coffee shops: no whole milk?

I was at a Starbucks at the airport the other day. They don't make bar drinks with whole milk. Same deal at Caribou at Monroe/Franklin downtown. Is this some kind of industry-wide change that I've missed out on? Thankfully, Cafe Rom on Franklin continues to offer whole milk.

Thoughts/Observations?

Yes, I have thoughts.

wow. that's been Caribou's policy for a while now. It is definitely "mind-boggling," as you say. I would say ridiculous.

There's a good 10% of customers who don't give a damn about fat/calories. You make a hot cocoa or mocha or something for them with whole milk and they will like it and will come back again.

Keep a couple of jugs of whole milk. If it's getting near its expiration date, mix it with skim and you have 2%. Easy. No cost to the store, potential to make me (customer) happy.

Is this the policy at Starbucks too, or just the kiosk at O'Hare?

Again, I find it a bit silly that they aren't mixing their own 2% instead of the other way around - however, I found what you need:

TO REPL ACE: 1 cup whole milk• 5⁄8 cup skim milk + 3⁄8 cup half-and-half
• 2⁄3 cup 1% milk + 1⁄3 cup half-and-half
• 3⁄4 cup 2% milk + 1⁄4 cup half-and-half
• 7⁄8 cup skim milk + 1⁄8 cup heavy cream

So, basically, ask for your 2% drink be made 4-to-1 with half-and-half (they do still have half-and-half, right?) Having worked as a barista, this should not be a big deal and won't compare to some of the more annoying requests that they probably get daily (full large cup of foam comes to mind.)

Mhays wrote:Again, I find it a bit silly that they aren't mixing their own 2% instead of the other way around - however, I found what you need:

TO REPL ACE: 1 cup whole milk• 5⁄8 cup skim milk + 3⁄8 cup half-and-half
• 2⁄3 cup 1% milk + 1⁄3 cup half-and-half
• 3⁄4 cup 2% milk + 1⁄4 cup half-and-half
• 7⁄8 cup skim milk + 1⁄8 cup heavy cream

So, basically, ask for your 2% drink be made 4-to-1 with half-and-half (they do still have half-and-half, right?) Having worked as a barista, this should not be a big deal and won't compare to some of the more annoying requests that they probably get daily (full large cup of foam comes to mind.)

You can't replace chicken stock by using a bouillon cube and water, and you can't replace whole milk in this fashion either.

Well, Kenny, it would seem that your choices are:

A. Ask for some half-and-half in your 2%
B. Rage, rage against the dying of the light
C. Carry a concealed bottle of whole milk with you wherever you go and hope they'll allow you to use it (which I doubt.)

I was totally unaware of this apocalyptic trend as I rarely buy coffee out, and even more rarely get specialty drinks---either straight coffee to which I add the 1/2 & 1/2 myself, or straight espresso. I do order macchiatos, and I can't recall anyone ever asking me what to make it with.

But, Kenny Z: I don't understand your point up thread that whole milk can't be recreated by an appropriate ratio of lower fat product to cream or 1/2 & 1/2. Chicken stock can't be replaced by bouillon because a bouillon cube isn't actually chicken stock. It's basically salt and fat and a bit of chicken flavor. But milk is milk. And, as I understand it, the only issue is getting the fat content back where one wants it. So why won't an appropriate blend/ratio work?

Mhays wrote:Well, Kenny, it would seem that your choices are:

A. Ask for some half-and-half in your 2%
B. Rage, rage against the dying of the light
C. Carry a concealed bottle of whole milk with you wherever you go and hope they'll allow you to use it (which I doubt.)

I think that to those of us who know him, the choice is clear.

And I gotta say that Mark's question seems logical to me: if you're mixing low fat milk with high fat milk/cream, why don't you end up with medium fat milk?

half and half is not concentrated milk. the ratio of butterfat to other solids is not the same.

that being said, i doubt i could tell the difference in a latte.

mrbarolo wrote:I was totally unaware of this apocalyptic trend as I rarely buy coffee out, and even more rarely get specialty drinks---either straight coffee to which I add the 1/2 & 1/2 myself, or straight espresso. I do order macchiatos, and I can't recall anyone ever asking me what to make it with.

But, Kenny Z: I don't understand your point up thread that whole milk can't be recreated by an appropriate ratio of lower fat product to cream or 1/2 & 1/2. Chicken stock can't be replaced by bouillon because a bouillon cube isn't actually chicken stock. It's basically salt and fat and a bit of chicken flavor. But milk is milk. And, as I understand it, the only issue is getting the fat content back where one wants it. So why won't an appropriate blend/ratio work?

Because it tastes lousy. Lowfat milk has a musty, dirty unmilk-like flavor that does not go away when you add cream or whatever to it.

Kennyz wrote:You can't replace chicken stock by using a bouillon cube and water, and you can't replace whole milk in this fashion either.

Actually, that's exactly what's done industrially. The raw milk that comes in can vary in fat content, so it's separated into skim and cream, then just enough cream is added back to reach 1%, 2%, or whole (3.25% - 3.5%).

There's whole milk & soy at Peet's Coffee at North & Sheffield.