Coffee Milk

[Carolyn Tillie]

One of the first Saveur 100 mentioned Coffee Milk. I was intrigued -- born and raised in Southern California, I had never heard of it, let alone tasted it. I really, really like coffee-flavored things (ice cream, Ferrero pocket coffee, opera cake - you name it).

Hearing about a State Beverage with my two favorite ingredients, I knew it was for me. A good friend was tooling around the country and I asked him to pick some up for me. Bless his little heart, he brought me home a GALLON of syrup.

I'm madly in love with this stuff -- anyone else?

[redfox]

I'm not from Rhode Island, but I went to school there. I love, love, love coffee milk! I failed to pick up a bottle of syrup last time I was in Providence, too. Foolish me.

[balmagowry]

Syrup? SYRUP? What is this syrup you speak of? I am mystified. When I was a child something we called coffee milk was one of my great treats at breakfast on weekends; it was simply a glass of milk with a dash of coffee mixed in. What more could one wish for? Enlighten me.

[PhillyBon]

My heart skipped a beat when I read this thread's title. I grew up just outside of Newport and miss seeing bottles of Eclipse and Autocrat at the store. Used to be a staple of my college care packages... Regular milk just isn't the same.

Anyway, I see that Trader Joe's has been selling a brand of what they're calling "Coffee Flavored Milk" but I feel strange about trying an imposter product. Anyone seen a syrup outside of Rhody?

[redfox]

It's just a different thing, balmagowry -- like making chocolate milk with Fox's U-Bet, only coffee. Edited to add that (a) one thing you could wish for is that it taste less like ick, ick, plain MILK, which I bet your childhood treat was awfully like; and (b) I am suddenly imagining pancakes or waffles with coffee syrup and thinking it would be fantastic.

Edited March 30, 2004 by redfox (log)

[Carolyn Tillie]

My friend buys me the Autocrat brand. I would never have thought of putting it on pancakes, but I adore my glass of Coffee Milk every afternoon.

Balmagowry, I have been known to do something similar to what you describe -- when brought to a Starbucks, or other coffeehouse on a hot afternoon, I will order a "Grande Iced, no-Ice Latte" then have to explain, "Two shots of espresso, in a cup with cold milk." I like it that way as well.

Coffee Syrup is High Fructose Corn Syrup, Water, Coffee, and other Natural Flavors. Two ounces of syrup into eight ounces of milk. Sweet, creamy, and ever-so-lovely.

I've actually asked a few specialty food stores if they would consider importing (ha! IMPORTING from Rhode Island!) for me, but have relied on my friends to keep me stocked.

And, I add the correction, I get them in 1/2 gallon jugs...

[phaelon56]

Coffee Syrup is High Fructose Corn Syrup, Water, Coffee, and other Natural Flavors. Two ounces of syrup into eight ounces of milk. Sweet, creamy, and ever-so-lovely.

This has me thinking.... suppose I was to make a simple syrup by dissolving some turbinado sugar into good quality espresso.... perhaps add a bit of vanilla scraped from the bean... would this in fact make a tasty syrup for either ice cream or perhaps waffles (especially malted waffles)? Have any of you tasted a coffee syrup that was decent enough to use in this manner?

[balmagowry]

Ah yes, I see... so - it would then be... SWEET. Most interesting. This would be vaguely analogous to putting sugar in one's coffee, no doubt. How... curious.

Yes, yes, in real life I do "get it." And what the hell, if I like coffee ice cream, why wouldn't I like this? Only to me the term "coffee milk" is associated with a quite different taste - hard to get my mind around other people using it for something else.

WRM, on a vaguely related tangent - Manhattan Special is back!

(Oh, and Carolyn - my version of your Starbucks-or-ilk perversion: double shot of espresso and a tall glass of ice. At self-service additives area, pour the former into the latter and fill with... brace yourself - half-&-half. Wait a minute, why am I telling YOU to brace yourself? You and I both drink heavy cream from the carton!)

And I know it's weird, but I've always loved straight cold milk. (I went through a brief chocolate-milk phase, when I was around seven, then could never stand the stuff again.)

EDIT to add: I trust you homesick Rhode Islanders have tried googling "coffee syrup"? I don't know what a fair price would be, but there are plenty of on-line purveyors who will happily ship Autocrat by the case. I also found a recipe at this address - won't win any points for originality, but it should make a decent point of departure.

Edited March 30, 2004 by balmagowry (log)

[GG Mora]

I went to school in New Bedford, MA, which could technically be considered a part of Rhode Island.

Coffee milk was big there, too. I think it's a Portuguese influence kind of thing. Anyway, the local dairies actually produced coffee milk (from arabica cows, no doubt) and sold it in those little half-pint cartons. The dairy deliveryman to the restaurant where I worked would spot all of the staff a carton of coffee milk for on-the-spot quaffing. Ooo-eee.

[Carolyn Tillie]

Coffee Syrup is High Fructose Corn Syrup, Water, Coffee, and other Natural Flavors. Two ounces of syrup into eight ounces of milk. Sweet, creamy, and ever-so-lovely.

