Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

My coffee order wasn’t weird?

132 replies

MeetyouatMidnight · 09/10/2024 18:34

Went to a local volunteer run cafe and a woman at the till was training someone.

I asked for a black americano with a shot of vanilla.

She looked at me like I was crazy and said “you mean a white americano”. I explained I definitely did not.

(I don’t have dairy and don’t really like any sort of milk in coffee anyway, but I like something to sweeten it. I prefer it to a sweetener.)

she said SO loudly “I’ve never seen that before! A latte or something yes, but really!”

and then the girl started to make it but was getting confused so the woman kept very loudly, in a quiet cafe, banging on about how she would be confused because it was a strange order but the customer is always right…

Am I a freak and I never realised!?!?

OP posts:
ForGreyKoala · 09/10/2024 21:36

MeetyouatMidnight · 09/10/2024 18:41

On the board it says white americano/black americano!

Show quote history

Well, that's weird, as an americano is always black. I just ask for an americano and no-one has ever asked if I wanted milk with it. We do take coffee more seriously where I live however Wink

WonderingWanda · 09/10/2024 20:58

She sounds like an idiot. I mean an American is a black coffee. You wanted a black coffee with a shot of syrup. It's not weird or rocket science.

MakeItRain26 · 09/10/2024 20:57

I’ve never heard anyone order that’s - vanilla latte, vanilla cappuccino. Vanilla black Americano is a bit odd op but you do you

Ger1atricMillennial · 09/10/2024 20:56

Its good she checked... its not good that she had a melt down over essentially a black coffee.

I ordered a ristretto once and the drama that caused was ridiculous!

TotHappy · 09/10/2024 20:39

I miss the days when you could just order black filter coffee. Costa did it for a little while, £1 a cup too and a million miles nicer than an Americano.

Chateauneufdu · 09/10/2024 20:36

Tbh it's weirder to start a thread about it.

TeenLifeMum · 09/10/2024 20:32

This is my order too op! However, I’ve also been told it’s unusual. Iced black americano with vanilla syrup blows their mind 😂 but I love it!

widelegenes · 09/10/2024 20:30

Nightsleeper129 · 09/10/2024 20:28

Oh ok. Yes your comment about the latte wasn't attached to a quote so I assumed it was about the OP. Sorry!

Show quote history

I think you have to click on 'quote history' - I'm on the website, not the App.
Getting over-invested now, I'll go and have a coffee I think.....!

workplaceshenanigans · 09/10/2024 20:28

DD is a barista and she's been asked for all sorts of weird and wonderful (and eyebrow-raising) combinations over the years.

Your order sounds easy-peasy in comparison!

Nightsleeper129 · 09/10/2024 20:28

widelegenes · 09/10/2024 20:26

Maybe the quoting isn't working well. I wasn't replying to the OP, but a different post.

Someone asked "but how could you order a black latte with vanilla"
Someone responded with a "?"
I explained "Because a latte has milk in it. A black latte is an espresso."

Show quote history

Oh ok. Yes your comment about the latte wasn't attached to a quote so I assumed it was about the OP. Sorry!

widelegenes · 09/10/2024 20:26

Nightsleeper129 · 09/10/2024 20:25

She asked for an Americano, not a latte

Show quote history

Maybe the quoting isn't working well. I wasn't replying to the OP, but a different post.

Someone asked "but how could you order a black latte with vanilla"
Someone responded with a "?"
I explained "Because a latte has milk in it. A black latte is an espresso."

Nightsleeper129 · 09/10/2024 20:25

widelegenes · 09/10/2024 20:13

Because a latte has milk in it.
A black latte is an espresso.

Show quote history

She asked for an Americano, not a latte

AutumnalCosiness · 09/10/2024 20:16

Eh?

Sologurn · 09/10/2024 20:15

BusySittingDown · 09/10/2024 18:39

Well an Americano IS black so you just need to order an Americano with a shot of vanilla. If you want it with milk it is then that you have to specify. You said that you wanted a black Americano - she probably thought that she had misheard or that you had meant to say white but mistakenly said black.

lol. I own a coffee shop and literally everyone specifies black or white

widelegenes · 09/10/2024 20:14

I ask for an americano with milk.

Roryno · 09/10/2024 20:13

Ive not met many volunteers that are very good at Customer Service! This one sounds particularly bad.

I have a coffee shop and always ask whether people want milk in an Americano - because in my experience 75% do. In fact a lot of them ask for more milk and would have been better off ordering a flat white. But I don’t care. They can have what they like. One of my regular customers has marshmallows on her cappuccino. 🤷🏽‍♀️

widelegenes · 09/10/2024 20:13

Nightsleeper129 · 09/10/2024 18:46

?

Show quote history

Because a latte has milk in it.
A black latte is an espresso.

HowYouSpellingThat10 · 09/10/2024 20:03

It's a volunteer run cafe. The person was new. There's often a reason people need work experience.

I'd have found it an unusual order. Okay it might not be in a Costa but in our local church cafe they'd probably also check.

CameronStrike · 09/10/2024 19:47

BusySittingDown · 09/10/2024 18:39

Well an Americano IS black so you just need to order an Americano with a shot of vanilla. If you want it with milk it is then that you have to specify. You said that you wanted a black Americano - she probably thought that she had misheard or that you had meant to say white but mistakenly said black.

Loads of people assume you want milk in americano so I'm not going to risk my coffee being ruined by not specifying a black americano even if it's not 'correct'

Obimumkinobi · 09/10/2024 19:44

I suspect this has nothing to do with your coffee order at all and everything to do with the passive aggressive "I'm in charge here" volunteer-type you sometimes get in such places.

I remember being aggressively lectured in a charity shop when I asked if I could have the bag for life from my donation back. I wouldn't mind but it only contained 2 jumpers, not and unboxed 1000 piece jigsaw!

If you'd have been in Costa, no minimum way barista would have given a shit.

SwedishEdith · 09/10/2024 19:39

AmazingBouncingFerret · 09/10/2024 19:33

I’ve run a coffee shop for ten years now. It’s not an unusual order.

The americano thing is because you can guarantee if someone orders an americano and you don’t give them milk, they ask where their milk is, but if you ask someone if they want milk with their americano, you get a snarky “if I wanted it with milk I wouldn’t have asked for an americano”
Basically, us baristas, can not win. We just make your coffee and smile when you tell us the correct way is the exact opposite of what another customer says is the correct way!

Yes, the white coffee drinkers have ruined the simplicity of asking for an Americano. I've given up and just ask for a black coffee and still get given milk.

mitogoshigg · 09/10/2024 19:38

I've never seen anyone have syrup without milk I admit

ScottBakula · 09/10/2024 19:36

@BakedBeansforabrain, I love that board !
@MeetyouatMidnight I only drink black Americano but like pp I always almost get asked if I want milk with/ in it despite always ordering it black .
Depending on where I am I sometimes ask for a extra shot of espresso in it, on more that a few occasions I have been told that they can't make it / think it's to strong .
Ermm no , it's your weak coffee that needs some oomph.

SoNiceToComeHomeTo · 09/10/2024 19:35

I think this lady's job must be too demanding and exciting for her, and she needs either a week off or a more exciting life outside work...

Aspecialplaceinhell · 09/10/2024 19:33

Jeeeesus
I got told my coffee order sounded pretentious and overly complicated the other day.
But yours! So simple!