My coffee order wasn’t weird?

[MeetyouatMidnight]

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!?!?

And actually the number of places that insist they can’t make an iced Americano but can happily give him a glass of ice, a glass of water and a double shot of espresso to mix together himself is honestly unbelievable.

No, they are different, and a long black is stronger

I'm not in the UK, people here know what an americano is. It seems they don't in the UK.

I sometimes go rogue and go gingerbread in the winter! Such a maverick 🤣🤣

Yes an americano is black - the best coffee in the world. But the amount of times I'm in a coffee shop and I order an americano and they say "would you like milk?"

Well no. Because then I wouldn't have ordered an americano.

It wasn’t the new person… it was the person training her who said it was so strange. And then loudly told the person she was training it was weird multiple times.

a colleague at work drinks vanilla coffee pods without adding milk and I always find it strange, don’t really know why! Just feels like it should have milk.

She sounds like a bully. You could've gone to town on the sarcasm: 'make a black Americano, then hold a shot glass in one hand and the vanilla bottle in the other. Now this is where it gets tricky. Pour some vanilla in the shot glass and...chuck it in the coffee!'

She'd have a field day with my husband's oat milk, decaf hazelnut latte...

I always drink black Americano. I've never had a vanilla shot in it so it sounds unusual to me and like you and would have presumed it posihas milk in it. Is it nice? 🤣

Like you am dairy free and would have presumed has dairy in it

I mean maybe in your experience but this one is actually very nice and usually fine? It’s not like I haven’t been there before. Definitely better than a chain.

This. They wouldn't have batted an eyelid in Starbucks.

I thought americano meant black coffee 🤷🏼‍♀️. I like to try different ones when I'm out but at home I have it like the OP, black with a shot of syrup.

I suspect the problem is that a lot of customers actually want a filter coffee with milk, but nowhere sells that, so they order a white americano as the nearest equivalent. So even good baristas are used to people wanting milk, and put it in on autopilot.

Having lived in places like the US and Canada, where filter coffee is widely available, people just order that.

Unrelated but I feel like this is the place to vent. I don't drink coffee so I often go for chai latte. In the past year I've had to start specifying that I'll have it without coffee. I understand dirty chai is a thing. But coffee in my chai (literally means tea) shouldn't be default. They bring it over and always very pointedly say "chai latte, WITHOUT coffee" as if I'm a weirdo who took an integral part of the drink away from it.

I love those! It’s exactly what I do at home 🤣🤣

Very normal order, I can recommend hazelnut syrup too, yum!

I also have an Americano and it usually goes as follows,

Me: I'll have a black Americano please
Server: Would you like milk with that?
Me: No black please
...server brings over Americano with a jug of milk beside it

Americano plus a shot is a bit weird tbh. But the customer is always right…

I ask for a black coffee with milk which sometimes gets a raised eyebrow! Maybe I need to change my order to americano with milk.

"A black coffee please...but make it white."

Yeah, I'd ask for an Americano with milk on the side if what you want is to add the milk yourself.

Wel yes an Americano is black so of course no need to mention the word black

But how can you miss hear black for white?

And why do people put milk in my coffee when I ask for an Americano? Or if they don't serve that a 'black coffee' thry still put milk in

Nope. DH has a black Americano and you need to specify black Americano or they ask if you'd like milk. Or put it straight in.

Or having flavoured gin.

I prefer my coffee to taste of nothing but coffee and my gin to taste of gin.

Is this really worth asking/answering???????

If it’s on their menu I can’t see why it’s such a palaver.
Ordering something not on the menu, now that’s different.