Cafe's 'no trim milk' rule making a statement on coffee culture

Updated February 03, 2016 20:10:17

Full cream, low-fat, no fat, soy, almond or extra dollop?

Key points:

  • NZ cafe says no to trim milk
  • Cafe wants to keep integrity of specially roasted coffee by using only non-homogenised milk
  • Melbourne barista says fine line between offering quality and satisfying customer
  • Nutrition Australia says small difference between low-fat and full fat milk, in moderation

However you like your milk, chances are the decision is key when you order your coffee.

But can coffee lovers really tell the difference between the milk splashed in their daily brew?

One New Zealand cafe believes the only way to drink coffee is with non-homogenised milk — and that is the only type of milk on offer for customers.

Lyttelton Coffee Company faced a social media backlash over its "no trim milk" policy.

The Christchurch cafe said it was one of the few coffee shops around the country that did not offer trim milk as an option in its beverages.

In a Facebook post, the cafe said the non-homogenised milk they offer attaches "beautifully" to the coffee they roast.

The cafe uses milk which is delivered in 15-litre reusable stainless steel cylinders.

"We do not have a trim option, we also do not serve decaf or any flavourings with our coffee," the cafe owners wrote.

"Just trying to politely inform what we do in our cafe in Lyttelton."

But some baristas told they would mix milk types together anyway, usually out of "sheer laziness".

Craig Simon, a four-time world barista champion from Melbourne's Think Tank Coffee, said he respected the Lyttleton Coffee Company's choice to cut trim milk, but commercially the decision could be risky.

"From a personal point of view of the best tasting coffee beverage, my preference is full cream milk, because it is more tactile and more fat works with coffee really well," he told ABC News.

"There is a fine line between offering the customer the best possible experience and then giving them what they want.

"I fully appreciate what these guys are trying to do and how they are trying to give an outstanding experience, by basically saying to the customer they are the experts and they have a beverage that the customer will enjoy.

"They are making a statement and standing up for what they believe in, and I think that's cool."

Mr Simon said it was not "beyond the realm of possibility" for baristas to sneakily use the same milk for all customers to save time in the coffee-making "production line".

"Barista have a cheeky term for it, they call it 'magic milk'," he said.

"If you're at a cafe that's pumping on a Sunday morning, it wouldn't be out of the scope of possibility to be given full cream milk in everything, or a 50/50 mix.

"I would say a significant amount of people wouldn't be able to tell the difference."

Mr Simon said in terms of skill, it made no difference to a barista whether the milk was full cream or low-fat.

Splash of milk in coffee not a diet deal-breaker: nutritionist

With a balanced diet, a few tablespoons of milk in your morning coffee may not make much difference for someone looking to maintain a healthy weight range, Nutrition Australia said.

"It all depends on the diet as a whole and how many coffees and the type of coffees you have," senior dietician Aloysa Hourigan told the ABC.

"For weight management, if you are having a coffee twice in a week, it doesn't make much difference if you are having a splash of full cream milk.

"But if you are having bigger coffees or say a latte, it is advisable by the Australian dietary guidelines to choose reduced fat milk."

Skim milk has no fat, while reduced fat milk typically contains 1 to 2 per cent fat.

A cup of full cream milk contains 700 kilojoules, while a cup of reduced fat milk contains 480 kilojoules and skim milk contains 365 kilojoules.

"The end of the day the difference is half, so depending on how much coffee you have, it would be wise to choose reduced-fat milk," Ms Hourigan said.

Topics: diet-and-nutrition, dairy-production, australia

First posted February 03, 2016 14:06:06