This has me thinking.... suppose I was to make a simple syrup by dissolving some turbinado sugar into good quality espresso.... perhaps add a bit of vanilla scraped from the bean... would this in fact make a tasty syrup for either ice cream or perhaps waffles (especially malted waffles)? Have any of you tasted a coffee syrup that was decent enough to use in this manner?

It is cold and rainy here this morning, so I'm not inclined to go and sip a teaspoon of syrup in the fridge -- maybe by this afternoon, so I'll report back.

On your recipe idea, my suggestion would be to make several shots of espresso and then reduce them - get a VERY concentrated amount of coffee along with your simple syrup. If you consider that I use just two ounces of syrup with eight ounces of milk, I think it makes sense that you will want your "syrup" to be stronger.

Give it a try and let us know!

[balmagowry]

Have any of you tasted a coffee syrup that was decent enough to use in this manner?

It is cold and rainy here this morning, so I'm not inclined to go and sip a teaspoon of syrup in the fridge -- maybe by this afternoon, so I'll report back.

Yet again, let me suggest googling "coffee syrup." Among other things you will find a few articles about the phenomenon, some tongue-in-cheek and condescending as such things are apt to be - but I don't see why they shouldn't be seen as accurate for all that. According to the ones I've skimmed, the syrup is anything but palatable on its own; they describe the transformation when it's mixed 1-3 with milk as little short of miraculous.

I speak, of course, as an entirely detached observer....

[Carolyn Tillie]

Well, folks, it is warmer here today so I went to my fridge here at work and tasted my Coffee Syrup.

Ummm.... suffice to say that I prefer it in milk.

I'm not sure about those folks that pour it on pancakes - I found it way too sweet for me to consume plain. It is very, very dark and not quite as thick as molasses. I imagine what I am pouring is mostly corn syrup anyway.

So, for the time being, I'm leaving my Coffee Milk syrup for milk alone.

Balmagowry, we must get some, somehow...

[balmagowry]

Well, folks, it is warmer here today so I went to my fridge here at work and tasted my Coffee Syrup.

Ummm.... suffice to say that I prefer it in milk.

I'm not sure about those folks that pour it on pancakes - I found it way too sweet for me to consume plain. It is very, very dark and not quite as thick as molasses. I imagine what I am pouring is mostly corn syrup anyway.

So, for the time being, I'm leaving my Coffee Milk syrup for milk alone.

Balmagowry, we must get some, somehow...

Well, like I said, 'tis but a Google away. Course, I have no idea whether these prices are reasonable, but -

Famous Foods

Vermont Country Store

Torani

And for recipes:

One

Another

A third, which calls itself an old New England favorite.

(and this is only from the first couple pages of hits.)

We can do this.

Edited April 1, 2004 by balmagowry (log)

[Carolyn Tillie]

Don't make your own - splurge and buy the real stuff. I started off with the smaller bottles of Eclipse and then got the supply of Autocrat. I can't tell the difference.

Report back! (BTW, balmagowry, did you see my compliment under Mudpuppie's Oracle Page)?

[balmagowry]

Don't make your own - splurge and buy the real stuff. I started off with the smaller bottles of Eclipse and then got the supply of Autocrat. I can't tell the difference.

Decisions, decisions. It'd be so easy to make some up NOW... whereas ordering it means waiting. Seems to me it makes more sense to do both.

(BTW, balmagowry, did you see my compliment under Mudpuppie's Oracle Page)?

Thank you, yes, I did, and as you may have seen by now I replied.

And trust me, I can get a LOT weirder than that. (I just did a you-had-to-be-there on the Key Lime Martini thread which is so obscure I bet no one will even notice...)

[redfox]

I'm not someone who does put it on pancakes, I just thought it sounded like a nice idea. I don't think I've ever tasted it straight! I can well imagine that it's too sweet or otherwise too... something. But wouldn't coffee syrup that was made appropriately to go on pancakes be good? (Maybe I'm just crazy.)

[balmagowry]

NEWS FLASH!!!!

Oh oh oh Carolyn you're not going to believe this. At this very moment, I may actually be drinking the coffee grail itself.

I was in Pathmark, and a bottle of Fox's U-Bet happened to catch my eye, so I bethought me - hey, let's see if there's anything coffee-syrup-ish here. And... there was!

Not a brand I recognize. Bottle shape (16 oz) suspiciously similar to the U-Bet. Name: Coffee Time. Slogan/subtitle: FOR DELICIOUS MILK DRINKS. Recommended proportions as discussed. So of course for the sake of the Gullet I dared all - plunked down my $2.49 and hied me home with the bottle clutched in my grubby little fist. Mixed some up. Am drinking it. Have no way of knowing whether I've got The Real Thing or merely some Old Pretender. But... it's pretty damn good.

Viscosity is lower than I had expected... but that doesn't make any practical difference that I can see.

