Monterey Jack
A semi-hard American cheese from Monterey County, California. It is pale, mild, and buttery with small holes, made to melt; aged Dry Jack is its firmer variant.
United States
America built its dairy case on standards: graded butter, Philadelphia-style cream cheese, and the ice cream parlor flavors that spread worldwide in the twentieth century.
Pepper Jack
An American cheese made by flavoring Monterey Jack with spicy peppers, usually jalapeño, sometimes habanero and other chiles. It melts like Jack, with heat.
Colby
An American cheese from Wisconsin, made like cheddar but with a washed curd. It is softer, moister, and milder than cheddar, with an open, springy texture.
Muenster
A semi-soft American deli cheese, pale and smooth with tiny holes and an edible orange rind. It is mild and buttery, and related to European Munster in name only.
Salted Butter
Churned cream with salt added, at about 80 percent butterfat. Salted butter is the classic table butter: spreadable, seasoned, and the longest-keeping everyday butter.
Unsalted Butter
Churned cream with no salt added: the baker's standard butter. Pure, sweet cream flavor, and full control of a recipe's seasoning.
Whipped Butter
Butter whipped with air until light and fluffy, sold in tubs. It spreads straight from the fridge and melts fast over hot food.
Cream Cheese
A soft, fresh, mildly tangy American cheese, spreadable straight from the package. The bagel's partner, and the base of cheesecake and cream cheese frosting.
Honey Butter
A sweet compound butter of butter whipped with honey and a pinch of salt. It is soft, spreadable, and made for warm breads.
Cinnamon Butter
A sweet compound butter of butter, cinnamon, and sugar, sometimes with a little vanilla. It melts into toast and warm rolls like a glaze.
Maple Butter
A compound butter of butter whipped with maple syrup. It is pale, sweet, and faintly woody, a New England and Canadian staple for pancakes and cornbread.
Neufchâtel
A fresh, soft cheese in the cream cheese family, made with more milk and less cream, so it has about a third less fat. It is smooth, mild, and slightly grainier than cream cheese.
Whipped Cream Cheese
Cream cheese whipped with air (and sometimes a little milk) into a light, fluffy spread. It spreads straight from the fridge without tearing bread or bagels.
Whole Milk
Fluid milk at its full fat level, about 3.25 percent butterfat. It is the standard milk of the dairy case, sold fresh and refrigerated.
2% Milk
Milk with the fat reduced to 2 percent. It pours thinner than whole milk but keeps much of its body, and it is the most widely sold milk in the United States.
1% Milk
Milk with the fat reduced to 1 percent. It is lighter than 2% in body and flavor while still tasting like milk rather than water.
Skim Milk
Milk with nearly all fat removed, under 0.5 percent. It is thin and pale, sometimes faintly blue from the lack of fat globules, and fortified with vitamin A.
Chocolate Milk
Milk flavored with cocoa and sweetener, usually made from whole or 2% milk. It ranges from lightly chocolaty drinking milk to thick, dessert-like versions.
Strawberry Milk
Milk flavored with strawberry syrup and sweetener, sold ready to drink, usually pink. It is typically made from whole or 2% milk.
A2 Milk
Milk from cows that produce only the A2 form of beta-casein protein, rather than the usual mix of A1 and A2. It is otherwise ordinary milk in fat and nutrition.
Organic Milk
Milk produced under certified organic standards for feed, pasture, and herd care. It is sold at every fat level and is often ultra-pasteurized for a longer shelf life.
Buttermilk
A thick, tangy cultured milk, traditionally the liquid left from butter churning and now made by culturing low-fat milk. It pours like thin cream and tastes mildly sour.
Half & Half
A blend of equal parts milk and cream, with butterfat between about 10.5 and 18 percent. It is the standard coffee lightener in the United States.
Heavy Cream
Cream with at least 36 percent butterfat. It whips into firm peaks and enriches sauces without breaking, the richest pourable cream in the dairy case.
Whipping Cream
Cream with about 30 to 36 percent butterfat, formulated to whip. It produces softer, lighter peaks than heavy cream and pours more easily.
Light Cream
Cream with about 18 to 30 percent butterfat, between half & half and whipping cream. It is a pouring cream for coffee and light sauces, and it does not whip.
Evaporated Milk
Unsweetened milk concentrated by evaporating about 60 percent of its water, then canned and sterilized. It pours like light cream and tastes faintly cooked.
Sweetened Condensed Milk
Milk concentrated like evaporated milk but with sugar added, making a thick, sweet syrup. It is canned and shelf-stable until opened.
