Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be feel a little bit annoyed when they ask me if I want milk with my Americano?

196 replies

said · 22/07/2010 19:52

Um, obviously not, hence why I've specified an "Americano". I know whose fault it is - people asking for one and then asking for "a bit of milk" as well

OP posts:
LimburgseVlaai · 23/07/2010 13:47

At least they ask, without putting it in as standard.

I love drinking cold milk on its own, but I hate milk in my coffee and tea, bleeuuuurgh.
Every time someone offers me coffee or tea, or I order it somewhere, I say clearly: "Black please, without milk please."

And I still get a mug of beige bilge.

StealthPolarBear · 23/07/2010 13:52

LV, I agree the smell of coffee with milk is disgusting

5DollarShake · 23/07/2010 13:53

I wouldn't recommend asking for a black Americano to try to make the point - you'll just end up with the Barista sniggering at you.

Another one who had never heard of an Americano until coming over here. Long black where I come from, and you'd be unlikely to drink it with milk, since a flat white would be so much nicer.

I have yet to taste a good flat white in any of the chains here - they are all shit, and give flat whites a terrible name....

ItNeverRainsBut · 23/07/2010 13:59

5DollarShake - oh yes, with you on the flat whites. I am flat-white deprived...

sapphireblue · 23/07/2010 14:03

Just read the thread and my head hurts. Have forgotten what I originally wanted to say and could no longer give a flying f**k about coffee. Off to have a nice cup of tea.

Oh, and essssssssssssssspresso not exxxxxxxpresso. if you want to be pedantic.

pointydog · 23/07/2010 14:10

I don't know what an americano is.

Is this a costa/starbucks thing (other than having a good knowledge of all things specifically italian)? Cause I do not fritter away money in these joints.

ivykaty44 · 23/07/2010 14:13

No an americano is not a starbucks or costa thing

it is an expresso with water added to it - so it still has the crema on top, it is italian or french or spanish - idunno but starbuscks or costa as much as they would probably like to think they invented coffee - they didn't invent an americano

JenaiMarrHePlaysGuitar · 23/07/2010 14:16

I remember being asked for Americanos/Americani (!) about a billion years ago, as a young waitress. Def. not a new thing. Likewise machiati.

StealthPolarBear · 23/07/2010 14:17

crema? do you mean cream? espresso is black

pointydog · 23/07/2010 14:18

I know the chains didn't invent it.

I was trying to make the point that if these coffee chains did not exist, then only a tiny proportion of the population would have any idea what an americano was.

So it is big-time poncey to get irate with the large number of brits who have no idea what an americano is.

JenaiMarrHePlaysGuitar · 23/07/2010 14:19

Noooooooo! The crema is the pale, slightly frothy bit at the top of a well made espresso. T'aint milk. Or cream. It's coffee.

StealthPolarBear · 23/07/2010 14:20

ahhhh
i never knew that was a deliberate thing

haoshiji · 23/07/2010 14:34

Slightly off topic... I was on Holiday in The IOW last year and found a superb tea room called the copper kettle in sea view.

Nicely kitted out, Laura Ashley wallpaper and such. A bit different to costa etc. I had a black coffee and DH had a house blend tea. Both were superb tasting and relatively good value.

Whilst we were enjoying the beverages A couple came in (mother and daughter that looked the same but circa 40 and 60 yoa). They went up to the counter despite a polite sign saying we will come to your table, please take a seat.

The mother ordered a pot of tea and sat down the daughter then ummed about what coffee to have, she opted for a cappuccino and sat down, then got up and asked to see the machine that made the coffee. "Is it a proper machine, you know a real one, not some plastic thing?" The lady behind the counter said, well you can see the machine there, it's a proper coffee machine; not the sort you would find in a Thorntons?

Daughter then went behind the counter, examined the machine and said, um no, change that order I will have water, not sure that machine will do the froth correctly.

WTF?

How bizarre I thought.

Fibilou · 23/07/2010 14:36

If I had a pound for every time that I have had this conversation....

"One large black Americano please"

"Would you like milk"

"No, black"

..... I would be a wealthy woman

haoshiji · 23/07/2010 14:38

"it is an expresso with water added to it"

[cry]

"Espresso, which originated in Milan, Italy circa 1900, is a very dark, bitter Italian coffee often miscalled expresso.

