{"id":339,"date":"2010-04-16T03:50:59","date_gmt":"2010-04-16T03:50:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=339"},"modified":"2010-07-23T17:33:06","modified_gmt":"2010-07-23T17:33:06","slug":"american-coffee-in-french","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/american-coffee-in-french\/","title":{"rendered":"American-style coffee, en fran\u00e7ais"},"content":{"rendered":"

Merci<\/em>, BfromWR, de votre question<\/em>: thank you for your question! Le commentateur<\/em> BfromWR asked a very useful question about the\u00a0post<\/a> on ordering coffee from le 5 avril<\/em> (April 5):<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026How would one go about ordering the equivalent of your standard \u201cNorth American style\u201d coffee with cream and sugar? Commonly referred to as a \u201cdouble double\u201d in some places. My wife is looking forward to sampling some pastries but doesn\u2019t drink coffee. How does one order English breakfast tea? Can these be accomplished without ridicule ?\u201d<\/p>\n

Je n\u2019ai jamais entendu parler d\u2019un \u201cdouble double\u201d<\/em> (I\u2019ve never heard of a double double), but selon<\/em> (according to) Urban Dictionary, c\u2019est canadien!<\/em> Vive le Canada! <\/em>Perhaps one of our lecteurs canadiens<\/em> (Canadian readers) will be able to give a closer translation of \u201cdouble double,\u201d mais je ferai de mon mieux<\/em>\u2014but I\u2019ll do my best.<\/p>\n

Franchement <\/em>(frankly), any \u00e9tablissement<\/em> that serves American coffee will probably also have un serveur anglophone<\/em>, an English-speaking server. Sinon<\/em> (if not), I would ask for un caf\u00e9 am\u00e9ricain<\/em>. Sometimes, especially in an area fr\u00e9quent\u00e9 par les touristes nord-am\u00e9ricains<\/em>, the local establishments may brew American coffee (also known as \u201cde l\u2019eau color\u00e9e\u201d<\/em> :)).<\/p>\n

If \u201cUn caf\u00e9 am\u00e9ricain, s\u2019il vous pla\u00eet\u201d <\/em>gets you a blank look, you have a few options. Ma m\u00e8re <\/em>(my mother), une fanatique du caf\u00e9<\/em>, had a good approach in Paris: she ordered un caf\u00e9 cr\u00e8me <\/em>(coffee with steamed milk, like a caf\u00e9 au lait), and when the small cup was empty, she ordered another. Just like a big ol\u2019 American coffee with milk, and it stays hot to the end!<\/p>\n

Un caf\u00e9 allong\u00e9 <\/em>is another possibility. What I\u2019d call an americano, it\u2019s un caf\u00e9 avec de l\u2019eau chaude<\/em>: coffee with hot water. It\u2019s not as strong as you might want, but it resembles American coffee (very similar to what\u2019s served in college dining halls, if you\u2019ve had the pleasure). For something plus fort<\/em> (stronger), try un caf\u00e9 double allong\u00e9, <\/em>or un caf\u00e9 double avec de l\u2019eau chaude<\/em>. There isn\u2019t really an equivalent to American coffee in France, so it\u2019s basically a chemistry experiment until you get what you want.<\/p>\n

I polled quelques amis<\/em> (some friends) about ordering American coffee en France<\/em>, and one pointed out that le Starbucks<\/em> brews American coffee. So if you\u2019re desperate, allez-y<\/em> (go there). Or make like a native and suffer through small, strong coffees until you love them and can\u2019t go back.<\/p>\n

As for BfromWR\u2019s wife\u2019s English Breakfast tea\u2026 aucune id\u00e9e<\/em> (no idea)! But I did a little research, and after le chaos <\/em>of ordering an American coffee, j\u2019ai des bonnes nouvelles<\/em>: I have good news. According to classic tea purveyor Mariage Fr\u00e8res, \u201cMaison de Th\u00e9 \u00e0 Paris depuis 1854\u201d<\/em> (House of Tea in Paris since 1854), le th\u00e9 noir<\/em> \u201cEnglish Breakfast\u201d is called \u201cEnglish Breakfast.\u201d See\u00a0Mariage Fr\u00e8res<\/a> for proof!<\/p>\n

En r\u00e9sum\u00e9 <\/em>(To resume), to order North American-style coffee in France:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Ask for an American coffee, please. If greeted with blank stare\u2026<\/li>\n
  2. Ask for \u201cun caf\u00e9 am\u00e9ricain.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n
  3. Or order \u201cun caf\u00e9 cr\u00e8me,\u201d<\/em> twice.<\/li>\n
  4. Prefer without milk? Try \u201cun caf\u00e9 allong\u00e9.\u201d<\/em><\/li>\n
  5. D\u00e9sesp\u00e9r\u00e9?<\/em> If desperate, cherchez<\/em> (look for) un Starbucks.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I want to say, Step 6, appreciate that you\u2019re in a foreign country and try going native. But really, that kind of big step shouldn\u2019t be taken without coffee.<\/p>\n

    N.B.: If you want it sweet, ask for your coffee \u201cavec du sucre,\u201d<\/em> soit<\/em> (be it) \u201cavec un peu de sucre\u201d<\/em> or \u201cavec beaucoup de sucre.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

    Merci encore de votre question<\/em>, BobfromWR! If anyone has more questions or d\u2019autres suggestions<\/em>, please share. Bonne d\u00e9gustation!<\/em><\/p>\n

    P.S. Parce que je vous aime<\/em>:\u00a0Coffee and Cigarettes: No Problem<\/a> et Airplane!<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Merci, BfromWR, de votre question: thank you for your question! Le commentateur BfromWR asked a very useful question about the\u00a0post on ordering coffee from le 5 avril (April 5): \u201c\u2026How would one go about ordering the equivalent of your standard \u201cNorth American style\u201d coffee with cream and sugar? Commonly referred to as a \u201cdouble double\u201d…<\/p>\n

    Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8324,8124,8121,8325,302,2846],"class_list":["post-339","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-american-coffee","tag-cafe","tag-coffee","tag-english-breakfast","tag-french-cafes","tag-tea"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=339"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1216,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/339\/revisions\/1216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}