4 ms·

I didn't discover UHT milk until I moved to Germany, and went to the supermarket. It seems that every culture has its own grocery taxonomy, so I had to ask an e

by donw 10y ago

I didn't discover UHT milk until I moved to Germany, and went to the supermarket. It seems that every culture has its own grocery taxonomy, so I had to ask an employee where I could find the milk. She pointed me towards the milk aisle, and I was amazed that none of it was refrigerated. Sure, you can buy fresh milk in Germany, but it seems that UHT is considered more the "standard". I have to say, I preferred the taste to either American or Japanese milk, and fell in love with the convenience of being able to keep a case of the stuff in my pantry.

lysium 10y ago
This must have been a long time ago. In my local super market it is harder to find UHT milk than fresh milk in the fridge. Which by the way has a two week shelve life because it is highly filtered.
- rndgermandude 10y ago
  Agreed. I usually groceries shop in one of three stores, and in only one I'd even know where the UHT milk aisle even is, and that's just because it happens to be next to the eggs. The refrigerated milk aisles (pasteurized and ESL) are very prominently featured in all those stores. I am also surprised that the wiki article linked elsewhere gives 66+% UHT consumption in Germany. They might be lumping together refrigerated Extended Shelf Life milk with 2-4 weeks shelve life (heated more than pasteurized milk and also usually filtered, but less so than UHT) and UHT milk in that statistic, but those are not really comparable in taste (and storage, obviously) at all.
w-m 10y ago
Milk usually isn't hard to find: just go to the back of the store, as far away from the entrance as possible. Works often and in many countries.
- crypto5 10y ago
  Planet Money's story about why is that: http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2014/07/23/334076398/episode-555-why-is-the-milk-in-the-back-of-the-store http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2014/07/23/334076398/episo...
contergan 10y ago
Every German supermarket I've been to has refrigerated milk. Pasteurized milk however has become almost impossible to find in Germany - I think it's only available in organic supermarkets anymore at like 5-6 times the price of "normal" milk. Instead it's all ESL (extended shelf life up to 2-3 weeks) milk these days. And of course the ultra-high temperature treated milk you mentioned that doesn't need refrigerating at all. I actually prefer the latter for coffee, it just tastes better IMO. For everything else I use ESL milk.

by donw 10y ago

lysium 10y ago

This must have been a long time ago. In my local super market it is harder to find UHT milk than fresh milk in the fridge. Which by the way has a two week shelve life because it is highly filtered.

rndgermandude 10y ago
Agreed. I usually groceries shop in one of three stores, and in only one I'd even know where the UHT milk aisle even is, and that's just because it happens to be next to the eggs. The refrigerated milk aisles (pasteurized and ESL) are very prominently featured in all those stores. I am also surprised that the wiki article linked elsewhere gives 66+% UHT consumption in Germany. They might be lumping together refrigerated Extended Shelf Life milk with 2-4 weeks shelve life (heated more than pasteurized milk and also usually filtered, but less so than UHT) and UHT milk in that statistic, but those are not really comparable in taste (and storage, obviously) at all.

w-m 10y ago

Milk usually isn't hard to find: just go to the back of the store, as far away from the entrance as possible. Works often and in many countries.

crypto5 10y ago
Planet Money's story about why is that: http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2014/07/23/334076398/episode-555-why-is-the-milk-in-the-back-of-the-store http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2014/07/23/334076398/episo...

contergan 10y ago

Every German supermarket I've been to has refrigerated milk. Pasteurized milk however has become almost impossible to find in Germany - I think it's only available in organic supermarkets anymore at like 5-6 times the price of "normal" milk. Instead it's all ESL (extended shelf life up to 2-3 weeks) milk these days. And of course the ultra-high temperature treated milk you mentioned that doesn't need refrigerating at all. I actually prefer the latter for coffee, it just tastes better IMO. For everything else I use ESL milk.