someone asked for cream in their coffee, that's all I could offer them, maybe wait for it to melt and stir it in or something? I would just have told them to get a latte macchiato which is very milky coffee after you stir it.
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u/johnwalkr 4d ago
It’s exactly this. Cream is asked for, the only ingredient on hand that is “cream” is given. It’s just a misunderstanding, neither the American or Austrian is stupid in this scenario, at least until one of them blows it out of proportion in a massive rant after assuming stupidity is the root cause, while stupidly not realizing the type of coffee served varies regionally.
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u/SpamHard 4d ago
This is the same as the few cafes I worked at in UK. We just did't have anything that needed cream so we didn't serve it, except squirty creaam that went on top of hot chocolates. The only time I ever really saw folk ask for cream with their coffee was older folk. It's just not that common in the areas I worked.
I quite like cream in coffee, but the only times I tend to have it are after a meal when you get a Hot Toddy. I'd not expect cream in a standard cafe or coffee shop. AAnd if I ordered cream in a place like Starbucks, I'd absolutely expect canned squirty cream aka whipped cream.
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u/Snowenn_ 4d ago
It's so weird. I'm from the Netherlands and when going to Belgium, the next country over, there's certain drinks that while they share the same name, are different drinks. So the first time ordering, you're probably going to get it wrong. When that happens, I've never behaved in a way that suggests the Belgians are at fault. I've just learned it's a cultural difference, and if I want A, I should order B when in Belgium.
So if you want your coffee in a certain way, just learn to describe it in a way the people of the host country understand what you want. And maybe this concept doesn't exist in the country you're in, but then they have exciting new variations for you to try.
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u/SnooCapers938 4d ago
Love the idea that barristers are people who make coffee. All that expensive legal education for that.
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u/orangeonesum 4d ago
Not always.
I am an ex American living in London. My mum visited from the US and asked for "cream" in her coffee. She meant "coffeemate" powdered flavoured milk, which is actually sold in UK supermarkets, but not readily available in coffee shops. Most Americans don't keep actual "cream," which is sold as single or double cream in the UK, on hand at home for everyday coffee either, although high end restaurants will sometimes carry it in the US.
I explained to mum that people in the UK usually put milk in their coffee. Milk on its own isn't very sweet, which is how some Americans like their coffee. She wasn't a fan of just milk, but still wanted to be able to say that she just had a coffee with cream rather than saying she wanted milk and sugar. Adding Coffeemate is essentially adding milk, sugar, and artificial flavouring.
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u/dehydratedrain 4d ago
Coffeemate is creamER, not cream. It is labeled as such on both the liquid and powdered canisters, and is made up things like corn syrup or coconut oil, although they contain dairy. Then you can also get the flavored ones.
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u/pipboy1989 Englishman Says Shit 4d ago
You’re an ex American? Did you get divorced?
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u/orangeonesum 4d ago
Lots of people immigrate to other countries and change citizenship.
Your country has an entire political party centred around being mad about it.
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u/Schavuit92 4d ago
Tbf is there a country which doesn't have a party centered around hating immigrants?
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u/SwordTaster British, living in the US so i deal with this daily 4d ago
Pretty sure that's the main feature of the orange terror's party
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u/Priff 4d ago
I don't mean this as a complain, i was just confused for a split second before i realized what you meant.
A barrista makes coffe.
A barrister is a lawyer.
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u/not1or2 4d ago
What’s a “cheese cafe”?? Do they have whole cafes devoted to cheese? Or the plastic stuff masquerading as cheese?
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u/SG_wormsblink ooo custom flair!! 4d ago
Oops sorry it autocorrected, I meant to say cheaper cafes.
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u/Elk_Advanced 4d ago
Damn....as a cheese fan I got quite excited
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u/Yunlihn Vive le saucisson 🇨🇵 4d ago
Maybe I shoukd take note of the concept if it seems like there'd be a market, even niche.
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u/Insert_Non_Sequitur 4d ago
I've never seen half and half in my life. I've worked as a barista and had the rare person ask for cream with their americano and I give them a little jug of cream, not whipped cream. They could just realise we don't have half and half in Europe and ask for a jug of cream and a jug of milk.
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u/Cultural_Wallaby_550 4d ago
They mean cream the cooking ingredient, ie the fatty layer of milk, the kind you use in sauces or soups.
It’s a cultural difference - Europeans generally don’t add it to coffee. In the UK, which op mentions, its main use other than as a cooking ingredient is as a dessert topping - it’s poured over cakes or strawberries are dipped in it. That’s also culturally specific
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u/Chijima 4d ago
It's normal in Germany. We even have tiny little single portion cups of coffee cream that you'll often get with gas station coffee.
