You Won't Find Cream As An Option At British Coffee Shops. Here's What You'll Find Instead

If you're an American who has spent time in the UK (or vice versa), you'll know that the culture shock can be sneaky. The language is the same, or almost the same, and limeys and yanks share a lot of history. So it's all going to be fine, surely you'll fit right in! Then, you look the wrong way crossing the road and nearly get hit by a massive red bus, try beans on toast for the first time and wonder why this sweet, damp bread concoction is so popular in England, or walk into a coffee shop and ask for cream in your coffee, which earns you a look from the barista you can't quite place. Have you grown an extra head or something? Nope. It's just that, in the UK, they don't really do cream in coffee. Or creamer. Or half and half. 

Instead, most British coffee drinkers take their joe with milk. Of course, there are all the usual frothy-coffee options available at coffee shops, from lattes and flat whites to flavored frappuccinos, and sometimes these can be topped with whipped cream. But to lighten up black coffee at home, at a coffee shop, or in a greasy spoon (which is kind of like the UK equivalent of a diner), it's milk all the way.

Both in the dairy aisle and at coffee shops in Britain, you'll find whole milk, semi-skimmed, and skimmed milk. Whole milk is the same as in the U.S. — just pasteurized milk with nothing taken away. Semi-skimmed is roughly equivalent to 2%, although it has slightly lower levels of fat at 1.5%-1.8% of total volume. Skimmed milk is 0.1% fat, just like fat-free or skim milk in the U.S. There's no UK equivalent to 1% milk, so if that's usually your jam, you'll have to make do with skimmed or semi-skimmed while you're over in Blighty. You should be able to choose between all three in any good UK coffee shop, along with milk alternatives such as oat, almond, and soya. Lactose-free milk is available in the UK, too, but may not be stocked in all coffee shops or stores.

Then there's cream, which isn't an official option at most coffee shops but can be found in pretty much any grocery store in Britain. Cream is available as double or heavy cream with 48% fat, whipping cream with 36% fat, and single or pouring cream, which has 18% fat just like American coffee or table cream. You may have noticed the lack of half and half in this list, though. Half and half is around 12% fat. It's cream and milk combined in a ratio you can probably guess (it's 50/50, for those of you at the back). You could technically make your own half and half if you find yourself stranded in London, desperate for your usual coffee order, but carrying it around would be pretty awkward.

If you really want cream in your coffee, you can order off menu. Ask your friendly local barista if they have single (or pouring) cream in their fridge, and you might get lucky. Cream on the side is usually available in chain coffee shops throughout the UK, like Starbucks, Cafe Nero, and Costa, even though it's not an official add-on, while smaller independent spots might have cream in stock for a recipe or to pour over desserts.

Of course, if you're trying to blend in with the locals, you'll have to get used to milk. For bonus integration points, you could even start referring to whole, semi-skimmed, and skimmed milk by color rather than their official names. Don't worry, milk in the UK isn't green, but the stickers on bottles of semi-skimmed milk are. It's blue for whole milk, green for semi-skimmed, and red for skimmed. In the past, the bottle tops were also color-coded; these have been replaced by white or clear caps as they're much easier to recycle, but British dairy drinkers still refer to their milk of choice as "red top," "green top," or for the rare almond mom who swears by skimmed milk, "blue top." Simple, right? And now that you understand British coffee culture, it's time to get to grips with some of the UK's favorite comfort foods. Anyone for toad in the hole?