Coffees in general.

[Thipu1]

The Cuban coffees sound delicious. 

I find it interesting that so many posters mention instant coffee or coffee granules.  In NYC, not even the smallest Mom and Pop bodega would ever think of offering anything but brewed coffee for sale.  Sure, we can buy jars of instant coffee in the grocery stores but everyone we know makes real coffee at home. 

[JonGirl]

You have to order black, latte, cappaccino or flat white.
Regular is the size of the cup between small and large...

[WillyNilly]

In NYC a "regular" coffee is most often used to mean size (10-12 oz is regular) although it would also mean milk, 2 sugars to most coffee servers in take out places delis, breakfast carts, diner counters, etc.  If you are sitting down like in a restaurant, the coffee would be brought black and milk and sugar served on the side. I drink mine "large, milk no sugar" and unless I'm a regular somewhere they always repeat back "no sugar?" "Light & sweet" means extra milk and extra (3-4) sugars, and you can of course get any combo (light/no sugar or black & sweet, etc). 

The real thing here is know your order before you get to the front of the line - everyone will loose patience with you if you hem & haw and delay everyone else's coffee - its ok to not know the lingo, but not to not know what you want. We have enough tourists and immigrants here, so long as you can say how you want it, regardless of any slang like "regular" or "light & sweet" etc, you are ordering it correctly.

[Bottlecaps]

In both necks of the woods of the U.S. that I've lived in (West Virginia and Alabama), if you order a "regular" coffee, you will get plain black drip coffee as far as I know.  If you want anything else in it, you have to let your server/barista know.

[baglady]

In Boston when I was growing up, "regulah" coffee traditionally meant with cream and two sugars -- er, "sugahs." Outside of Boston, I've heard "regular coffee" used to distinguish caffeinated from decaf, unflavored coffee from flavored, or plain old coffee from the confusing array of lattes/espressos/etc. offered by Starbucks and its ilk.

[ladyknight1]

Just found this thread, and most coffee serving places here have the cream, milk, and sweeteners on the side for customers to add as needed.

[Bluenomi]

You have to order black, latte, cappaccino or flat white.
Regular is the size of the cup between small and large...

Yup, this Aussie would agree with that. There isn't really anything such as a regular coffee here. People order by type. Cap, skin latte, flat white, long black, espresso, mocha double shot etc.

DH and I learned the hard why that iced coffee doesn't mean the same thing everywhere either. Here iced coffee is like iced chocolate, coffee (or coffee flavouring) with milk, ice cream and topped with cream. In Malaysia iced coffee is black coffee over ice. Not quite the same. That's when we worked out why there was an iced latte on the menu  Luckily I had plenty of extra cream on my drink so I gave it to him.

[katycoo]

I would think a regular coffee would be a long black.  Milk (and/or sugar) would be offered (turning it into a flat white). 

But generally noone I know would order that way.  They'd ask for a black or white coffee, or a latte or caapucino.

[mrs_deb]

We had a tour guide on Kangaroo Island (Australia) ask us if it was true that in most American restaurants, you got "a bottomless cup of coffee".  She appeared duly impressed when we answered in the affirmative.  We didn't find any of that "Down Under", although of course we didn't go EVERYWHERE.

[katycoo]

We had a tour guide on Kangaroo Island (Australia) ask us if it was true that in most American restaurants, you got "a bottomless cup of coffee".  She appeared duly impressed when we answered in the affirmative.  We didn't find any of that "Down Under", although of course we didn't go EVERYWHERE.

You don't get bottomless drinks of any kind, anywhere in Australia.  Even at Hungry Jacks (Burger King) you're only entitled to 1 free refill and that's the only place that even allows that much.

[Katana_Geldar]

The only bottomless drink I've seen at places is table water.

Coffee here you have to specify what kind. I usually order a flat white (decaf, can't handle that much caffeine anymore ) but they usually don't know how to make it. I hate the foam, which is why I order flat white but they sometimes make a latte or a peak less cappuccino. I hate having to dig for my coffee, so sometimes I scoop it all out and leave it on the saucer.

Now I normally have tea. Black and earl grey like Picard. The Starbucks near my work knows I like the extra lid to put the bag in. And I got myself a Themis with a gift card. Keeps tea hot for hours!

[Venus193]

Most diners and restaurants will refill your coffee as many times as you like.  Some will give free refills on soda, but that usually is a surprise when it happens.

As for "regular", "light", etc., that is relative.  The Dunkin Donuts in my area doesn't have the same idea about these terms as most other places so I have to ask for "very dark" to get what most other places call "regular."

[cwm]

I've traveled a bit around the midwest USA, and everywhere I go a "regular" coffee is plain drip coffee, black. Usually I order coffee black and add my own creamer/milk and sweetener to it, because I've yet to find a place outside of expensive coffee shops that will sweeten it enough for my own tastes. People at fast food places tend to balk when I order a small coffee with two creamers and six sugars, they think I want some sort of other mixed coffee. Nope, just a sweet milky coffee, that's all.

[Waterlight]

I live in Seattle (where there is a Starbucks on almost every corner, at least downtown) and a regular coffee here is black.  (Of course there may be more than one variety of drip coffee--usually the choice is between a "medium roast" and a "dark roast.")  The baristas will ask if you want room for cream, or if you want sweetener.