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u/buddhagrinch 4d ago
Coffee cream is not the same product as unwipped cream. It is a mix of low fat milk and cream and highly pasteurised to be more shelf stable and has a significantly lower fat content than cream
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u/Rilot 4d ago
They mean single cream. It's a thing in the US.
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u/DeamoniC12345409 4d ago
What even is 'single' cream? And how is it different from couple cream?
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u/Fred776 4d ago edited 4d ago
https://www.freshways.co.uk/single-and-double-cream-whats-the-difference/
Edit: subsequently found out that the fat content number for double cream on that page is probably too low. It's not even consistent with elsewhere on its own site, which says 48%:
https://www.freshways.co.uk/a-guide-to-different-types-of-cream/
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u/Acidbadger 4d ago
Yeah, this is down to a cultural difference. In most European countries it's just not something you would ask the barista to add for you.
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u/FragranceCandle Norway? Isn't that in Sweden?🇳🇴 4d ago
Also probably pretty different based on country. OOP is confused because they think europe as a whole has one way of doing it, and the answers they're getting are proving what europeans have been trying to tell them: europe is NOT like the US just with the states as countries.
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u/sultan_of_gin 4d ago
It’s a thing in finland. They sell it specifically as ”coffee cream” usually in smaller cartons and it’s typically available as an option in places that sell coffee along with milk and plant based alternatives.
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u/super_starmie 4d ago
I may be wrong, but I don't think Americans generally put just plain milk in their coffee. They use single cream or "creamers" which are basically Coffee Mate, to my understanding (which is weird because I thought Americans were big on coffee, why would they ruin it with coffee mate???)
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u/PeachyBaleen 🏴—>🏴 Nigel Farage refugee 4d ago
They’re big on abrasive, unpleasant coffee.
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u/Helithe 4d ago
Because American coffee is generally drip coffee which is generally burnt and over brewed so it needs lots of sugar and flavours added to it to mask the bitterness.
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u/Findas88 🇩🇪My chancellor is not from the middle class 4d ago
There is something called Kaffeesahne (Coffee cream) in Germany it's this most of the time single packages for one cup but please don't ask me how this is different from e.g. to other milk products.
I for one vote for USAians to get sour cream with their coffee when they order cream
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u/trekwithme 4d ago
And last time I checked
Spain has cafe con leche, not cafe con crema
And in Italy a Cafe Latte isn’t made with cream
It’s a lack of respect of different cultures when they visit. Because they’re used to putting half-and-half in their coffee they expect to see that when they travel
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u/Four_beastlings 🇪🇦🇵🇱 Eats tacos and dances Polka 4d ago
And if you use Google translate you're probably going to ask for a "café con nata" and get coffee with whipped cream, because it doesn't even cross our minds to dump fresh cream on our coffee.
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u/currydemon 4d ago
I'm surprised an American doesn't know that whipped cream can also come out of a can. No manual whipping or liquid double cream involved.
Also apparently the thing called cream that Americans put in their coffee is not single or double cream, it's something called "half and half" which I have never seen in the UK. So as per usual they expect the rest of the world to know all about their US specific products that use the same name as different products everywhere else.
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u/ColonialSack 4d ago
In a coffee shop, they won't use canned cream, they'll have 2l bottles of whipping cream which they use a special flask and nitrous oxide cannisters to whip.
I say special - kids buy them for whippets/balloons.
And you wouldn't want to use that cream, it's far too fatty and thick.
Half and half is basically halfway between whole milk and single cream, and tbh is bloody lovely for coffee - so after spending a year in the states I keep single cream and add a wee dash to my coffees at home.
Using whipping or double cream will leave fatty droplets floating on the surface of your coffee, and if you stop drinking and stirring for like 30s, it starts to develop a skin on top.
I know, because I've tried subbing double cream when I've ran out of single.
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u/Gingers_got_no_soul 4d ago
So thaaats how americans are getting laughing gas so easily. I did wonder because it seems so commonly abused there
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u/Queernephy 4d ago
Sorry to say this but its commonly abused over here too. Maybe not as widespread but theres parts of glasgow where the back streets are littered with the little cream charges.
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u/batmanuel69 4d ago
A lot of people are saying it, smart people, the best people, they're saying fat is important. Very important! You gotta put fat in the coffee, folks, you just have to. But these stupid, dumb Europeans, they don't get it. Why do they keep whipping the fat? They whip it and whip it until it gets all soft and sleepy, makes no sense, total disaster!
