Yet another coffee place has just opened near us and we just went to try it out. As usual, plenty of time and money have been spent on the interior and equipment. Huge Vitamix mixers for iced drinks, couple of Ceado’s, I didn’t reocgnise the machine but it was three group and looked Strada-esque. £3.10 for a flat white. Tasted like it took about 4 seconds to extract and the milk may as well have come out of a whipping syphon. This has happened in almost every coffee shop in town but have I said anything? In classic British fashion, no. I can obviously get good coffee at home but it would be nice to get a decent take-out occasionally if I’m out and about. Has anyone else said anything when receiving a terrible coffee?

@"Ernie1"#p11759 - I never say anything, but then again, I tend to watch he customer before me and order a tea if I find it won’t be up to my expectations. Most likely the poor barista never saw a coffee machine ever before, and received very little training. Like most places these days in the catering and hospitality industries, prices are going up whilst quality in general is going down as businesses try to make ends meet. Sadly a double-edged sword as customers might then look elsewhere. A phenomena certainly happening to me. Places I usually went to for a meal now are in my no-return list.

@"Ernie1"#p11759 Twice, once in Starbucks, they have me another, as bad as the first. At Disney Florida in a world of coffee event. The barista pulled me a shot that came out and about 6 seconds pushed it towards me me.and I just shook my head. She then adjusted the grinder and pulled the shot in 26 seconds, which I accepted. It was clear she knew exactly what she was doing, but couldn't care less if the customer didn't complain. I guess if the truth be told, most coffee shops of their to make money on the food and other beverages.

There's a new cafe opened up near me so me and nurse went for lunch. I asked for an Americano and the girl just froze. She looked at the menu then asked me if it was just a black coffee. She wrestled the portafilter out of the Eurobar machine and pressed it into the grinder. Just then another member of staff came through and the girl serving me asked her "what do I do next 'cos coffee is all piled up in the handle and I don't know what to do with it." The other girl said, "have you squished it yet? You need to squish it with the thing sticking out of the machine!" I knew that I was in for a terrible cup of coffee, and it was! I didn't complain, she was a young girl doing her best. Things have got a lot better now as we regularly visit and have got to know the owners. They are starting a new business in difficult times, money is tight, good staff hard to find, trying to train on the job. I have made the point of telling them that the coffee is getting better, a little bit of encouragement goes a long way!

@"DavecUK"#p11772 - Disneyland… Florida… Starbucks…. Coffee… what could possibly go wrong…. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Well this is interesting. In West Sonoma County California we actually have some places where they know what they are doing and care. Nonetheless, my wife is used to what I make now, so most places she rejects. But we have a few where they do it right. Some even use naked portafilters!

@"dndrich"#p11779 Naked portafilters?! As if I needed another reason to want to move to CA! Really interesting to hear others experiences. There’s a really great place in the Southwest run by two guys who really care- Beacon in Falmouth. They rotate the beans regularly, often from small/new roasters and you can tell they make sure every single shot that passes the counter is as good as possible. However, the one guy said it was a labour of love and often a thankless job which just about broke even. I think as above, unless you’re running a big specialist coffee shop with massive foot traffic then it’s usually profits/efficiency before quality.

I usually just spit it in their faces and toss the furniture around on my way out.

> @"Ernie1"#p11759 Has anyone else said anything when receiving a terrible coffee? If I ever buy coffee outside (an extremely rare thing), I will assume it is going to be terrible. On my way out I will say to myself that I had it coming and I should have known better.

@"Doram"#p11791 Lol. Returning home to give your back a darn good thrashing with a birch in the garden

I’m fortunate to work near some very good ones, but one that is sadly no more occasionally got it wrong and if my first taste was 2 mins down the road I would walk back and let them know and I’d get another one that was generally then very good. But only as I knew what their coffee should be like. I’d not do that too a new place as likely that was all they could manage.

Do you ever say anything when you get served terrible coffee?