While at Pathmark I also noticed in passing that Nescafe has come out with something it calls Ice Java, apparently meant for similar use. This I did not buy, because it came in three rather high-falutin', almost Starbucks-y, flavors and just gave the impression of being too... modern, too flashy, too potentially with-it. Too Marketing-Gimmick-y. Whereas the Coffee Time bottle is comfortably homely and old-fashioned - if only it had a little dust on it you'd think it had been sitting on that shelf since the 50s.

What do you think? Have I stumbled into it?

:sip: ... :glug: ... damn, this stuff is growing on me. You may have created a monster.

[PhillyBon]

Hmm, don't think I've heard of Coffee Time before--are the ingredients similar to Eclipse or Autocrat (i.e. mostly h.f. corn syrup)?

[balmagowry]

Hmm, don't think I've heard of Coffee Time before--are the ingredients similar to Eclipse or Autocrat (i.e. mostly h.f. corn syrup)?

Why yes, they are.

What do I win?

EDIT to say:

OMG!

EVEN BIGGER NEWS FLASH!!!!

I just looked at the teeny fine print at the bottom of the label. Eureka!

MANUFACTURED BY AUTOCRAT, INC. LINCOLN, RHODE ISLAND

Damned if it ain't The GenuWine Article, masquerading under an assumed name! Must be like Best Foods Mayonnaise.

Oy, I'm so excited I may not sleep tonight. Especially after all that coffee-milk.

Edited April 3, 2004 by balmagowry (log)

[redfox]

Hot diggety! That's awesome. Where was this splendid Pathmark of coffee-syrup-havingness?

[balmagowry]

Hot diggety! That's awesome. Where was this splendid Pathmark of coffee-syrup-havingness?

Sir (or ma'am?), you are a neologist after my own heart!

The coffee-syrup-having Pathmark in question is that in West Babylon, which is in Western Suffolk County on Lawn Guyland. But now that I have made this momentous find - my vaulting ambition knows no bounds (though it may know leaps). In the course of the weekend's errands I shall make it my business to case every other joint within reach: *King Kullen, *Waldbaum's, Stop & Shop, and Foodtown; perhaps even the distant Shop-Rite. What the hell - Target and Wal-mart have food sections, too. Anything is possible. I urge all present to reconnoiter in similar fashion. Who knows how far this stuff may have penetrated, incognito? Oh, it's a grand day for coffee-milkers, my friends!

*BTW, King Kullen and Waldbaum's, so far as I know, are only found on Long Island, but the former remains independent whereas the latter is now owned by the same conglomerate that owns A&P and Food Emporium. (And... also Stop & Shop? Not sure about that, but they all now carry what used to be A&P's exclusive house brand, Eight O'Clock Coffee, which I think is the tell-tale sign.) So if Waldbaum's has it, who knows? maybe their other chains will have it too. Seek!

[EDIT for clarity]

Edited April 3, 2004 by balmagowry (log)

[balmagowry]

Damn, Carolyn must be away for the weekend. :sulk: Who said she could? Here I was looking forward to suprising her, and now I have to wait. Phooey. I don't like waiting. The suspense is killing me! :sulk:

EDIT:

PAGING CAROLYN TILLIE! PAGING CAROLYN TILLIE!

Edited April 5, 2004 by balmagowry (log)

[Carolyn Tillie]

I'm here! I'm here! Sorry -- yes, I do disappear on weekends, only because my home computer is run on a silly 48k modem which takes bloody forever so I did miss all the excitement. So much so that I had to be PM'd to get back to this tread.

Multiple Mea Culpas, dear subjects. As your self-proclaimed Dairy Queen, by George, I think you've got it!

Amazing stuff, ain't it? Not a thick, viscous syrup, no - but in the milk, a sweet, cool sensation flows down thine throat, thrillingly, no?

I'm so glad to have you, Dame Balmagowry, amongst the brethren who has now been initiated into wondrous raptures of Coffee Milk. Count yourself among the truly blessed and enlightened.

You are now, indeed, worthy.

Amen.

[redfox]

(ma'am)

[balmagowry]

:Rises creakily from one knee:

Thank you, your majesty, your DQ-ness. I am both humbled and gratified by this great honor. I hope I may always so comport myself as to bring honor to the brethren.

But... but... have the full implications of this discovery burst upon you yet? Do you see? If the Syrup Grail is to be found lurking incognito on the shelves of an obscure Pathmark in West Babylon, for all love, where else might it not be? We know that there is something of the Grail in all of us; likewise, may there not be something of coffee syrup hidden even in the lowliest local corner grocery? Click your heels together three times and run do not walk to your nearest market - you may be closer to the taste of home than you think! But do not confine your search to the obvious places; look among the despised, the rejected; for verily, the time has not yet come when every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill made low. Behold, I shall post unto you a picture, which shall be to all people, and this picture shall be of the unassuming Grail of my finding; and thus shall you know it, unless it befalleth that yours shall appear in altogether other guise, which is of course always possible....

The Grail Itself

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