# Full-fat or semi-skimmed in your cappuccino



## Jon12345 (Dec 2, 2013)

I just spoke with the barista at my local Costa a minute ago, and asked him when they use semi-skimmed milk. I know you ask for a "skinny" if you want skimmed milk, so when do you get the semi-skimmed. Well, I found out. It is the default! I had always thought full-fat milk is the default for cappuccino chains - it seems not.

Whenever I made a cappuccino at home, I swear it tasted significantly better when using full-fat milk, rather than semi-skimmed.

What is normal in most coffee shops? Which is better?


----------



## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Semi is healthier I suppose, like alot of things in coffee, such as a what a cappuccino is, there is no norm or standard.

I prefer full fat milk personally but there is an ever growing push towards non dairy alternatives too, so to each there own.


----------



## Jon12345 (Dec 2, 2013)

You can justify full-fat on health grounds using this: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22585901

The research is unclear.


----------



## M_H_S (Jun 6, 2018)

Yes some cafés use semi skimmed milk as a default. It annoys me actually as my presumption is that unless specified I should be served whole milk. I always prefer whole milk personally and how it melds with espresso especially the micro foam.

I make cappuccinos with skimmed for the mother in law and I find them undrinkable. Frothing is difficult too as if I leave it for a moment the foam separates and refuses to mix with the liquid milk.

A couple of cafes have gone the other extreme and use unhomogenised milk that is in between whole and Jersey milk. They told me it apart from tasting creamier the microform stayed for longer!


----------



## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

All milks, even full fat, are low in fat when compared to other foods. Unless you are drinking tons of the stuff the calorie benefit to drinking semi skimmed is minimal, and as above full fat is less processed and its a bit more true to what came out of the cow (a bit).

So go with what taste you prefer.


----------



## MildredM (Feb 13, 2017)

I'm not bothered about the calories but I prefer ss purely because I can still taste my coffee through it. I don't like a creamy, milky drink personally.


----------



## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

Full fat is less fattening, higher the fat content the better. For weight loss and health reasons, I only use double cream in my americanos now.

P.S. Typing whilst eating 2 sirloin steaks and 500g of Brussels slathered in butter....dammit I forgot the melted cheese!


----------



## pgarrish (May 20, 2017)

we're lucky enough to have a proper milkman and get full fat un-homogenised milk in bottles.... the creamy bit at the top of the bottle transforms any breakfast cereal







and for me it makes nicer coffee than any shop bought milk - full fat, cravendale, whatever..


----------



## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

I'm reviewing a Cow next week, lattes direct from the Udder, I reckon we need to do a group buy on the forum.


----------



## ashcroc (Oct 28, 2016)

DavecUK said:


> I'm reviewing a Cow next week, lattes direct from the Udder, I reckon we need to do a group buy on the forum.


Friesian or Jersey?

Laissez les bons temps rouler


----------



## MildredM (Feb 13, 2017)

DavecUK said:


> I'm reviewing a Cow next week, lattes direct from the Udder, I reckon we need to do a group buy on the forum.


Will that be the one where you can feed coffee beans in at one end and . . . .


----------



## casual (Feb 6, 2019)

full fat tastes so much better. I cut down my fat intake on other areas instead.


----------



## Sammy87 (Feb 1, 2019)

Full fat is always noticeably nicer


----------



## ANomadBarista (Jun 2, 2021)

So, as a barista I think I can help a bit.

Full fat - has 3.4g of fat per 200ml - this might sound bad, but this actually changes drastically when you heat the milk up, when heating milk and adding air to create the foam, you are actually activating the fats and sugars and burning them out to make it velvety and give it that creamy mouth feel.

Semi Skimmed - has half the amount of fat, 1.7g, sounds alot better right, well because there are less fat/sugar cells to activate it means you will have a less creamy mouth feel.

Skimmed milk - has next to nothing in fats, this is abundantly clear when you heat skimmed milk up, you will see that the foam and milk separate quickly from each other, this is because there are no natural fats/sugars to bond them together for a creamy mouth feel.

All of these are open for debate on which is he best for you/better tasting, personally I'd say Full fat milk when heated is better as the sugars bring out the flavour of coffee alot better than the other milks and the activate fats help to create a much nice mouth feel, however I can't drink dairy anymore so oatly is my go to, it provides the best foam from the alternative options, and actually has around the same amount of fats as full fat which gives it a better mouth feel than skimmed milk.

It is also now argued that full fat is better for you than skimmed as it is higher in omega 3 fats, as well as the link that saturated fats cause heart disease might not be true as there was never any research done to prove this, it was just assumed and accepted back in the 70's

I kinda like my job...