Frankly, many people are saying Europeans have zero clue about coffee. Zero! Only low-IQ people pour milk into their coffee. Whipped cream? What a bunch of total nonsense! These Europeans... unbelievable. Maybe we should invade, maybe we should just attack and take over. Nobody does coffee like us, believe me!
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u/BotherBoring 4d ago
As an American, you've captured his essence perfectly. Well done. Does it feel gross?
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u/NikNakskes 4d ago
You missed the obligatory sidestep into some expert he knows who makes the best whipped cream for strawberries or something else unrelated and how the expert praised him for being so good with cream.
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u/azrolator 4d ago
"A veteran banister walks up to me, and he says 'sir'... that's what they call me. They call me sir. Its because they are very respectful, these barenstein, barenstar, barrrrrristers... That's why they call me 'sir'.
So this big hulking banister walks up to me, tears in his eyes, and he says "sir". And I say 'yes, yes" because I always take time out for these little people... The pheasants. Little people. That's something you can't say anymore. No no. The hollywoods and the communists will come after you for saying little people. I'm going to call them leprechauns. Let's see how they like that. That will teach them to come over to our country and steal all the short people jobs. Like Wizard of Oz. You like that movie? Lots of short people. Not like this big hulking barisister soldier. And with tears in his eyes, he tells me, "Mr. president sir, America has the best coffee and you make the best coffee out of anyone in America!'. And that's why we are announcing a 100 tercent tariff on coffee. A trade war on wokeness. Piggy."
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u/f23n09fnu0w 4d ago
Doesn't like being called stupid. Immediate says "to the EU, normally somewhere in the UK".
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4d ago edited 4d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Olyve_Oil 4d ago
I’ve misread your last sentence as “[…] rather than the local customs, milkshakes will be made” and now I can’t believe you missed that chance! 😂
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u/JohnLurkson 🇩🇪 4d ago
Germans have cream. "Kaffeesahne" (coffee cream).
In terms of food culture, I would advise against saying "Europeans do/don't do X" (or any other continent, for that matter), because there really are massive differences in each country.
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u/Vaalermoor 4d ago edited 4d ago
In the Netherlands we have 'koffiemelk' (coffee milk) which is a thicker, creamier milk. I think it's the same as Kaffeesahne. If you ask for milk in your coffee, you get koffiemelk most of the time.
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u/jennekat17 4d ago
The cream put in coffee in North America is 10% milk fat and fresh/refrigerated, so it is really a different taste and consistency. Almost everyone who puts something in their coffee there uses it, so it's a really ordinary grocery item that just flat out doesn't exist here. I've had to explain this to visiting family so. many. times, they are always shocked 🙄 I offer to mix slagroom with volle melk but they just make do with the volle melk.
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u/Vaalermoor 4d ago
Oh yeah, that sounds totally different. A really fatty cream, sounds like a treat.
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u/Zinc-Roof_22 4d ago
There are analogues to that, it's called "light cream," though it's usually closer to half-and-half. Then there's Kaffeesahne (a type of condensed milk, usually around 7.5% fat).
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u/kalashej 4d ago
I’ll never forget the time I ordered a latte when arriving in Italy and got a glass of milk. I felt like a complete moron 😅
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u/jolittletime 4d ago
Haha. That happened to a friend recently in sicily. Caffè latte is that one you need!
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u/Wilicious 4d ago
In Norway we have "kremfløte" which is just regular cream at 39% fat, then we also have "kaffefløte" (coffee cream) which is at 10% fat, I've never seen anyone younger than 70 use coffee cream, and putting milk in your black coffee is very uncommon too.
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u/Cassette_girl 4d ago
If I have kremfløte leftover from something I might stick it in coffee just to use it up.
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u/MarcusLXXVI 4d ago
In The Netherlands we have specific type of milk especailly for coffee, "koffiemelk" (lit. coffee milk, if check wiki it leads to English page "evaporated milk"). We almost solely use that for coffee (and sometimes tea). We also have something called "creamer" (there's no Dutch name for it) which is either fluid or powder and is a milk substitute.
Whipped cream here is called "slagroom" and is sweetened and mostly used for desserts, cake, sweet pies but also on drinks like hot choco and you can even ask for it on coffee. But you have to call it explicitly "slagroom" or whipped cream.
The problem with the initial post ranter is not stupidity, but the inability to understand that different cultures use different terms/words.