John_Yossarian

Doram The funny thing is that my wife accuses me (totally unfoundedly 🙂) for buying coffee when we go out just to state how bad coffee they make.
I patiently explain to her every time that I am simply hoping to find a good coffee shop out there just in case but fail to do so 😂.
Not surprisingly she does not buy any bit of this.

nopapercup

I do if I’m in a specialty coffee shop and my espresso is clearly out. I’ve said something a fair few times but the most memorable first was in Swansea at one of the best and most consistent coffee shops I’ve been to anywhere in the World. One of the first times I went my shot was Un drinkable, I told the barista that I thought it was out, she apologised and said she would make me another, the owner then brought it to me and thanked me as he hadn’t picked up on it.

Last summer here in France a relatively new coffee shop that roasts its own coffee with all the bells and whistles I had a shot which was totally out. I told the barista that she needs to maybe dial in the coffee again. She responded by telling me I clearly didn’t know what I was talking about because their head barista checks the coffee first thing every morning….. No offer to make me another but then again this is France. Safe to say I haven’t been back where as the one in Swansea, I go to regularly when I’m there.

Ernie1

That second response is what I’m worried about and why I don’t say anything!

Glad it was well received in Swansea though!

nopapercup

Ernie1 I always try and be polite about it. I wouldn’t do it in most coffee shops as I know more than likely it won’t be very good but if they’re selling themselves as a specialty coffee shop with the LM, Mythos and Red Brick in the hopper than they should be told if coffee they’re producing is massively out.

John_Yossarian

nopapercup Ernie1 Speaking of politeness.
When I was in Malaysia we loved travelling through the country and as coffee culture in Malaysia was quite well developed, with lots of small coffee shops, especially in KL it was pleasure to have a cup at almost every corner, usually very good one. Everyone had their Nuova Simonelli Aurelia 2 gr combined with Mythos (I saw it there for the first tiem and was very impressed).
Once we were coming back from a few days on the East coast and after several hours driving I needed a shot. We stopped at a service station and I found the coffee shop. I did ask for a double espresso, which usually is pretty well made. Surprisingly this time I was served a 10 second shot with no crema, neither did it have any taste. We were the only customers at the time so I approached the barista, an young lady, and asked very politely her whether she could grind a bit finer and pull another shot. It was towards the end of the day and her colleagues were around her in a circle, all ears after I voiced my request. I had also noticed that during the shot the pump pressure on the machine never went above 5 bars and the machine was a quality Italian macchina. She told me that the reason the coffee was not good was that they had run out of Espresso beans and only had Arabica beans. Obviously this challenged everything I believed I knew about coffee back then and I calmly tried to explain that if only she would be so polite to grind finer and pull another shot “even” the Arabica would produce good result. How naïve was I. She repeated the mantra, No espresso beans, only Arabica beans. I have tried again, only to hear it one more time. During all this “exchange” of coffee wisdom, my wife and our youngest son were laughing behind me to tears. People started entering the coffee shop thinking that something funny was going on.
I spent another five minutes trying my best before I gave up, poured out the miserable attempt of a shot and since then the joke at home is “no espresso beans, only arabica beans”. Sometimes I use it when visiting coffee shops that do not meet my expectations.

CafeNoir

Ernie1 Trying to avoid typing but lol, well, was it in Paris??…..

LMSC

No. We can’t blame the folks working at the coffee counter. If we complain, we may get another cup, which won’t be different anyway in chains. We always have a worry on the back of our mind that the cost of coffee might get deducted from their daily wages if we complain.

Similarly, we don’t complain if a delivery is late, where some offer a refund, which we know comes from the hard working daily wage earners. Similarly, we always tipped the restaurant in cash, until Covid changed this.

The chains are commercially designed for the mass, who anyway loves the coffee from them. We all did until we understood — hopefully — what it takes to make a good cuppa.

