ok, maybe this has been asked before but here goes.
kaffee creme here is black coffee afaik...? i know it seems like it should be coffee with cream. but i've been here a few years and kaffee creme is what i always ask for when i want a black coffee.
so was in basel the other day and assumed it would be the same and it was a coffee with cream (schlag rahm) in it...
do people say "schwarzer kaffee" here? i've never heard it...
ok pls clarify - is it different cantonally?
thanks, i don't want to be a coffee noob anymore...
Er, you'll get a cup of black coffee and usually those fiddly cream containers. Does what it says on the tin, non ?
If you want to sound cosmopolitan, ask for a Lungo or an Americano.
If you simply ask for a coffee, you'll be inundated with 'choices'. Usually a Kaffe is either an Espresso or what you seem to be referring to as a black coffee.
North of the Alps it's likely to be the latter. Ask for a coffee by it's full name here and remember to prime visitors from abroad. Many the British tourist has been surprised when ordering a 'Latte' (milk in Italian) to get just that. The 'machine' part of macchiato passes them by.
Oh I could be here all day, thinking about coffee, but I have a *feeling* we've discussed this somewhere before...
macchiato literally means stain. Latte macchiato (milk stained with coffee), espresso macchiato (espresso stained with a little milk froth). I wouldn't want any Macchina in my milk or coffee.
I thought "café creme" (or is it "café crème"?) was technically an "espresso lungo". I understood the "creme" referring to the crema that forms on the top of the coffee due to it being produced under pressure.
For example in the Netherlands a cafe creme is normal sized cup of coffee (as opposed to demitasse used for espresso), but produced under pressure so it has a layer of crema on top. It has no milk which is considered a cardinal sin. If you want a coffee with milk in the Netherlands it is literally called "Coffee Wrong" (koffie verkeerd).
Therefore I would need more convincing that "café creme" somehow indicates a coffee that comes with a little plastic cream pot.
Wikipedia (I know...) states that Creme indeed comes from the French crème for the milk cream and not from the Italian crema for the foam on top of the espresso.
@ Verb: Café crème is a standard black coffee with coffee cream and sugar which you can add to your discretion. It's what most Swiss people ordered in the past, nowadays Espressos and Cappucinos are very commonplace too, along with the newly introduced Latte Macchiatos & co.
Not to be mistaken with a Cappucino which does contain milk and gives it the characteristic layer of milk froth on top.
In places like starbucks, if i dare say its name, the equivalent of brewed coffee is here called filter-kafee as far as i know. an even stronger version would be americano.
This - I'm presuming - is the Viennese style. Wayyyyy too much thick cream on top, usually served sprinkled with cocoa powder. And a side order of Strudel. Hmmm... nice! All your daily calorific and fat intake in a 10 minute setting
I always ask for "kafi natür" to indicate that I don't want any milk or creme whatsoever.
Anyway Swissotter you ended up with two coffees with a dollop of creme because of this little misunderstanding. I only got 1 black coffee - and I paid! Thats not fair
Researching the local customs to predict the amount of cream one will receive when ordering black coffee seems like a great deal of unnecessary distress. Next time, ask for Kräutertee. It will be healthier for both body and soul.
Only to add that this is the way they pronounce it in Berne. Whereas in Basel, they rather say "Ghaffi" (difficult to write down). And in Züri we say Kafi...
I love this thread
Did you ever ask for a "Kafi fertig?" Something you don't get at Starbucks! Neither at a regular Café... but in a so called "Beiz". It's coffee in a glass (same as for Irish coffee), Schnaps, two to three sugar cubes - and the spoon must be in the glass if it's served properly. Prost!