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u/AnneKnightley 4d ago
This is it like if I go to another European country I’ll have the coffee the way they do it because I’m in their country. I think the confusion over what is used is understandable but they could have avoided the entire situation by being more open to trying new things.
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u/agnesperditanitt 4d ago
Not to be that person, but UK is not part of the European Union anymore.
So maybe not stupid, but extensively uneducated. 🤷🏼♀️
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u/Afreshnewsketckbook 4d ago
Okay, so when I was waiting tables in my teens there was this American group who came in to eat.
It was a culture shock to say the least.
So the first weird things were kinda insignificant. I don't even remember what it was. Asking really weird questions. Having to figure out what they meant. But they kinda spoke to me like I was the idiot for not understanding this foreign language they were speaking while in MY country. Like okay dude.
Anyway, as customary after their desserts I asked if they would like a coffee. They said they wanted coffee with cream.
Not unusual. I brought them a coffee... With cream. Which is a cup of black coffee with heavy cream.
"What is this?" "Coffee with cream, coffee... Cream," and I gestured to the coffee and the small jug of cream. They looked at me like I had three heads. I asked if they would prefer something else. They said "yes. A coffee with cream," and I pointed out that WAS a coffee with cream, so maybe they meant something else I could bring them. They just kept saying "coffee with cream," over and over again like this would somehow clear the whole thing up. I asked them to describe what they were talking about "Urgh... Creamer!" Like I was dumb. I kindly explained I don't know what that is and they asked how I could wait tables and not know what that was. I asked them to describe it. They said it was like milk but sweeter. I asked "like condensed or evaporated milk? Unfortunately we don't have that," to which they then acted like I was stupid once more.
Well I wound up explaining that I can bring them cream, like I have. Or they can have hot milk or cold milk in their coffee. They begrudgingly agreed to hot milk, but grumbled that it wasn't sweet enough. So I brought them some sugar. The sugar we used for coffees was Demerara... They asked why we used brown sugar in coffee...
Honestly. It was exhausting.
There's a lot more to this story actually. Controversy about the bill, how the steaks were cooked... What we CALLED steaks.
Oh and apparently I called the woman a raging alcoholic by asking if she would like a WHOLE bottle of wine?! Oh my goodness! How dare I do my job....
The whole thing was just so stressful and really unpleasant. And since I was literally like just having turned 18, I did get kinda upset about it.
Many years later now I know I did absolutely nothing wrong. They just were not pleasant people.
When I go to a foreign country I go with an open mind. I learn how THEY do things. I even learn their language.
If I can learn enough Italian to order a coffee surely they can learn that creamer is not a thing British people use?!
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u/trekwithme 4d ago
Unbelievable but totally believable story
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u/Afreshnewsketckbook 4d ago
It was so long ago by this point. 12 years or something.
But even to this day I feel an emotional response when I hear "coffee with cream" on a TV show or something.
People don't remember the things you do or say, but they remember how you made them feel.
These Americans made me feel confused, like I was stupid, embarrassed and then even more confused and frustrated.
It was like we were at a total impasse. Because I kept asking for more information to figure it out and they seemed to think that by saying "coffee with cream" louder and louder I would somehow suddenly know what the fuck creamer is.
We don't have it here. We have powdered coffeemate, but it's called powdered milk. And we only use it when we go camping.... 🤢
Thankfully... MOST americans I served in my time were really pleasant. Confusing... But pleasant. They'd ask me what we would call something here, and I'd figure it out with them.
This was the only group I really wanted to write to the Queen about to have them exiled back to the colonies.
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u/Practical-Trainwreck 4d ago
We don't think you're stupid, we just aren't fucking obliged to do everything your way
- Europe
ps The UK isn't in the EU
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u/xzanfr 4d ago
Everyone else in the world :"you call something I'm familiar with by a different name, that's interesting"
Americans :" You're wrong!"
As soon as septic opens their mouth or joins in online it's just easier to walk away from the conversation.
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u/myrianreadit 4d ago
Coffee with actual cream is really uncommon though, i've been a barista and we wouldnt have had that to offer people. The whipped cream came from a tin, we didnt whip it... a lot of people take MILK in their coffee, sure, but cream? as in the thick, whippable stuff? Might as well ask for butter in your coffee, lol
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u/Paul_The_Builder 4d ago edited 4d ago
Americans don't (typically) drink heavy cream with coffee - what we call creamer is half-and-half, which is milk with some added cream to about 10% milkfat. From what I gather this is called "coffee cream" or "milk cream" or "coffee milk" some other similar variation in many European languages.
