Coffee milk--it's more than just half & half! Visiting family recently wondered what went into Kaffeesahne because it has this slight mocca coloring to it. It threw me back to a time when I wondered the same thing myself. I was at Oma's in Regensburg so I asked her.She told me matter-of-factly that they threw everything in to make it a bit thicker. I wanted to know what kinds of things. She shrugged and said, "Things like ground-up coffee, tea, bread--."
Bread?! When I told her that I found it hard to believe that they'd put bread into coffee milk, she took it a step further. During the Wars, she explained (conversations often turned to the Wars), they used to put anything into Kaffee or Ersatzkaffee (coffee substitute) to make it somewhat drinkable and perhaps even a bit nutritious. Among other things, they threw in old minced up lettuce. Rather than throw anything out, even if it was brown, they'd hide it in hot drinks.
So when my family asked about it, I turned to a bottle of Kaffeesahne fully expecting there to be no ingredients. We're used to seeing ingredients and calorie counts--they don't do that here. (It's also hard to find an index in a book, too) But sure enough there it was on the side. A translation: finely milled coffee, tea, baked products, salads, and sauces (a new one for me)! I bet if they marketed it as an energy drink, they'd rake in the €€€!
