Milk

[TimD]

OK, here's another stupid question from Tim

 

Back home I use to kill at least a half gallon of milk a day, good ole 2%. Here I think I have had a total of 2 glasses. Milk here is sold at room temperature and for this yankee it just doesn't seem right to buy warm milk and then refrigerate it. The other day we picked up a case of milk which has a 3 month shelf life. I put some in the fridge last night and had a glass this morning. It tasted kind of odd, like there was a lot of cream in it or something.

 

My question is what is the difference between milk in the states and milk you buy here in China. I realize it all comes from a cow, except soy milk, but the manner they process it, is that different? Can you find 2% milk here?

 

-Tim

[Mick]

Tim, I am not sure what the difference is between the milk in America and the milk in China, but there is a big difference. Chinese milk taste sweeter and does seem to be processed differently. In Shantou you could buy several different types of milk and on several street corners, you could buy it straight from the cow. The cow stood right there on the street and the owner would milk it for you. Some of the larger stores, like WalMart, had milk similar to that sold in America. Good luck in your quest.

[Patrick & Li]

Hey Tim, I know when ya buy cream here in the US it has a expiration date that lasts about 8 weeks or so, and truly it never changes. I have put it in my coffee 1 week after expiration and it was still good. But as you know, Milk here starts to curdle a few days after expiration.

 

I was in China back in April and was dying for coffee there. Got the coffee and started looking for Cream. Pretty well nonexistent there. Like you, i just couldnt get over the thought of buying warm milk, so i ended up buying condensed milk for my coffee, which sufficed!

 

Amazing how ya get caught up in little paradigms.

 

Patrick

[TimD]

Coffee and cream is expensive here, by Chinese standards, about 56RMB for a can of Maxwell House, which I hate anyway. The other day I found a brand from Shanghai that was cheeeeaaaappp!! And it tastes good too. I can put our milk in the coffee, not problem it tastes fine. I think what I need to do is buhy some chocolate syrup and I'll be fine

 

The other thing I noticed is that some of the instant drink mixes here are absolutely awful. We bought some lemonaide and some fruit bunch and both tasted like soap. They do sell Tang and instant Nestle Ice tea which we drink a lot of.

 

-Tim

[Patrick & Li]

LOL Tim, You just reminded me. I also wanted chocolate syrup for my coffee. I couldnt find any, But, I did find a Chocolate candy bar and used it instead. Was actually not too bad! Of course it wasnt my usual coffee, but when ur a coffee junkie like myself. Gotta have that cup in the morning or else somebody gonna pay!! LOL!

 

Patrick

[TimD]

I hate to say this, but aside from the Shanghai blend I bought the other day my favorite coffee here is the instant stuff with the cream and sugar already in it. I put two packets of that in my cup, walk over to the water cooler/heater and I'm good to go.

 

Here's another fun fact from China, here we don't have a coffee table in front of the couch, but instead we have a tea table, same thing, different name.

 

-Tim

[Kaige]

For your morning Coffie why not get the Nestle mix like you had on the airplane? I know not much of a caffine buzz , it does taste good, brought some home and you can order it here in the US if you like it from Nestle, instant is not the same either there.

[TimD]

That's exactally what I am drinking right now as I sit here and read Candle....I hate to say it, but this stuff isn't bad at all!!

 

-Tim

[Robert S.]

The Starbucks web site says they have stores in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Shenzen.

 

Don't they have a Friendship Store where you are living?

 

I had brought my own coffee with me when I went to China for three weeks. Then I could not find any decent honey. It seems they put sugar and water in their honey to stretch it, or something. Finally found good honey from Japan which I wanted to buy in the friendship store -- it had a mega price tag on it 400RMB I think I remember so I did not get it but now I wish I did, it sure would have been good.

 

Coffee is a necessity. Maybe you could get your local shopkeeper to stock a supply.

[owenkrout]

Friendship stores are fading out of existence as free enterprise makes the same items available on the general market and generally at a much lower price.

 

I agree that the Nescafe Gold was the only drinkable coffee that I found readily available. If you get lucky you can get a locally marketed brand that is decent.

 

Milk (and many other products in China) are commonly diluted or impure. "Not really" in my wife's Chinglish. The watery honey was one that I complained about a lot in China. Illness and poisonings are not uncommon due to it, but the government usually supresses media coverage of such things. Occassionally something serious enough will occur that they have to admit to it. Living in China you hear about problems with students from impure food or drink once or twice a month.

[skrunks]

hey something I picked up years ago for warm milk is to use ice with it. Sounds awful, but once i got hooked, I couldn't stop, now I use ice in my milk all the time. And your are right, chinese milk tastes different, sweeter or something. I just cope with it by using ice....but hardly anyone asks for ice so they look at me like i am a crazy american which is about 90% true.

[tonado]

I tried to persuade my wife to drink 1% or 2% reduced fat milk in America because doctors said whole milk has too much fat. However, she rather drink the whole milk.

[sarah36]

Nescafe Gold is much better than other, however, if I remember well, the price is about double of others.

 

I'm a big milk drinker. I haven't felt much difference between Chinese milk and American milk, at least the milk in my home city. Different cities are very different in China. Because the milk is not suitably long time stored food, usually each city has their own dairy products especially milk. Here in America, I taste the full fat milk is the same as the milk in my home city but the no or little fat milk is very different which I feel that it is healthier than the full fat one but less delicious than the full fat one. In my city, we could also find so many different brands of milk, some of them would taste terrible. The point is people have to find out the good one.

 

By the way, there is one brand almost most of big cities having such brand, the name is "meng niu", which is not so watery as other kinds. In Beijing and my city, I saw it and drank it. I'm not sure whether Shang Hai has it. That one tastes right. Maybe you guys can try it, see whether you like it or not.

 

Sarah

 

Anyway,

[owenkrout]

hey something I picked up years ago for warm milk is to use ice with it. Sounds awful, but once i got hooked, I couldn't stop, now I use ice in my milk all the time.  And your are right, chinese milk tastes different, sweeter or something.  I just cope with it by using ice....but hardly anyone asks for ice so they look at me like i am a crazy american which is about 90% true.

 

There is another reason for the odd looks and for why no one uses ice. You are wisely advised not to drink the tap water anywhere in China (or most of the world for that matter). Where do you think the ice comes from?

[TimD]

There is another reason for the odd looks and for why no one uses ice. You are wisely advised not to drink the tap water anywhere in China (or most of the world for that matter). Where do you think the ice comes from?

 

Yup....I was just wondering this one myself...Matter of fact I've caught myself making ice here at home with water right out of the faucet.