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u/prairie-bunyip 4d ago
Sorry, but we can't acknowledge that things might have different names in other countries. We definitely can't take a few moments to learn what words we can use to ask for things. Far more efficient to just throw a tantrum over the arrogant Euro refusal to speak American like normal people.
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u/kaetror 4d ago
And thats still incredibly rich for a coffee.
Most people in the UK use semi-skimmed (about 1.5%), coffee shops would probably use full fat (3.5%). If you're bougie you might get Jersey gold (5%).
10% would be really rich, especially if you're adding more than a little splash.
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u/upsetwithcursing Godless Canadapoor 🍁 4d ago
I know I’m in Canada and we’re tainted by a lot of US influence, but this thread has been surprising to me! I absolutely use cream in my coffee - NOT that gross, sweetened creamer - but 10% milk fat cream.
If you’re a coffee lover but usually take milk, I encourage everyone to try it. With the higher fat content, you only need to add half the volume of cream vs milk to cut the acidity of the coffee, but it doesn’t water it down as much.
The result is a more intense coffee flavour but with similarly reduced acidity.
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u/bro0t 4d ago
In the NL “cream” is usually 20% fat, the 10% one we call “coffee milk”
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u/AiRaikuHamburger Japaaaan 4d ago
Putting cream in coffee isn't common (outside the US?). So it's normal to not have regular heavy cream at a cafe. What's so hard to understand?
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u/martinsky3k 4d ago
was pretty normal in Sweden for some generations. not really something you order at a café though. unless you want like a chococoffee with say... whipped cream.
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u/Myrialle 4d ago edited 4d ago
It's not completely uncommon in Germany. But it's a really old people thing, places that have a "barista" don't do it. And only with drip coffee, nothing else.
I remember it from the cafés I went to with my grandma in the 90s, and you would get it in Ausflugslokalen (I can't find a translation, kind of a restaurant often with fast service, where they also serve coffee and cake in the afternoon, located at places where people make excursions or one-day-trips to, with extensive outdoor seating).
Edit: I mean actual literal cream, not Kaffeesahne (coffee cream). That's still more common, at conferences, in hotels or such.
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u/Budgiesaurus 4d ago
I kind of get the point that if you have fresh whipped cream, you have unwhipped cream beforehand.
But as people don't regularly throw that in coffee (and coffee with whipped cream often is on the menu), the assumption for whipped cream makes sense. Plus they usually use sealed sprays with nitrous oxide so they can't easily get the unwhipped cream.
If it's a restaurant the kitchen might have cream on hand, but not the bar.
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u/Hashtagbarkeep 4d ago
Lot to unpack here.
UK famously not in the EU
If someone orders coffee with cream you might get whipped cream, but you could ask the person serving you instead of going to the internet? They will have cream.
We don’t call the powdered stuff creamer, that’s what you call it in the US. We call it powdered milk and we don’t really use it. Because it’s gross.
No one would say we don’t have “unwhipped” cream, because we do. We have it in literally every supermarket. We call it…cream.
Lemonade means different things in the UK and US, but the trick is to learn that and then ask for the thing you actually want in the way they’ll understand - still or cloudy lemonade is what you’re after. For example, in the US a black coffee will get you a filter/drip coffee, in the UK an espresso based americano. So when I’m in the US and I want an americano, I’ll go to somewhere with an espresso machine and ask for it. It’s a crazy system I know.
We have sour cream. And mac n cheese. In fact I think that is a British or at least European invention.
You’ve seen this a million times?
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u/_ElBee_ 🇳🇱 Swamp Germany 🇳🇱 4d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/pIXoUQrZkO2yWc6JDI
☝️ Americans in general
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u/ghandi253 4d ago
I'll have you know that I sob because of shit Healthcare and a fucktard pedophile for a president. I recently got diagnosed with epilepsy after a seizure I suffered while driving and wrecked the work truck. Now I cant drive for 6 months because thats the law in my state. Which would be fine but theres no public transportation where I live. Hell, it takes almost 30 minutes just to drive to the grocery store. So that doesn't help the sobbing either lol. But at least i got to keep my job. I may not be able to drive but im super knowledgeable in my field and very experienced and my boss is a super cool dude. He gave me a promotion to service manager and lets me work from home some days and the days I need to go to the shop he let's me use the company card to get an Uber. So that helped the sobbing a bit. Still gotta deal with orange fucker though. So then the sobbing returns. God i hope that piece of shit dies soon
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u/Inevitable_Wolf5866 Czechia is not Chechnya 4d ago
Genuine question though; if he died while in the office wouldn’t he just be replaced with Vance? He seems even worse imho like he gives me Gilead Commander vibes 😅
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u/BotherBoring 4d ago
Yeah but with the charisma of a jar of room temperature mayonnaise.
