posted
1) A simple "light ice in my latte please," would have sufficed.
2) Ice does not "harden the toxins" in your body. While in a detached sense I'm sort of curious as to what that even means, I didn't really want you to explain it. All I said was, "Oh, okay."
3) For some reason, you took this as an invitation to tell me about it.
4) Please refrain from using the barista as a captive audience. 4b) Particularly while it is busy.
posted
It might interest you to know that traditionally amongst the Chinese it is had that cold beverages are bad for you, as they lower your body temperature. As a result your body has to struggle to regain equilibrium.
It's a dying belief, only the traditionalists in Taiwan ever mentioned it, there are refrigerated beverages in every convenience story on every street corner in Taiwan.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
BlBl: If you're referring to the yeet hay/leurng hay thing, its not actually cold beverages. Its just specifically foods or drinks with the cold attribute (for lack of a better word) which are often cold, but not always.
In other words, foods or drinks can be cold temperature-wise but can be "yeet hay"/hot or vice-versa. Also, its a balance thing so most Americans would probably be ok.
Posts: 7593 | Registered: Sep 2006
| IP: Logged |
Although, ironically enough, we're not allowed to use the the term "venti". Starbucks has copyrights. I doubt it'd hold up in court, but who really wants to spend that kind of money.
Posts: 2907 | Registered: Nov 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
I hate ordering things with silly made up names. Wendy's has a new coffee flavored milkshake which I will never be able to order by name. I might try ordering a "coffee milkshake" sometime and see whether they know what I mean. (The actual product name is too silly to repeat.)
Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Was that you? I can't believe that we met over coffee and didn't even know that we knew each other from Hatrack. That is a riot.
Wait . . .
*rereads original post*
Hey! You're mocking me! I can tell. I was just trying to help you out and, you know, educate you about ridding your body of hardened toxins (which, you know, are, like, the hardest kind to get rid of). Excuuuuuuse me for trying to enlighten you, you ignorant prig.
Oh, and by the way, there was still too much ice in my latte.
Posts: 10397 | Registered: Jun 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
And now I'm trying to figure out if Juxtapose and Tante Shvester actually met, or if they're both kidding.
Posts: 12266 | Registered: Jul 2005
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Mucus: BlBl: If you're referring to the yeet hay/leurng hay thing, its not actually cold beverages. Its just specifically foods or drinks with the cold attribute (for lack of a better word) which are often cold, but not always.
In other words, foods or drinks can be cold temperature-wise but can be "yeet hay"/hot or vice-versa. Also, its a balance thing so most Americans would probably be ok.
I'm not sure it's the same thing. But then again, you won't find much consensus amongst the Chinese when it comes to anything. Yeet Hay may be what some were referring to, but I can recall quite a few occasions where I was hot and thirsty, and my hosts insisted I needed to drink warm water, not chilled. I could have been mistaken, Chinese is my second language, but over and over again I got the impression that they didn't care what I drank, so long as it wasn't temperature cold. I'll have to check with my dad, I was pretty certain he described the same thing to me once.
When my mother gave birth to my youngest brother in Hong Kong, she was sweating like crazy, and asked for cold water. The hospital staff refused, saying it would harm her, eventually she signed a waiver that she would not sue the hospital should any complications arise from drinking cold water.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
| IP: Logged |
quote:And now I'm trying to figure out if Juxtapose and Tante Shvester actually met, or if they're both kidding.
They're clearly both kidding, because I've met Tante and she doesn't believe in hardened toxins at all. I've served her coffee before, and she told me all about how the Franklin Expedition actually went to the Arctic looking to secretly investigate UFO sightings dating back to the 18th century. Every one of the explorers were captured, experimented upon, and eaten by giant aliens. And probed.Posts: 17164 | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Juxtapose: Thanks Papa, I needed that.
Although, ironically enough, we're not allowed to use the the term "venti". Starbucks has copyrights. I doubt it'd hold up in court, but who really wants to spend that kind of money.
I go to Starbucks pretty regularly, and I've never once used their silly names. "Medium coffee" seems to get across all the information that is necessary.
By the way, if she's that freaked out about ice hardening toxins, here's an idea: Hot Smegging Coffee. It's not the bleedin' Jamba Juice. If you're at a coffee shop and you want something without ice, I'd imagine there are plenty of things on the menu that would leave you with nice, soft toxins.
