Coffee houses

[Alison]

Starbucks, Costa ?

Which is your favourite ? Or do you go for the independents ?

Personally I loathe standing and waiting around for a hot drink,
especially if it comes at 'full price.'

Placing an order then being able to take a seat and await its arrival
seems a far preferable option to me. Full waitress service even better.

For all that the local Costa did have quite an exciting range of Christmas
hot drinks and snackettes this morning and I was almost convinced that the
lengthy wait was worth it !

Lots of other issues could arise here I suspect ...........

[Mandryka]

You've applied the opener to a sprawling can, Alison!

If we're talking chains, I'm definitely a Nero person: great ambience, excellent in house colour scheme, free wifi (a recent innnovation), the all-important reward card (it works!), mostly great staff and some splendid eatables for when one is in the mood. The coffee wins over the other chains hands-down, as it doesn't require x number of extra shots to give it a kick (as it always does in the wretched Costa, which I avoid visiting wherever possible).

Starbucks doesn't get much of a look-in, either. Undistinguished coffee, served in horrible mugs.

I always feel slightly deflated if the coffee is served in a glass rather than a cup with a saucer.

Americans tell me that Dunkin Donuts serves the best 'chain' coffee of all, but I don't think they have a presence in the UK any more.


Yes, queueing is very annoying and I would prefer to have my drink brought over to me but you can't have everything, can you?

[makropulos]

Definitely independent for me. My all-time favourite is a lovely one in the leafy southern suburbs of Sheffield called Cello.

Starbucks and Costa I honestly just find annoying and rather confusing.

But then again, if it's a choice between a wine bar and a coffee house, I'll probably go for the former.

[Pilchardman]

Definitely never Starbucks for me. They use far too much robusto beans in their blends. (Any at all is bad enough, but they're particularly heavy handed). Horrible coffee.

I favour independents. I drink espresso, so I have no need of the syrups or creams or frappe lattes on offer in the big chains. If stuck, Caffe Nero is certainly better than Starbucks.

[Lateralthinking1]

The coffee in these places - add Nero and the others - is overpriced and atrocious. However, in London at least, they have a very high percentage of staff who are absolutely charming. I have heard the life stories of many of them in my time - particularly the Spanish. At one time, whenever they saw me, they would go out of the way to recommend new offers. I hadn't the heart to tell them that it all tasted like dishwater - they put so much care into it and with pride. The food was often distinctly off too.

Why go there at all? I don't now but they were at lunchtime an oasis of civility. I could fall into them feeling psychologically bruised and have my faith in human nature partially restored. I particularly like the decor and the ambience of Starbucks. The modern art particularly. Some quietish jazz. I guess the branding. Still, the best coffee you can get is in the one-off Italian etc cafes. There is one in Sutton that provides a proper cup - not paper ones or mugs - that is very big and it tastes wonderful. It is still £1.

When it comes to food, Pret a Manger is streets ahead of anything else. Marks and Spencer standard if not better.

[makropulos]

You've applied the opener to a sprawling can, Alison!

Americans tell me that Dunkin Donuts serves the best 'chain' coffee of all, but I don't think they have a presence in the UK any more.

When I've been living in the US for any length of time, I've sometimes bought the ground coffee that Dunkin' Donuts sells to make at home. It's really very good, which is more than I can say for the 'Donuts', dunked, or otherwise.

[Mandryka]

The coffee in these places - add Nero and the others - is overpriced and atrocious. However, in London at least, they have a very high percentage of staff who are absolutely charming. I have heard the life stories of many of them in my time - particularly the Spanish. At one time, whenever they saw me, they would go out of the way to recommend new offers. I hadn't the heart to tell them that it all tasted like dishwater - they put so much care into it and with pride. The food was often distinctly off too.

Why go there at all? Well, I don't now but they were at lunchtime an oasis of civility. I could fall into them feeling psychologically bruised and have my faith in human nature partially restored. I particularly like the decor and the ambience of Starbucks. The modern art particularly. Some quietish jazz. I guess the branding. Still, the best coffee you can get is in the one-off Italian etc cafes. There is one in Sutton that provides a proper cup - not paper ones or mugs - that is very big and it tastes wonderful. It is still £1.

When it comes to food, Pret a Manger is streets ahead of anything else. Marks and Spencer standard if not better.

Forget to mention the Pret - yes, food there is excellent but I find their coffee distinctly ordinary.

[Nick Armstrong]

I'm definitely a Nero person....The coffee wins over the other chains hands-down, as it doesn't require x number of extra shots to give it a kick (as it always does in the wretched Costa, which I avoid visiting wherever possible).

Starbucks doesn't get much of a look-in, either. Undistinguished coffee

I'm only worried about the quality of the coffee and in that I concur with you Mandryka, Nero gets closest to acceptable. If anything, Starbucks' alleged coffee is even weaker than the average Costa. Pret coffee is less good than EAT - the EAT near my office 'knows what I like'

I am a bit of a coffee fascist, having a proper boiler & pump espresso machine at home and a separate Mazzer grinder. Preferred beans: a blend of Whittards, 50% 'Espresso' and 50% 'Santos & Java'

So the preference is always to return home whenever possible when coffee is required.

[Pilchardman]

Coffee in this country is generally overpriced. In a civilised country, a coffee (by which I mean espresso) would be about 70p.

[vinteuil]

Preferred beans: a blend of Whittards, 50% 'Espresso' and 50% 'Santos & Java'

... have you tried the range of beans available at thewonderful Algerian Coffee Shop in Old Compton Street?

[Chris Newman]

Nowadays, I use Salisbury Chocolate & Patisserie Bar in the High Street which was started by Robert, an ex-pupil of mine, where they grind the coffee for you and serve it in cafetieres. Robert also makes his own enormous range of chocolates and pastries. I drifted there for my morning pick-me-up from Costas which became unusable after a neighbouring fire. You are treated like royalty. Costa have reopened in another shop but the difference at Robert's Chocky is too good to miss out on. Soon there will be two Costas as a result. Cafe Nero and Starbucks are grimy. We have another local shop called Mocha but its music is very loud Spanish: I go there if Robert's is full.

[Mandryka]

Coffee in this country is generally overpriced. In a civilised country, a coffee (by which I mean espresso) would be about 70p.

Can't disagree with you there. Of course, what you pay for when you visit one of the chains mentioned above is a 'coffee experience' of which the drink itself forms but a small part - you're paying for the enviornment, the freebie newspapers, the piped music (is it to your taste or not?) and the service.

[Curalach]

Somewhat off topic, but at home I am a great fan of the Nespresso system. Perfect espresso every time with minimum fuss.

[Pilchardman]

Can't disagree with you there. Of course, what you pay for when you visit one of the chains mentioned above is a 'coffee experience' of which the drink itself forms but a small part - you're paying for the enviornment, the freebie newspapers, the piped music (is it to your taste or not?) and the service.

In that case I demand a coffee house in which I can argue about philosophy and politics, warm my feet by an open fire, and damn it, smoke opium if it pleases me!

Seriously, though, coffee shops here are making their money by selling various flavoured milks, overpriced food, and all sorts of other things at a premium. I think I'm a disappointment to them in that I generally only actually want coffee.

[Nick Armstrong]

... have you tried the range of beans available at thewonderful Algerian Coffee Shop in Old Compton Street?

No. Any suggestions?