Culture Shock: Serving Sizes

When we moved to Europe one thing I was anticipating was a huge change in serving sizes. Surprisingly, they really aren't that much different honestly. When we go to a restaurant I feel like we get the same amount of pasta we would anywhere, chicken breasts are chicken breasts, and sandwiches are sandwiches.

However, I did  notice a huge difference in the serving size of coffee.

Y'all know I love my coffee. My days just are not the same when I can't fix a nice coffee and just have a few minutes to wake up. Well, I also love to stop at a cafe for coffee when we are out sightseeing and love to have my after dinner coffee.

So, lets start in North America. When I lived in the US and in Canada these were what we'd typically get:

A good old 8 oz-20 oz drip coffee. Brewed god only knows when, and sits on a burner for god only knows how long. Usually served with a nice burnt aftertaste. Now, the only place I can find such things are at the local Starbucks....which I don't frequent too often...

When I get to a cafe here this is what I wind up with:

This was a HUGE shock to me when we first got here, I am still figuring out how to order to get exactly what I want, but I am getting used to the surprise of what they will bring me when I order, "coffee with milk please". haha

So far everywhere I have gotten coffee here, I typically get something different. Some places I just get an espresso, some places I will get a couple shots of espresso, some places give me a few shots of espresso topped with water, and some places press beans. 

A few weeks ago when out with another expat who had just gotten here I said I was going to order a macchiato....she asked me, "Will that get me a regular size coffee?" haha I said, I think so...I will ask to be sure though because sometimes a macchiato is different here....

Good news: it was a regular size macchiato.

I have run into very few places that do regular American drip coffee. I actually prefer it this way, the coffee tastes way better and you don't get that awful burnt after taste that you get in many places in the US and the coffee is usually fairly fresh and very hot!

Here are some latte's I've managed to get while here:

When you order a coffee at a cafe or restaurant here you usually get a biscuit/cookie or a nice piece of chocolate ;) That was the best surprise!

These are a decent size and usually are what I get when we are out for a snack during a day of sight seeing.

Even my coffee's at home are small:

In our temporary home when we first got here we were left with a pod coffee machine and in our new, permanent apartment our fabulous landlords left us with a Nespresso Machine. I looked around for a drip coffee maker and they don't seem to have a wide variety in the stores. They seem few and far between...seems the more common thing here are the pods.

I know this seems like a small thing, but when everything is changing there are somethings you think are consistent...but nope, moving to a different country everything changes...including your coffee! 

Have you been somewhere and been surprised by the serving size?