Posts: 2804 | Registered: May 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
BlackBlade: I don't know. But I'm pretty sure there are a decent number of herbal teas and traditional medicines (as defined by "stuff that tastes awful and find in a Chinese herbal store) that are normally served cold, some desserts and foods too (ones that I would have thought were old).
Maybe the beliefs have mutated somewhat.
quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade: ... When my mother gave birth to my youngest brother in Hong Kong, she was sweating like crazy, and asked for cold water. The hospital staff refused, saying it would harm her, eventually she signed a waiver that she would not sue the hospital should any complications arise from drinking cold water
Hmmm, that does sound familiar. I do know there is some consistent problem with drinking either "leurng hay" foods or foods that are just plain cold during a period.
(I do know that usually its the reverse thats the problem)
Posts: 7593 | Registered: Sep 2006
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Samprimary: furthermore let me tell you about homeopathy ..
Now, is it a sign of a dysfunctional person to subscribe to these pseudo-scientific belief structures? I have never understood quite where the need lies in these people- is it a lack of sense of self that attracts them through the social marketing of these ideas? Is it sometimes just stupidity or suggestibility? Is it something I don't have a grasp of, or is it just a simple belief based on evidence? This last I have a hard time with, because it seems that "these people," and we all know someone who fits into the category, latch onto not only certain ideas, but certain *types* of ideas- the ones that sound attractively, elegantly, and falsely logical, and have some sort of immediate and usually intuitively simple application in the real world. For instance, cancer requires chemotherapy and radiation to defeat, and so we have less (still some) folk medicine surrounding it, whereas issues like perceived energy levels, allergies, mental awareness, pain syndromes, and nutrition are largely, or sometimes wholly based on individual perception. My aunt, for instance, seems to genuinely experience changes in the state of her health based on the things that she hears about from "alternative" sources of health information. She has declared herself allergic over the years to a large variety of foods, and more often murky unclear elements in foods- she has maintained for many years now that she is allergic to a chemical in foods that is only present once they have been in the refrigerator for more than a day- how she eats food from the grocery store fridge is a mystery to us. It's one of "those ideas."
By "these ideas" I'll just be very broad: black mold, the toxin theory of disease, homeopathy, anti-inoculation, reflexology, and various other dubious or completely fallacious schools of reasoning.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Orincoro: Now, is it a sign of a dysfunctional person to subscribe to these pseudo-scientific belief structures?
IME, no. It's a sign of an inadequate grasp of the scientific method and/or a distrust in science and medicine, combined with a need to control their own lives (or feel that they are).
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
For the record, I'll respond equally well to "grande", "16 oz", or "large". We have four sizes though, so, "medium" is tricksy. I usually have to clarify "medium" or "extra medium".
Posts: 2907 | Registered: Nov 2005
| IP: Logged |
quote: Are you high? they're all silly. Go back to Crazy Town Crazy McCrazerson.
Heh. I think the silliest term they use is Frappaccino, and that's more annoying than anything else. Mainly because it rhymes with cappuccino and it's easy to get those two confused via crappy drive-thru head phones. But even though Starbucks has the trademark, I don't credit them with inventing that particular silliness. I distinctly remember ordering the "Mochaccino" from the local mall coffee kiosk when I was a kid, long before Starbucks existed. People were adding "ccino" to things as far back as I can remember.
Posts: 6367 | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Wait, the 'ccino' doesn't mean anything? I don't drink coffee, but I always assumed that 'cappuccino' meant coffee in a certain way and so 'mochaccino' was coffee that way with...like, chocolate, right? Mocha=chocolate?
Posts: 101 | Registered: May 2009
| IP: Logged |
quote: I usually have to clarify "medium" or "extra medium".
I think I can speak for everyone when I say this: clearly something has gone badly wrong in the world where 'extra medium' is a size.
Posts: 17164 | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
I think that, back in the day, no one knew what a latte was. Cappuccinos were the only espresso drinks that people had heard of, so that's what they called any combination of steamed milk and espresso. I still occasionally have people come in who order a cappuccino when they really want a latte. So a "mochaccino" wouldn't be different from a mocha. I think.
Rakeesh, "Extra medium" is just a joke I make. The fact that it is plausible coffee jargon, though, indicates that you are right about something having gone badly wrong.
Posts: 2907 | Registered: Nov 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Yeah, the mochaccino was a mocha. If you wanted the equivalent of a mocha frappuccino, you ordered an iced mochaccino.