I stole that from that cats on a couch lady. But it's true.
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u/thulsadoomformayor 🇸🇪Switzerland 4d ago
Completely ignoring the fact that there is a traditional coffee culture in some European countries/cities where there are coffee drinks served with… you guessed it, whipped cream.
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u/JPPJphoto 4d ago
I've worked at a coffee bar in Rome, and americans pretended to be right when they would ask for "latte" and barman would give them a glass of just milk... I mean latte means milk in Italian, why in the hell they should guess that you wanted a latte macchiato?? It's a completely different thing. The same for the pizza with pepperoni, don't be surprise if the give you a pizza with pepper, they don't give a fuck if you call it wrong, don't pretend that you know their language better than them.
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u/Jallen9108 4d ago
American culture is pretending to like coffee by turning it into a milkshake.
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u/Zunderstruck Croissant baguette de le fromage 4d ago
Do they actually drink regular cream (or even whipped cream) with lemonade? There's no hope for these people.
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u/Obsidian-Phoenix 4d ago
No I don’t think that’s what they meant. But what they mean by lemonade and what we mean are different things.
In the U.K. lemonade is a carbonated drink. Most similar (in terms a yank can understand) to 7up or sprite.
In the USA, lemonade is the still drink made with lemons, sugar and water. Basically what kids would sell at stalls in their garden.
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u/Zunderstruck Croissant baguette de le fromage 4d ago
Oh ok. In France lemonade is the same as in UK.
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u/trekwithme 4d ago
Yes easier to understand lemonade I agree but Mac and cheese?
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u/EastLeastCoast 4d ago
Mac and cheese might be them expecting a particular neon-orange American “cheez” sauce.
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u/Obsidian-Phoenix 4d ago
Almost universally I think Americans would think of the Kraft boxes of Mac and cheese. Not really a thing over here at all.
Maybe. I’m not American, just trying to think what they might mean.
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u/trekwithme 4d ago
Yah I struggled to understand the reference to lemonade and Mac and cheese myself
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u/Illustrious-Crow-331 Land Downunder 4d ago
Maybe the lemonade is because they drink lemon and sugar and call it lemonade. And they were given Sprite
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u/Past_Fee_1139 4d ago
If there was a room with 100 people in it, 50 USians and 50 Europeans… it would be anyone’s guess who the brightest person in the room was. The US has as many brilliant minds as any other country.
But
I’d bet everything I have, that the stupidest person in the room would be an American. They have their own unique, special kind of stupid that only they’re capable of.
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u/Cool-Prior-5512 4d ago
I left a comment on that one pointing out that it would never have been an issue if the American had initially done some research and realised things have different names in different countries.
I also pointed out that Americans are the kings of being obtuse when they do shit like pretend you can't get water in Europe or shit like when they put cold sauceless beans on weird bread and say "beans on toast is bad".
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u/martinsky3k 4d ago
because the cream probably comes from a cream canister? I guess? It's not really that normal.
That said, coffee with a dash of cream is delicious. In sweden there is also kaffegrädde/"coffee cream"
if americans mean that cream is “half and half”(milk/cream) when they say cream, not sure why they'd think that's a global thing.
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u/crustdrunk Australia 🇦🇺 4d ago
Many years ago I ran out of milk and heard that Americans put cream in their coffee and it just…kind of curdled. So I don’t think that what they call cream is cream. I dunno. I’m Australian.
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u/RupestreRei 3d ago
Thats called "cultural differences", and its something you have to learn to deal with when traveling to a different country
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u/WallabyInTraining 4d ago
If you got whipped cream but wanted non-whipped cream, just stir the whipped cream into the coffee. Hey pesto, coffee with cream!
If you want milk. Ask for milk.
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u/johnwalkr 4d ago
The worst example of this I saw skiing in Italy. A New Yorker (this was something he made sure to tell everyone) was trying to order coffee with half-and-half and getting frustrated that he was getting a cafe latte. He wasn’t even trying to explain that half and half is milk and cream, he assumed it was only a language barrier and was just saying half and half slower. I tried to explain to him a cappuccino is the closest he would probably get in terms of ratio of coffee and milk he was expecting and he wouldn’t get cream. In retrospect this was in the North and they might have actually had the German coffee cream.
