How to Be a Coffee Drinker in the US Okay. So do you guys like coffee? Absolutely. I love it. Me too. I love it. It s such a great ritual, right? Kind of sitting down in a café with a friend and chatting. (Uh-huh, uh-huh). Absolutely. It s, it s warming, it s relaxing, it wakes you up. Yep, it s the first thing I do when I get off the train before I go into the office. Okay, so you take your coffee into the office sometimes? Yes, I do. a Yeah, it s really common here. It s funny in the US, you see people walking around with coffee and it s not so common to do that in other countries right.
Yeah it No, it s sometimes difficult to find it to go, but here it s Yep. the most normal thing to do. Yes. To get it in a togo cup. It s a cardboard cup that has (a) little plastic topper on it so you don t spill. a Exactly. So Susan what s your go-to drink, when it comes to coffee? Yeah, what I would get is I d get a large (um) vanilla latte with (uh) fat-free milk, made with fat-free milk. (Uh-hm). And sometimes if I m feeling that I d (just like to) cut back on the caffeine, I get it decaf. Interesting. How bout (about) you Molly? (Um), I have a couple of different drinks. If it s a good coffee place, good being described by the fact that it s generally smaller, it s not a chain, they have high quality things, then I tend to get a small coffee and I have it black because I know it s going to have a good flavor on its own. If I m getting a coffee at a fast-food restaurant, or, (you know), an airport or someplace where I m not convinced that it s going to be delicious on its own, (um) I ll generally get (uh), (you
know), whatever the coffee is their regular. (Um), which I don t know if it s just a Boston thing or an East Coast thing, but regular means milk and sugar. Yeah, that s right. Well, that s really that s a good point. That s important to know. So that may vary, (you know), between the regions as well, but at least we know that for Boston. Yes. a So if you re going up to the, to the bar, up to the counter to order a coffee, what are some phrases that you would use to order that coffee? (Uh-hm). (Um) I tend to say Can I get? Which, I don t know, (I mean), it s very common. It doesn t sound polite, but it, there s nothing wrong with it. You say Can I get a large coffee Yes. (Uh-huh, uh-huh). with cream and sugar please? That s correct. Or Can I have? (You know).
Can I have? Yeah, those are very casual, I think for sure, but they re totally fine. Yeah, what else would you say? (Um), I m gonna have a (you know) Yeah, I d like, or I d, I d go for a (you know) Could I please have.? (I mean), May I please have.? There are, there is a more polite way of saying that. Yes, that s right. a Yeah and the term to go for something, again what does that mean? That means just to choose? Yes, so I d like, I could go for that. You could say I d like I could go for a large cup of coffee, but you could also say, (you know), in other speak, (you know), I could go for a big hamburger right now. It just means what you re really in the mood for. Mm-hm. Perfect. Perfect. And all right, so going back to how to actually describe your drink. So once again, your go-to drinks were? Let s listen to the order of how you describe that. (Um) I Can I have a small, black coffee please?
Yeah. And I said A large vanilla latte with fat-free milk. Yeah, so sometimes -- it s not wrong to describe it in a different order, but sometimes we might start with the size (uh) and then we might go for the coffee.. a Yeah, the type of coffee. (Mm-hm). And then we also have to describe the type of milk. I said fat-free milk, but fat-free milk is also (um) called skim milk. So if you said skim milk it would be the same thing. And some people go for whole milk or even soy milk, or (you know). Or cream. Yeah. (Um) the other thing is that some coffee shops and you ll be able to tell this when you walk in if there s a station for it some coffee shops put the cream and sugar or flavorings in your coffee for you, whereas other coffee shops expect you to do it yourself. Yes and they have a little bar set up there for you to do that. So you can and also you can -- at some places, they also put the type of
sugar, sweetener. So they can have sugar, they could have, (you know), Splenda, Sweetn-Low. Equal is my sweetener of choice. Yes. (Uh-huh, uh-huh). There are a lot of them. Yes. (Uh-huh). So it s a good idea, I guess, to look around when you go into that café to see if you re gonna (going to) be pouring your own milk, adding your own milk, or if they re gonna (going to) be doing it behind the counter. Yes, that s right. And, and sometimes, they ll communicate that to you. One way that they might say it is Would you like that sweetened? They won t necessarily say Would you like sugar? they ll say Would you like that sweetened? and then you can express if you d like it black, which is no sweetener, or if you d like it with an artificial sweetener Yes. or sugar. a (Uh-hm, uh-hm). And not every place would have every type of sweetener. You have to kind of know that, (you know), or ask.
Yeah. Perfect. So we ve just talked about the term black coffee. That s what Molly just mentioned. And what about the term, if you how would you express if you want something without caffeine, a drink without caffeine? (Um) I think that was one of your beverages Susan. Yes. So sometimes when I m feeling that I shouldn t be having so much caffeine if it s late at night, (um), I would have a decaf coffee. So it s decaffeinated. (It) means it has no caffeine in it, but we just call it decaf. (Uh-huh). Perfect, perfect. Exactly. And we also talked about the types of milk. So we have skim, we have 2%, we have whole Yes. a (um) maybe cream, and in some cases soy milk. Do either of you guys like soy milk at all?
(Um) I like it in -- I don t like it in coffee. Yeah. If I get (uh) Chai, which is, (you know), a type of tea that s kind of a mix between a latte and a tea Yeah. I ll get it with soy milk cause (because) I like the flavor. (Um) but I find that when you get soy milk in places here it tends to be sweetened already Yeah. a Moly: and have a vanilla flavor to it, which is not my preference for coffee. (Uh-hm). I agree. Yes. (Um) and then the other thing I would say about (um) cream is that there s another, (you know), you don t always just say cream, you express how much. So, so if you want a lot, you might say you d like it light, which means that you re putting enough in it to make the coffee a light color. Yeah. (Uh-huh). Or you could say Extra cream, extra sugar.
Or a splash of cream if you just want a very little bit. (Uh-hm, uh-hm). So it s kind of a complicated business ordering coffee. Yeah, yes it is. Isn t it? What do you guys know.? Do you know anything about this new trend called pour-over coffee in Boston? No. Have you heard anything about that? a I, I, I ve heard it. I honestly don t know what it entails. Yeah. I think it s just a I don t know too much about it either. I think it s just a more expensive version of coffee where they just take longer to make the coffee I see. and they pour the water over the beans. Oh, interesting, instead of, and sort of crushing the beans? I guess so.
Oh, interesting. Yeah. Oh, okay. We there are a lot of ways of making coffee here. Another thing that s big (uh) is iced coffee which isn t just a summer drink here. I had some this morning. (Um) and some places are very proud of the fact that they cold brew, which means that they re not using hot water to make their coffee, they re using time. (Um), so that s just there are just a lot of ways to consume coffee. (Uh-hm) that s true. Excellent. That s a great conversation. Thanks so much guys. Sure no problem. Sure. a