Posts: 6367 | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Juxtapose: I think that, back in the day, no one knew what a latte was. Cappuccinos were the only espresso drinks that people had heard of, so that's what they called any combination of steamed milk and espresso. I still occasionally have people come in who order a cappuccino when they really want a latte.
I got really annoyed when a barista argued with me about whether I *really* wanted a cappuccino. She was pretty sure I would be disappointed that it didn't have more milk and less foam. "Have you had a cappuccino?" she asked.
Oh, in that case just give me a single venti strawberry chocolate creme frappucino and make sure it doesn't taste like coffee and has extra pink sprinkles, please.
Also met with disbelief when ordering a double espresso in Spokane. I don't know if Spokanites just never order espresso or what, but she was *shocked* that I would want to drink that without some kind of mixer.
Posts: 4287 | Registered: Mar 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Cappuccinos were named after Capuchins-- monks. (A specific order.) The foam was supposed to look monkish or something. So "Cappuccino" means "little monk" so no, "-ccino" doesn't mean anything. ("-ino" on the other hand is a valid diminuitive. Like "-ito" in Spanish.)
At least, that's what my dad told me when I was 8. So be warned my source is not impeccable on this one. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Juxtapose: I think that, back in the day, no one knew what a latte was. Cappuccinos were the only espresso drinks that people had heard of, so that's what they called any combination of steamed milk and espresso. I still occasionally have people come in who order a cappuccino when they really want a latte. So a "mochaccino" wouldn't be different from a mocha. I think.
Many people in England still don't *really* get what a cappuccino is supposed to be- basically they make it in a kind of very foamy latte. Also some confusion over which goes in first, the milk or the espresso (I prefer milk first, so it doesn't curdle).
In Czech Republic you're libel to get what you asked for, but on the other hand, they've never really heard of a latte. Their preference seems to be a small mixture of about half warm milk, half espresso, with sugar and no foam.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
| IP: Logged |
quote:I got really annoyed when a barista argued with me about whether I *really* wanted a cappuccino.
Whenever I find out someone actually wanted something different, it's because I made them what they ordered, and they come back and tell me so, whereupon I remake the drink. It's a waste, but there you go. Second-guessing customers is seldom a good idea. ____________
Orincoro, I'm a little confused. Are you worried about the milk curdling? That shouldn't happen just from steaming.
Posts: 2907 | Registered: Nov 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
The Starbucks sizes make perfect sense to me.
Short (regular) - 8 oz Tall (more than regular)- 12 oz Grande (large) - 16 oz Venti (twenty) - 20 oz
From what I understand, it was common parlance in Seattle to ask for either a "short" or "tall" coffee (8 or 12 oz). Of course, our culture being gluttonous, sizes increased incrementally.
So, they added larger sizes above short and tall. Grande came first... and then they needed to even top that, and went with the italian word for twenty (for 20 oz).
Eventually, people stopped drinking the "short" coffee altogether and it dropped off the menu.
So, when people say "why is small called tall?" it's really because so few people actually wanted a truly "small" or "short" coffee that it wasn't worth listing it.
From what I understand, you can still order a "short" 8 oz coffee at Starbucks, even though it's not officially on the menu.
Posts: 3960 | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
You can order a "short" version of nearly anything that's hot. My husband regularly orders a short mocha. There are no short iced cups, however.
As far as the "tall" size, it always made sense to me. It's probably because I was working with alcohol right before going to Starbucks, but the 12 oz. tall cups always reminded me of a collins glass or highball glass, which are similar in size and shape to the tall Starbucks cups, and can be used to serve tall drinks.
Posts: 6367 | Registered: Aug 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
You know, I read most of this thread, but I have no idea why, since I didn't understand most of it, since I am not a coffee drinker. I don't know latte from cappuccino from espresso or whatever. I suppose I could find out on Wikipedia... but I'm happy in my ignorance.
Nothing against coffee drinkers, btw. I'm not just not one. I do like coffee ice cream though.
Posts: 454 | Registered: Mar 2005
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by PSI Teleport: Orincoro, is the milk curdling an issue? Are you putting the milk in cold?
When I mix it with regular coffee yes, but you're right, when I am making an espresso drink, the milk is warm- but not as warm as the coffee, so it should still go first.
Milk first people.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[ROFL]](graemlins/rofl.gif)