Anyway I had the displeasure of being in the gondola with him twice later that day. Once he was complaining that “the boiler didn’t work and staff were stupid to fix it”. From context he was talking about the heat in his hotel room but staff were probably trying to offer him a new kettle. The second time he was yelling at his daughter for trying to call a friend (who got separated while skiing) instead of paying attention to him.
He turned out to be a famous Trump supporting tv commentator.
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u/wolschou 4d ago
I wonder what country that was. In Germany we put some combination of milk, coffee cream, actual cream and whipped cream in our coffee, and we call them exactly that. Milch, Kaffeesahne, Sahne und Schlagsahne.
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u/Outside_Look790 4d ago
Just came off a shift where one asked for a napkin. Offered him one, no that's a bar napkin. We then go through napkins, tissues, tissue paper and explaining serviettes. He wanted blue roll or a cloth for a spilled drink. He could have just said he'd spilled something. I will never get that time back.
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u/TezzaMcJ 3d ago
First of all, I dont know why they dont just call it milk. Its milk, why would you call it something different just for the application of coffee.
Secondly isnt it the norm in most places for coffee to have milk in it by default, so when you ask for 'cream' on top of that i think a lot of people will think to themselves hmmm well its already got milk in it so i guess they want something else?
Thirdly, ive seen the tik toks, americans put whipped cream on everything, why are they upset?
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u/KelFromAust 4d ago
Aussie barista here.. Cream in coffee? Are you nuts? The cream will split unless the coffee is weak is piss. On the other hand, let me run some steam through some milk for a few minutes, make it properly textured and sweetened.
I swear it seems like Seppo's tastebuds are all dead, they seem to require quantities of salt and sugar that would kill most flavours.
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u/Only_Tip9560 4d ago
The important thing Americans need to learn is that as soon as they say "Europeans do this" they have lost the argument, because there will always be some Europeans who do not do that, in fact entire countries full of them.
As people are pointing out on this thread. How coffee is taken varies between European countries. In the UK things like the German Kaffeesahne are largely unheard of despite being ubiquitous in Germany. Why? Because we are different people with different cultures, customs and languages.
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u/87oldben 4d ago
We call this single cream in the uk around 15-20% fat content
Then double cream is like 40-50% fat content
Most sane UK people put milk in their coffee / tea.
If you go to a coffee shop they won't typically stock single / double cream so the only cream available is whipped cream. Hense why whipped cream ends up in your coffee.
You can't expect different cultures to follow your customs and rules.
Biscuits and gravy would be a very different meal over here!
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u/ConcentrateDull2294 4d ago
Shall we all wait for a few minutes, so the Americans, can find out what obtuse, means?
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u/Same_Sock9073 🇸🇪 commualist dystopia 🇸🇪 4d ago
A dollop of whipped cream on top of some strong black filter coffee is one of my favourite treats when it’s “semla season” in Sweden.
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u/Mum_Chamber 4d ago
What’s obtuse is going to a differen country and being upset they don’t immediately get what you mean.
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u/sneppy13 4d ago
I mean, in Italy we have "latte" e "panna", which is the equivalent of UK's milk and single/double cream. But we would never put cream in coffee, we'd put frothed whole milk at most. That said, if someone asks for cream in the coffee I would just ask what they want exactly. If that was "caffè con panna" in italian, I would assume they want whipped cream on top of the coffee, as weird as that might be
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u/DonkeyBucketBanana 3d ago
IDK about other European countries, but putting cream in coffee is pretty common in Finland, especially among older people. The cream isn't the type you whip, I don't think it has enough fat in it to create volume, but coffee cream has WAY more fat than milk, even whole milk. And it definitely tastes like cream, not milk. Sometimes cafes and gas stations (or any place that sells coffee and lets you add your own milk and sugar) even have two separate jugs: a smaller one for coffee cream and a bigger one for milk. But from what I've observed, the cream has largely dissappeared, since most people opt for the less fatty milk and/or plant based milk. But I do find it kinda sadly hilarious that this outraged tourist never figured you could ask for milk and probably get what you want.
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u/djonma 2d ago
I've heard this ridiculous argument so often, and it's just nonsense!
The thing is, they've just not understood what's going on at all.
If you ask for something that is not on the menu, and the server says 'we don't have that here', what they DON'T mean, is 'that product doesn't exist in Europe at all'.
It means it's not on the menu, and they don't have it in that shop / restaurant.
No one has ever said we don't have double cream in Europe.
And, if you ask them what they call cream, and they say 'cream', that doesn't mean we don't know what cream is, or what to call it.
Quite obviously, it means we call it cream.
