Coffee

What about at home?

One thing the coffee “revolution” has done for/to me is that I can’t drink instant anymore. It just tastes completely dead. So I was an early adopter to Nespresso and I buy the super high strength pods because I like to get a proper buzz off it.

Nespresso don’t need to know that I put CoffeMate and a sweetener in it 🤫

Of all the chains Nero I find most to my taste. For a hot chocolate in London I find those cabins they have in the Royal Parks fabulous. Best Hot Chocolate in my opinion esp the St James Park one and the Albert memorial one. If I was in Denmark it’d be Joe&theJuice. My danish friend tells me the concept is only employ hot guys - that brings the gays in, the gays bring the women in (safe space and all that) and the girls bring the straight guys in. When they opened in London I was mortified to see women serving. I never dared cross the threshold in London (faints).

Rocking this Nespresso beast in the Kitchen..
Dharkan, Origin Colombia are the faves for me. 




I find Costa burn the milk 9 times out of 10 when making anything milk based. and their take on a Flat White is basically a small Latte - too hot and too much milk.

I have a nespresso but only use it at weekends. For a while Amazon fresh's free gift of the week was boxes of L'or pods so Im using those and the Rave ones I got for christmas which are pretty mild in comparison but tasty.

Over the years I tried all the chains and never had a decent coffee in any of them. I've long since only gone to independent places. At home in Inverness the Milk Bar is streets ahead, partly as they also do superb in-house ice cream. It's where I've come to love mocha, one of theirs can substitute for lunch. Inverness Coffee Roasters is a close second. In London it's Scooter Caffè next to Waterloo Station. Gentlemen Baristas on Union Street are good too.

Ah! I had no idea they were even in the US at all. Thanks!

I'm still waiting for Nando's to hit New York, but at least I can go to DC or Chicago for that.

There is a Tim Hortons in Glasgow city centre which does excellent coffee, but I prefer the coffee from Gordon St Coffee, an independent shop within Central Train Station.

Out of the big/main brands, I would always go for either Café Nero or Pret, for either a hot chocolate or a cappuccino.

I need one in Spain!!! Gotta love Nando's!

For me, if getting hot choc on the outside it's no longer possible to get it from anywhere except Bar Termini in Soho, Cafe Verngano (Soho and South Bank) or Scooter Caffè (Waterloo). All others now taste like slightly brown lukewarm milk.

It's been mentioned elsewhere that the (free) Waitrose coffee is not the best and I tend, to agree but in my corner of Leafy Surrey all the closest emporia are those founded by Mr Waite and Mr Rose so I'm a bit of an expert at getting the most from their machines.
First of all I'm no fan of Latte (too weak) or cappuccino (excellent in Italy but usually all froth and no substance in most UK outlets.) If any frothing at all is going on it has to be a flat white and one of the best is at the NT espresso bar. I also like the fact that it's quite modest in size but really strong - I really don't want gallons of insipid brown water, or, even worse, milk.

Anyway, with all that in mind, back to Waitrose...

* on RH side press the x2 button for a double shot

* select 'black coffee'

* watch the double shot enter your (reusable) beaker followed by the hot water. This is the crucial bit - if you let the HW run its full course, even with a double shot it tends to be too weak for me so if you press the 'black coffee' button again it stops the HW. For me it's at ideal strength when half to two thirds full.

* add milk if required for an excellent Americano.

Sorry if this is obvious, but in my local, Sunningdale store, I seem to be the only one doing this.

I have long been puzzled by by the uncanny yet (so far as I know) officially unacknowledged similarity between the two supermarket chains, Booths and Waitrose.

Now I'm wondering if this extends even to the free-but-horrible coffee? Have registered for a Booths card in readiness for my next trip northwards and look forward to finding out - unless others here can enlighten me sooner, please?

So to continue, and further, this discussion... How many cups of coffee to people get through on an average day? I know some who like coffee but will just drink one cup when they need it, flagging mid afternoon. Others, like myself, wake up and immediately hit the coffee, drinking 3-5 cups (single shot) a day. On a double-show theatre day I'm usually drinking 4 double shot coffees.