I believe the reason for this (at least what I’ve been told in a dairy-heavy area) is that nobody calls half and half “milk”. They literally ask for cream, creamer, or half and half when that’s what they are looking for, because it’s not consumed as a stand-alone beverage like milk, and has different properties. And it’s sort of always been this way because the cream floats and they’d skim it off, so the composition of the remaining fluid portion is probably not that different.
So basically it’s not included for the naming scheme because it’s a wholly unrelated product despite having all the same ingredients in different ratios. It’s on the milk spectrum, just like heavy whipping cream, but isn’t what most people would classify as milk.
because it’s not consumed as a stand-alone beverage like milk,
Nope, I definitely do not have two half gallon cartons of half and half in my fridge right now that will be consumed by the glass… that would be… weird… or whatever…
Nothing wrong with that, if your diet allows for the higher fat content and it makes you happy. I’m certainly not going to judge when I have bought heavy whipping cream on multiple occasions for likely the same hedonistic, vaguely taboo, reason.
However, despite having advanced tastes, we are well in the minority. Most people find the mouthfeel alone (by alone I mean without enhancing the flavor) to be… mildly unpleasant. And I sort of get that; we don’t have many super creamy drinks, and the ones we do have are wicked rich/sweet. Whipping cream doesn’t taste like much, in the traditional sense, it’s just more expensive and a higher calorie load, and gives you more phlegm, so most people aren’t going to want it outside of cooking where the lack makes a notable difference. Same with half and half; it’s an ingredient and not a food itself.
If you get something out of the mouthfeel and richer flavor that makes it worth it for you, though, you do you. I totally get it. The richness combined with lactose, instead of sucrose or fructose which are harder on my gut bacteria, is deeply satisfying to me, and always has been.
I believe the reason for this (at least what I’ve been told in a dairy-heavy area) is that nobody calls half and half “milk”. They literally ask for cream, creamer, or half and half when that’s what they are looking for, because it’s not consumed as a stand-alone beverage like milk, and has different properties. And it’s sort of always been this way because the cream floats and they’d skim it off, so the composition of the remaining fluid portion is probably not that different.
So basically it’s not included for the naming scheme because it’s a wholly unrelated product despite having all the same ingredients in different ratios. It’s on the milk spectrum, just like heavy whipping cream, but isn’t what most people would classify as milk.
Nope, I definitely do not have two half gallon cartons of half and half in my fridge right now that will be consumed by the glass… that would be… weird… or whatever…
Nothing wrong with that, if your diet allows for the higher fat content and it makes you happy. I’m certainly not going to judge when I have bought heavy whipping cream on multiple occasions for likely the same hedonistic, vaguely taboo, reason.
However, despite having advanced tastes, we are well in the minority. Most people find the mouthfeel alone (by alone I mean without enhancing the flavor) to be… mildly unpleasant. And I sort of get that; we don’t have many super creamy drinks, and the ones we do have are wicked rich/sweet. Whipping cream doesn’t taste like much, in the traditional sense, it’s just more expensive and a higher calorie load, and gives you more phlegm, so most people aren’t going to want it outside of cooking where the lack makes a notable difference. Same with half and half; it’s an ingredient and not a food itself.
If you get something out of the mouthfeel and richer flavor that makes it worth it for you, though, you do you. I totally get it. The richness combined with lactose, instead of sucrose or fructose which are harder on my gut bacteria, is deeply satisfying to me, and always has been.