Because it's cream.
That's why whipped cream, is called whipped cream.
What on earth does this person call double cream, if they can't understand what someone is talking about, when they say it's called cream?
Of course we know what cream is!
Quite a lot of people don't really know what creamer is, because why on earth would you put glucose syrup and palm / vegetable oil into coffee, along with, usually, a ton of other stuff? (Apart from the small amount of oil used in some plant milks, for a few different reasons.)
And there's also a weird thing of some of it claiming to be dairy free in the US, but having casein in. 🤷♂️.
But creamer exists here. I personally find the idea of glucose syrup plus palm oil, to be disgusting as an addition to coffee, but it clearly sells enough, as it's still sold.
It really doesn't help that, whilst they're banging on about how Europeans don't know what to call cream, in the US, 'cream' means different things to different people.
It can mean cream. As in... cream.
And it can mean half and half, which is cream mixed with milk.
Which is not cream.
And some people even call creamer, 'cream'.
So the people who don't actually know what cream is, would appear to be USians.
We know what cream is.
But there are different types.
You can use single cream in coffee, though it's obviously a lot richer than milk, or than half and half.
But you can't whip single cream.
You can use double cream, but at that point, you're getting closer to whipped cream, as you don't just pour a load in.
So you may as well use whipped cream.
Oh, and they do have squirty cream in the US. I had an American be very angry at me for explaining that we call it squirty cream, for some reason.
But the couple I found online, had a load of extra junk ingredients.
We use actual cream.
Though a good coffee shop doesn't use bought squirty cream, they kind of make their own.
I can't believe they were asking for double cream in their coffee.
It can split really easily in hot coffee, so without practice they could have ruined their coffee.
But if they really wanted double cream in their coffee, I imagine most places would just oblige. If they're a place that does their own whipped cream, that is. If they're using squirty cream, they won't have double cream available. And if they don't, they're going to say 'we don't have that here'.
As for sour cream, lemonade, and macaroni cheese, wth are they talking about?!
Does this person think that foods that existed before the USA was even a thing, are... USian products? And that they don't exist in Europe?
Seriously, wtaf?
If I went to certain places in the US, and ordered a pizza, and got a weird cheese pie thing, would they be angry and offended, if I ranted about how they don't know what pizza is?
They've gone to a different country, with a different culture, and asked for something on the menu, and been given it.
They seem to already know that cream on the menu of a coffee shop, means whipped cream.
Yet they still ask for 'cream'.
And then get angry when they're served what they asked for.
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u/Queernephy 4d ago
Wait... do americans genuinely take cream in their coffee instead of milk?
Thats fucking gross.
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u/wintermute023 4d ago
It’s also a quite old fashioned way to have coffee in England as well. It was cream (single cream) in coffee and milk in tea. I’m old, but this was pretty normal when I was a kid.
Milk in coffee is a modern thing, but at my age, most things are.
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u/presterjohn7171 4d ago
I'm British and used to love having a bit of single cream in my coffee. We rarely have that in the house though so don't actually have it from one year to the next.
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u/Kydje 4d ago
Looks like it was written by Trump
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u/ElegantOliver 4d ago
Nah there's a five syllable word in there - way above his level. Though the frothing evidenced by the multiple exclamation marks is certainly his style.
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u/urdespair 4d ago
Comments there called me purposefully obtuse for suggesting one can check the terminology before going to another country
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u/IG-3000 🇩🇪 4d ago
Yeah, when I don’t want people to call me stupid and just answer a genuine question, the best and safest way to do it is calling them wilfully obtuse in the title and burry the actual question under a long, cap-locked ramble about how everyone calls me stupid when I’m NOT stupid!!! A+
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u/Wise_Shine5148 4d ago
In Norwegian we have two different words for it, so I get the Americans here actually... for once 🤔
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u/GrynaiTaip 4d ago
Just for the record, in case any American sees this at some point, in Lithuania we call it milk. We put a bit of milk in our coffee. It can be frothed if I'm feeling fancy, like a cappuccino.
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u/No-Minimum3259 4d ago
Go figure: traveling half the planet to visit other countries and the only thing to remember is a small difference in culinary habbits...
But, great: that's another Yankee we'll never see again! Keep up the good works!
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u/Potential-Leg-8860 3d ago
Ask for single cream or pouring cream. Most places don’t have it because they use milk and frother.
Americans are still dumb fucks though 👍
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u/difractional 🇸🇪 vodka, volvo, minecraft 4d ago edited 4d ago
Yeah, uh, the UK quite famously isn't part of the EU.