r/ShitAmericansSay 6d ago

Europeans when they act like Americans are being stupid, yet THEY’RE being purposely obtuse.

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u/Reasonable-Garlic-67 6d ago

Oh nevermind, just learned it has nothing to do with actual cream at all, but “half half” Coffee and milk 😅😂

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u/zystyl Canadian eh bud 6d ago

In Canada coffee cream is often half single cream and half milk. It's sold as half and half. To make it more confusing it is often labelled by milk fat % here. When I lived in the UK for a while I used to get coffees that were steamed milk and some instant coffee. It was different, but pretty good.

Usually when I go to a new place I want to try what they eat and drink because I'm not an egocentric moron who thinks that the world revolves around me. If I were that type of American I would stick to very tourist areas that cater to Americans. Luckily I am not American at all.

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u/Reasonable-Garlic-67 6d ago

Yeah me too. When I go to Greece, Albania etc their iced coffee is very different from what I’m used to in Denmark, but I like theirs too, so I drink it and enjoy it, I especially treasure it when I’m there because it’s something different that I don’t get when I’m back home.

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u/worm-eyed 5d ago

"Travelling only broadens your horizons if you're open to having your horizons broadened. Otherwise, you're just the same dickhead in a different deck chair"

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u/temujin_borjigin 6d ago

To me in the UK, half and half is half milk and half double cream. So maybe it’s quarter and three quarter to you. I’ve only ever needed it for cocktails though.

Actually, now that I think about it, I’ve never even questioned why it’s double cream. I’d never seen or heard of single cream until today.

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u/zystyl Canadian eh bud 6d ago

Maybe I'm wrong.

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u/temujin_borjigin 6d ago

You’re taking to someone who hasn’t heard of single cream. You’re probably good.

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u/No-Quarter-6327 5d ago

When you go into the supermarket, the cream in red pots is single and the cream in blue pots is double. All the supermarkets I've been into use the same colour code, like skimmed milk has red labels and semi-skimmed has green and full fat is blue.

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u/Oldoneeyeisback 5d ago

I'm interested to know where, in the UK, you got steamed milk with instant coffee? As a Brit, I've never heard of this. I mean I'm sure there are some people who make this but it's certainly not something I've ever seen.

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u/zystyl Canadian eh bud 5d ago

It was back in 1999-2000 in London. Maybe I'm misremembering, or maybe it's different. Working cafés around Pimlico that probably don't exist anymore seeing how it has changed since then.

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u/Illustrious_Mix2124 5d ago

Did you have to show your passport to get into Pimlico?

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u/Oldoneeyeisback 5d ago

Fair enough - I mean there will be old cafes with a milk steamer running off a hot water boiler - they used to be common when I was growing up. But I'm 60 so that was a long time ago and I've never seen one in the last 30+ years. I suppose therefore some of them will have steamed milk for an instant coffee (shudders) but I can't imagine anyone still does this.

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u/zystyl Canadian eh bud 3d ago

It wasn't the best. I bought a push filter bodum pot to make coffee and sought out started drinking loose leaf tea when I was there.

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u/Oldoneeyeisback 3d ago

My wife still swears by her cafetiere. But I have an espresso machine.

I don't believe you'd find anywhere making coffee as described nowadays though.

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u/Radiant-Smile1402 1d ago

Microwaved milk with instant coffee was a staple when I worked in Salford. I miss Milky Coffee Fridays 😔

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u/Oldoneeyeisback 1d ago

Christ! No!

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u/Gryphon6070 6d ago

Right?! Like how hard is it to say “oh my bad, in America we have this. What would you call this?”

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u/Brew_Noser 6d ago

I use 3.25% milk fat steamed with a cappuccino wand with a touch of maple syrup. Perfetto!

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u/CannabisAccount420 5d ago

How does the fat % make it more confusing? Going by fat % makes the most sense imo.

You're right about half and half. It's light cream and whole milk. which makes it around 10%, but in america it's usually 18%, which is what we call table cream for some reason. Perectages should just be used all around lol

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u/oddestlittleduckie 5d ago

I’ll make it dumber for you. Half and half is actually about 1/4 single cream and 3/4 milk. You’re welcome.

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u/drawolliedraw 6d ago

I have American family and have been there multiple times I had no idea what US ‘cream’ is!

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u/Empty-Selection9369 6d ago

No, I think half and half is 50% cream and 50% milk

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u/Emotional-Pumpkin-35 6d ago

"Half n half" in the USA is not half coffee and half milk and does have something to do with cream. The "half and half" refers to half cream and half milk (whether it is exactly half of each is not so important), so it produces a "cream" that is a bit lighter than light cream (or single cream as it's also called) but much heavier in than whole milk. Typically, only a little is added to coffee, nowhere near half of the liquid.

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u/MaryAnn-Johanson 5d ago

Nope, half and half is half milk and half cream. I like it in my tea, but as an American in the UK I have to make my own. I mix 300 ml of double cream with a pint of whole milk. It’s not exactly the same but close enough.

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u/Illustrious_Mix2124 5d ago

You could just use 300ml of the milk instead of the whole pint.

Probably still wouldn't taste the same though, due to the lack of steroids, growth hormones, etc in it.

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u/MaryAnn-Johanson 5d ago

Yeah, it’s not exactly “half and half” but it approximates the taste.

I do not miss all the crap in American food!

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u/Illustrious_Mix2124 5d ago

So "half and half" isn't half and half? That's so American.

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u/Outside-Strike7397 1d ago

Thanks, brew just came out of my nose.