M: I've got a recipe that calls for both unsweetened coconut water and coconut milk. Not sure what either of them would look like in a package or can or whatever at a Publix in Richmond, Virginia. I give the location because sometimes you'll come up with regional stuff that I have no chance of finding. So if I could get you to find a few pictures of what I'm most likely to locate for each, and an advisory for what aisle that would likely be in, I would greatly appreciate your helping me solve this mystery.
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Yep. And there is one important trap here: “coconut milk” can mean either the canned cooking ingredient or the carton of coconut-milk beverage sold as a dairy substitute. If your recipe separately calls for coconut water and coconut milk, it almost certainly means canned coconut milk, unless the recipe explicitly says “coconut milk beverage.”
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The most recognizable thing to hunt for at Publix is Vita Coco. Publix's own catalog currently lists the regular Vita Coco Pure in the familiar tall blue-and-white carton. citeturn0image0
Where I'd look: beverage aisle, around bottled water, sports/electrolyte drinks, specialty waters, or juices. It may also turn up refrigerated, depending on brand.
For “unsweetened,” don't be thrown by the nutrition label showing sugar. Coconut water naturally contains sugar. What you're trying to avoid is added sugar, syrup, or flavored coconut water. Plain/100% coconut water is what the recipe wants.
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This is probably the easiest target: Thai Kitchen Unsweetened Coconut Milk, roughly a 14-oz can. Publix currently lists both regular and organic versions. citeturn0search2turn0search4
Where I'd look: the international/Asian foods section, probably around curry paste, Thai sauces, rice noodles, etc. It may instead be shelved with canned goods or specialty cooking ingredients.
And this is the distinction that will save you from grabbing the wrong thing:
YES: 13–14 oz can, ingredients approximately
coconut + water + maybe guar gum. Thai Kitchen's version is
coconut, water and guar gum. citeturn0search8
Probably NO: a 32- or 64-oz refrigerated carton sitting
beside almond milk and oat milk. Publix sells those too, including So
Delicious and Silk, but those are formulated as drinking-milk
substitutes. citeturn0search0turn0search6
So your mental shopping list is essentially: “carton of clear-ish coconut water + little can of thick coconut milk.” They probably won't be anywhere near each other in the store.
If you tell me which Richmond-area Publix you actually use, I can check that specific store and try to narrow this down to the products it currently carries and the actual aisle numbers, if Publix exposes them.
M: Got it. Thank you. Another picture look up I would like more for my. Dealing with traffic, trying to get through those. Can you find an picture of what would be meant in a recipe when someone calls for instant espresso? I know cocoa, and, but.
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G: Yes — you are looking for instant espresso powder, which looks like a little jar of very dark instant-coffee crystals/powder. Not a bag or can of finely ground espresso beans.
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The Medaglia d'Oro jar in particular is the sort of thing I'd keep your eyes open for in an ordinary supermarket. It literally says “Espresso Instant Coffee” on the front. King Arthur's version says “Espresso Powder” and is specifically marketed for recipes and baking. citeturn0search0turn0search2
The critical distinction while you're scanning shelves is:
INSTANT espresso = yes.
GROUND espresso = no.
For example, don't accidentally grab Café Bustelo Espresso Ground Coffee just because “espresso” is written prominently on it—that's actual ground coffee intended for brewing. The instant product dissolves into the recipe. citeturn0search1
At a Publix, I'd check the coffee aisle first, among the instant coffees, and then the baking aisle around cocoa/chocolate and specialty baking ingredients if it isn't there. Given that you're apparently already hunting cocoa for this recipe, checking immediately around that area is worthwhile.
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M: Thank you. New question. Again, looking for an image. I'm doing a Bloody Mary thing that involves freezing and two different kinds of vegetables. Tomato sauce should be able to handle no matter what. But it's also saying...
G: Sure — go ahead. What’s the other ingredient it’s calling for?
M: Sorry, evidently, it missed, well, actually a lot because it's calling for tomato juice, which is not tomato sauce, but still easy to find. But it's also calling for a tomato cocktail. So please tell me what that is, what it looks like, and maybe a picture, please, of a common brand.
G: Ah, yes. “Tomato cocktail” is a real grocery-store product, and annoyingly, it sounds much more exotic than it is.
For a Bloody Mary recipe, they almost certainly mean tomato-juice cocktail: tomato juice that's already seasoned/flavored rather than plain tomato juice. The classic product you're likely to recognize is V8 Original Vegetable Juice, although there are products explicitly labeled “tomato cocktail.”
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The especially useful one to recognize is Clamato: big bottle, usually red liquid, with CLAMATO prominently on the label and the words “Tomato Cocktail.” One warning, though: Clamato isn't merely seasoned tomato juice—it contains clam broth, hence clam + tomato = Clamato. So if the recipe specifically says “tomato cocktail” rather than naming Clamato, I wouldn't automatically assume that's what it wants.
If you're standing in Publix, I'd look in the juice aisle, around V8 and bottled tomato juice. You'll probably see the three concepts near one another:
If you give me the exact wording of those two ingredients and their quantities from the Bloody Mary recipe, I can probably tell you which distinction the recipe writer actually intended.