The term espresso comes from the Italian meaning "pressed out," referring to the process of pushing the freshly fine-ground bean essence through a special machine using steam and water. This process creates a highly concentrated brew with a thin layer of creamy, dark beige froth on the coffee's surface. "

haoshiji · 23/07/2010 14:47

Had an odd conversation in Hugh FW's cafe in posh carpet land once.

Can I help?

Yes, after a cup of tea... cut off mid-sentence.

We have green teas, black teas, white teas and fruit teas.

Um, pot of black tea then please.

Black tea.

Yes with milk.

Milk?

Yes, pot of black tea with milk.

Black tea?

Yes black tea with milk.

Ok.

Tea arrived, no pot, black tea in a cup, no milk.

I asked can I have some milk for my tea?

Oh I thought you wanted black tea...

Till receipt stated 1 black coffee, one pot black tea, milk.

At this point I just wanted some milk, eventually got half a small jug of milk and made do with that.

PurpleCrazyHorse · 23/07/2010 14:51

DH was offered more water with his espresso (bought from a small coffee shop in Tenby!).

The lady who served it obviously hadn't pressed that button on the machine before and was surprised at the lack of coffee in the huge cup she put underneath. DH and I have had a good giggle about it ever since.

Note: DH doesn't usually buy coffee from places with machines that dispense it but it was Tenby and he was desperate

PANCHEY · 23/07/2010 15:01

I end up stating I want a black Americano since I have ended up with a white one (as standard) too often. This is the most annoying that you ask for an Americano and it comes back white.

haoshiji · 23/07/2010 15:02

A separate glass of water is the norm in a lot of countries to consume afterwards; but not to put in the espresso.

These guy would like one of your kidneys if you have a spare.

enzed · 23/07/2010 15:04

Sorry, I am one of those who go to a coffee shop and ask for an americano with room for milk . i don't mind you being annoyed, but i'll still do it..

GetOrfMoiLand · 23/07/2010 15:09

I don't play their games. I am not getting sucked into this americano shit.

In Costa/Starbucks ask for a medium black coffee with a splash of cold milk. And that is what I get. If they say in the supercilious way that ONLY coffee shop baristas COUNTER STAFF muster 'oh do you mean Americano?' I just repeat 'black coffee' in manner of Miss jean Brodie.

i also am tempted to be Holly Johnson and sing 'AmericanOOOO, blue jeans and chinos'.

Tanso · 23/07/2010 15:19

I have worked in cafes and restaurants for many years. when i go in to them myself there are a lot of things that annoy me but this is definitely not one of them.
If someone goes to lengths to get my order right I would be happy rather than complain like you do. An Americano as you know is a black coffee. But people have it either black or with milk. If the barista always served it black without asking about the milk the percentage of people complaining and asking for milk after will generally outweigh the people wanting it black. It becomes very tedious and time consuming working like this. It is far better to be sure from the start.

I did my coffee training in Australia. Coffee is many years behind in England, and one of the problems is the customers dont know what they want. Some will order a coffee thinking it is a filter coffee and get a cappucino or americano or whatever.

In America before the stabucks era most people drank filter coffee. Not full milky coffee. That is where the term Americano came from. It means American style coffee, and it would not always have been black.

In Australia coffee is not explained in terms of America. There is cappucino, latte (in a glass), flat white, long black and long white.

A flat white is not a white americano as another poster said. It is 66% milk 33% coffee. Cappucino has 33% coffee, 33%milk, 33% froth.

Customers like their coffee in so many different ways. You should appreciate the barista going to the effort of getting your order right rather than moaning. They are probably saving time and complaints by working in that way, and satisfying everryone in the process.

Save your moaning for real coffee errors like burning the milk, burning the coffee (not scrubbing the machine every time), not being able to froth properly (creamy), or if it is too weak. Your complaint is ridiculous.

thumbwitch · 23/07/2010 15:22

I can't believe people get so wound up over a cup of bean juice.

And as for the machine that can't do the froth properly - FFS! How precious can you get!

BettyisNOTBlu · 23/07/2010 15:25

Maybe that could be a new mn acronym

YCIR

NetworkGuy · 23/07/2010 15:28

Thank goodness I don't even know what these different coffee names mean. I was in San Francisco and an internet cafe had a choice of over 5 dozen different coffee blends, including some Vietnamese and so on.

Clearly I'm not trendy enough to set foot in one of these rip-off coffee shops! I'm far more relaxed where there is "tea" or "coffee" and nowt else (except all-day-breakfast perhaps)!

Swipe left for the next trending thread