no offense taken. Just write what YOU want to say....

javabob wrote:No offense, but why don't you two just PM each other rather than hijack this thread?

This thread has essentially no content at this point, that's why . . . .

ken
(the person who started the thread in the first place)

Cafe' Au Lait is brewed coffee with steamed milk, yes? Different cafes serve different things, and Ive never been 100% sure as it its true meaning. Literally, I translate it as Coffee and Milk, but, that can be a bit general.

It's basically some very strong (but not very good) coffee into which you pour warm/hot milk. The overall product isn't very good, but if you happen to be consuming it in a nice place, then you can consider it to be a component of the atmosphere of the place, and hence, less bad.

ken

In France Cafe Au Lait can be made with filtered coffee, espresso, or any kind of coffee mixed with almost any kind of milk. Its a general term and pretty imprecise if you ask me. Its what I "have" to ask for, whenever I am traveling to get to the nearest of what I like. I enter an establishment and describe how I like my coffee. "One dose of espresso in a large cup and the rest hot milk please" as the waiter always looks on in astonished nervousness and half the time brings the wrong mixture, either too much coffee or too much milk. So the safest way to get what I want is to tell them to put it in 2 pitchers and I will mix.

Unlike in Italy, where we coffee lovers can say Cappuccinno or Caffe Latte and its always steamed, the French only drink coffee with milk in the morning in large demi cereal bowl. Otherwise, its unheard of to drink milk with your coffee later in the day. Then anywhere you can order a "long" Lungo or "serre" stretto or they have a "noisette" where you have an espresso with a dash of milk for color or just order an Espresso and you are good.

However, as I said the most part, Bars and Cafe's use Blends like Illy, Cafe Richard, Lavazza etc and I have seen mostly French Machines which are less expensive. The Bars mostly "rent" the machines and have maintenance included in the contract.

Cafe life is important and you need not look further than any boulevard in France and see people all sitting around drinking pastisse pernot and cafe's watching the girls go by. Unfortunately, the coffee is only so so....

Peppersass wrote:Если Bы думаете что французский кофе плох, пробовать российский кофе!

Кофе, чай питья русских причины.

(My Russian is really rusty -- not having studied it since 1971 . . . )

If we ever needed a "HIDE THIS THREAD" option, this is it !!!

Why not use PM or are your DigMe meters all on 11

zin1953 wrote:Кофе, чай питья русских причины.

Good one. I stopped studying Russian in 1971, too, after freshman year in college. I had five years of it in Jr. High and High School. I never got fluent and figured I would never use it. In later years I sorely regretted not having learned a more useful (and easier) language like French, Spanish or Italian.

Then 35 years later we adopted a 2-year old boy from the Far East of Russia (8 hours by "jet" from Moscow), and had to make two long trips to that very far away and inhospitable place (where, as you say, the coffee makes tea the drink of choice -- loaded with sugar, I might add). My rusty Russian, polished up by several weeks of cramming, was invaluable for those trips and the first month or two with the boy at home. It's amazing how fate can sometimes work like that.

Actually, I just figured out, I stopped in 1970.

My problem was before three years of Russian (9th through 11th grades, plus part of the summer of 1968 in the CCCP*), I had five years of French! When I started up with French again in college, and the teacher asked me, "Jason, quelle est la date aujourd'hui," I responded with "Сегодня 9 сентябрь" . . . and couldn't figure out why the teacher was looking at me funny!

* 1968 was an interesting summer. Let's just say the FBI loves me!

cafeIKE wrote:If we ever needed a "HIDE THIS THREAD" option, this is it !!!

Why not use PM or are your DigMe meters all on 11

IAN,

People talk about coffee in Italy all the time on this and other coffee forums. Italian coffee culture is what many are trying to 'imitate' even terms cappuccinno etc, come from here. There is just as much right to talk about how good or crappy the coffee is here in France as it is in Seattle ? Milk, preparation and whether its skim steaming or what ever is part of it all too.

I was spoken to in French and responded to be polite and am not in a "DigMe" mode at all. I was just sharing observations on the coffee culture where I have lived for the last 25 years.

Since the subject is now changed to Milk in France, it will probably die out as its not that interesting, but just a footnote for the collective knowledge on coffee preparation in different parts of the world.

Definitely not DigMe though.... Just more nonsense about coffee