Powdered Milk
Milk dried to a powder, most often nonfat, sometimes whole. It reconstitutes with water and keeps for months in the pantry, the shelf-stable form of milk.
UHT Milk
Milk pasteurized at ultra-high temperature and packed aseptically, so it keeps unopened at room temperature for months. Once opened it is ordinary fresh milk.
Goat Milk
Milk from goats, naturally homogenized because its fat globules are small, with a tangy, slightly earthy flavor. It is made into cheese, yogurt, and drinking milk worldwide.
Eggnog
A seasonal dairy drink of milk, cream, egg yolk, sugar, and spices such as nutmeg and cinnamon. It is sold fresh in cartons during the winter holidays.
Malted Milk
Milk flavored with malt powder, a blend of malted barley, wheat flour, and milk solids. As a product it is sold as a dry mix to stir into milk, and as the flavor of classic soda-fountain shakes.
Whey
The liquid left after milk curdles and the curds are removed in cheesemaking. It is thin, pale yellow-green, mildly sweet or tangy depending on the cheese it came from.
Plain Yogurt
Milk fermented with yogurt cultures into a smooth, tangy gel, sold without added flavors or sweeteners. It comes in regular, low-fat, and nonfat versions.
Fruit Yogurt
Yogurt sweetened and flavored, most often with fruit preparations, vanilla, or honey. It is the sweet, ready-to-eat form of yogurt sold in single cups and tubes.
Drinkable Yogurt
Yogurt made thin enough to drink, sold in bottles, usually flavored and sweetened. It is yogurt in beverage form, with the same cultures.
Cottage Cheese
A fresh cheese of loose curds dressed with cream and salt, never pressed or aged. It is mild, lumpy, and eaten with a spoon, sweet or savory.
Sour Cream
Cream cultured until it thickens and turns pleasantly tart. It is a spoonable, glossy condiment and ingredient, standard in American and Mexican-American cooking.
Vanilla
The classic ice cream flavor, made with real vanilla or vanilla extract. Vanilla is consistently among the best-selling ice cream flavors in the United States.
Chocolate
Ice cream flavored with cocoa or chocolate: one of the two oldest ice cream flavors and a permanent fixture in the top three sellers.
Strawberry
Sweet cream ice cream flavored with real strawberries or strawberry puree. One of the Neapolitan trio and a summertime staple.
Cookies & Cream
Vanilla ice cream loaded with crushed chocolate sandwich cookie pieces. An American invention that rose to fame in the early 1980s and never left the top flavors list.
Cookie Dough
Vanilla ice cream filled with chunks of chocolate chip cookie dough, usually with chocolate chips of its own. An American flavor popularized in 1984.
Butter Pecan
Vanilla or brown-sugar ice cream filled with butter-roasted pecans. A Southern American classic with a deep, toasted-nut flavor.
Rocky Road
Chocolate ice cream with marshmallow and nuts, born in Oakland, California in 1929. One of the first ice cream flavors with mix-ins.
Neapolitan
A tri-flavor ice cream sold in one carton, classically chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry in three distinct bands. It is a sliceable, ready-for-anyone dessert.
Coffee
An ice cream flavored with coffee, ranging from lightly tan and sweet to dark and intense. It is a classic American parlor flavor and a base for coffee shakes.
Moose Tracks
A licensed American flavor: vanilla ice cream with peanut butter cups and a thick fudge ribbon. It is a premium, mix-in-heavy flavor and a consistent top seller.
Black Cherry
An almond-scented or vanilla base studded with dark, tart black cherries. It is pinkish-purple from the fruit, with a sweet-tart contrast.
Rum Raisin
An ice cream flavored with rum and studded with rum-soaked raisins. It is creamy and caramel-like, with a gentle alcoholic warmth.
Butter Brickle
A butter-flavored ice cream with pieces of butter brickle candy, a toffee of butter and brown sugar. It tastes of caramelized butter with a crunchy bite.
Sherbet
A frozen dessert of fruit juice or purée with a little milk, between sorbet and ice cream in richness. It is icy, bright, and usually citrus or berry flavored.
Frozen Yogurt
A frozen dessert of yogurt and milk, sold in hard-packed pints and soft-serve shops. It ranges from tart and yogurt-forward to sweet and mild.
Soft Serve
A frozen dairy dessert served directly from a machine that freezes and aerates the mix at once. It is lighter, airier, and warmer than hard ice cream, sold in cones and cups.
Mochi Ice Cream
Bite-sized balls of ice cream wrapped in sweet rice dough (mochi). Each piece is one or two bites: chewy outside, frozen inside.