----------



## ANomadBarista (Jun 2, 2021)

pgarrish said:


> we're lucky enough to have a proper milkman and get full fat un-homogenised milk in bottles.... the creamy bit at the top of the bottle transforms any breakfast cereal    and for me it makes nicer coffee than any shop bought milk - full fat, cravendale, whatever..


 This will be because of the fat/sugar content. However slightly too high, when heated and added to coffee, the sugars tend to over power the coffee, it's a very rich feel, however adding cold I'm sure taste amazing, the sweetness will cut through the coffee without drowning it out with the richness from the combination of the fats/sugars in fresh milk.


----------



## General-S-1 (Jul 27, 2015)

🤔 blue top for me. Cannot stand semi skimmed. Has anyone tried goats milk? Or even camel milk? Condensed? In their coffees? 
i am going to try some double cream when i get the chance.


----------



## DavecUK (Aug 6, 2013)

General-S-1 said:


> 🤔 blue top for me. Cannot stand semi skimmed. Has anyone tried goats milk? Or even camel milk? Condensed? In their coffees?
> i am going to try some double cream when i get the chance.


 Tesco doesn't have Camel Milk...I'll check Amazon.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Camel-Camelicious-Whole-Expiry-235ml/dp/B07V4NL96Y/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=camel+milk&qid=1622731525&sr=8-4

Yup, I'll definitely be rushing out to buy that! Sadly, no Yak milk anywhere.... 😉

On a more serious note...I use double cream in my Americanos.


----------



## Emily (Dec 27, 2020)

General-S-1 said:


> Has anyone tried goats milk?


 Yes and it was horrible 😂 I love goats milk and love goats cheese but when I heated the goats milk it tasted really, really goaty. Goats cheese flavoured coffee. Not great lol


----------



## Emily (Dec 27, 2020)

DavecUK said:


> I use double cream in my Americanos


 Full fat milk is best (IMO) but double cream is amazing!


----------



## Jony (Sep 8, 2017)

Asda Farm Fresh for me. Or back up Tesco Organic one.


----------



## Emily (Dec 27, 2020)

I can taste the difference between semi skimmed and full fat milk but can anyone taste the difference between different brands/supermarkets? I will often have different brands of milk on the go - coop, sains, Aldi, Lidl, - but can't taste any difference 🤷‍♀️I bought some raw milk a while ago to try and was a bit disappointed it just tasted like ordinary milk to me.


----------



## shaun**** (Oct 24, 2015)

Emily said:


> I can taste the difference between semi skimmed and full fat milk but can anyone taste the difference between different brands/supermarkets? I will often have different brands of milk on the go - coop, sains, Aldi, Lidl, - but can't taste any difference 🤷‍♀️I bought some raw milk a while ago to try and was a bit disappointed it just tasted like ordinary milk to me.


 i don't think i taste a difference but i do notice some seem to steam better than others.

this grahams one is my favourite at the moment. they didn't have any last week so i ended up with the waitrose organic, couldn't get it to come together at all. just foam on the top with hot milk.


----------



## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

Can anyone tell the difference between ordinary butter and I can't believe it's not butter?






jokes aside, for me, It's full fat "blue cap" milk. I can't tell the difference between different supermarkets though, but I can taste he difference between long life, lactose free and and fresh milk.

a while ago semi-skimmed was the go-to for me. I always found full fat milk too creamy, almost sickly. But I have since changed and now could not even think about going back to semi-skimmed milk.

jersey milk, gold top etc tastes great, and I really enjoy it, but it's a bit too indulgent for me. 😉


----------



## Deegee (Apr 5, 2020)

Full fat blue top if I'm having a milk based coffee, although, if I'm drinking tea I can only drink it with S/S (and not much at that) blue top just tastes wrong in tea.
I keep meaning to pick up some Oatly to try with a good decaf for pm coffee, due to having a max tolerance to most dairy which limits me on yoghurt & milk intake, but not cheese fortunately, my own common sense is the regulator when it comes to cheesy gorgeousness. 😋


----------



## Emily (Dec 27, 2020)

MediumRoastSteam said:


> I always found full fat milk too creamy, almost sickly


 Same here, but I got used to it and now I find semi skimmed a bit lacking something (all that lovely fat 😂)


----------



## MediumRoastSteam (Jul 7, 2015)

Emily said:


> Same here, but I got used to it and now I find semi skimmed a bit lacking something (all that lovely fat 😂)


 Yep! Exactly!


----------



## Deegee (Apr 5, 2020)

Agree with you both, having tried S/S when I'd run out of blue top, it didn't foam nicely and tasted "thin" in the latte I'd made, tbh I'd rather have decent creamy lattes or just drink espresso or Americano's.


----------



## JA92 (Apr 7, 2020)

Full fat. Helps make better latte art (IMO)


----------