John_Yossarian

LMSC totally agree with you. Whenever I tip in a restaurant I always ask whether they would see the money later. Sometimes they are explicit and request cash.
As everything, no complaining has two edges. The one you mentioned is always there. However, just imagine you are the owner and you strive to produce/provide the best coffee/service to your customers. But it just happens that someone down the line (e.g. a lazy or/and incompetent barista) doesn’t care what you as an owner are after. Not complaining would eat up the future of this business as customers would be repelled by the service they get. Complaining might be one way of flagging the issue out.
Not an easy thing to surmise though.

simonc

LMSC I disagree… In a small independent that doesn’t care about the coffee, in the management, choice of beans or training of staff, I agree there is no point. Its like complaining that McDonalds doesn’t produce a high end burger for you.

However in proper speciality shops, it might just be that the barista had an off moment, and misjudged the shot, or was so busy they hadn’t realised they needed to adjust the grind for instance. In those cases pointing out the poor shot can (hopefully) get you a good one made without any complaint.

Of course if its your first time in a shop, its hard to tell whether what you got was as good as they can do, or as good as they want to do (or are bothered to do).

LMSC

John_Yossarian Sure. As you said, it is not easy to draw a line.

What you describe is likely to be correct for a small or a niche coffee shop. I am not entirely sure about the chains.

John_Yossarian

LMSC I never had in mind the chains, they are corporate by default.

John_Yossarian

In fact I wondered whether you ever complimented a barista for pulling an excellent shot.

I have done it on a few occasions, once I had to have another two extra shots on the house as some “new beans had just arrived” 😄:).

Ernie1

John_Yossarian

Very much so. It’s always such a joy to see someone care about the experience for a customer that I’ll be quite vocal in thanking them.

As in a restaurant where the service/food is good I’ll make sure to complement the staff and tip where I can.

It’s especially nice when it’s not the business owner/partner/founder who’s excelling.

LMSC

Always, where it is due. 😊

simonc

Ernie1 Agreed.. I have walked back to a shop before on many occasions to say what a great coffee it was (as often with take away the first mouthful can be well outside the shop)

LMSC

It’s an individual’s choice. Neither we as a family point out nor complain; we will never know if the extra cup is really free or was provided at the cost of someone’s.

At the same time, we never fail to appreciate if some one has made a good drink or if the food was good. The service charge is paid in cash, if possible.

A speciality coffee shop, in our experience, has always asked us. We always find the coffee is relatively better in smaller shops than chain shops. The taste is relative and so are the thoughts and reasons behind the intent. 😊

Systemic

Drawn into a place boasting ‘best coffee in Chester’. It was dire so pointed this out to the manager and got a refund. Beans were commodity level and roasted to dust. Manager put the icing on the cake adding she never drank coffee so didn’t know what it should taste like. Funnily enough, place closed down.

Systemic

Visited a trendy 3rd wave joint co-owned by a high profile name in UK coffee. Placed boasted a Black Eagle and Clima Pros offering two SOs as espresso. Coffee was awful - pointed it out and was told is was the roaster’s fault!!!??? Later contacted the ‘name’ privately. He apologised saying he had withdrawn from the partnership but was powerless to stop his name being used.

Hotmetal

I’m one of those who probably overdoes the compliments when it’s good, but too reserved to moan if it’s pants. I also worry that it’ll get deducted from some poor sod on minimum wage. Unless their demeanour suggests they don’t give a rats ass (but then what’s the point of saying anything?)

It is a hard line to draw for someone with integrity and compassion. I rarely complain, but I just don’t go back if service and flavour is bad. But in truth that’s almost worse - no feedback, just instant withdrawal of custom. For that reason I usually give a place a couple of ‘strikes’ before they’re out.

Let’s face it, most of us can make espresso better than the majority of shops, unless you’re talking those boutique places who show us how the real pros operate. I’m gutted that the tiny little Amoret in Hammersmith closed down. They had one chair! But boy they made good coffee!

Systemic

Hotmetal They had one chair! But boy they made good coffee!

Not quite that small but Mount Zion in St Ives is the same. One man operation and he crafts each shot as if it’s his last.

Hotmetal Let’s face it, most of us can make espresso better than the majority of shops

With you there.

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