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?

Ernie1

JahLaza

Exactly! It’s good to support the local businesses but yeah, often nicer coffee at home!

JahLaza

Ernie1 I met a friend recently and he picked a cafe as the meeting point. I said fine, he said we’ll have a coffee, I said fine! I was telling him about my coffee escapades in the last couple years (ahem joining this forum and spending lots of money which he was aghast at!!) I explained I don’t drink coffee ‘out’ much anymore and he asked ‘are you not cutting your nose to spite your face’? Meaning I wouldn’t be able to enjoy coffee ‘out’ anymore, but hey, it’s good at home, there’s always beer or wine when ‘out’!!

Ernie1

JahLaza

Exactly why I haven’t got into homebrewing!

Dusk

JahLaza

I thought avoiding coffee whilst out the house was part of the man maths of buying an expensive espresso machine….

JHCCoffee

I used to enjoy a “cappuccino” made by the specialty coffee shop in the downtown Toronto office building where I worked daily (pre-Covid). This really was a latte, as they didn’t know how to make the thicker foam required for a true cappuccino, which would have precluded the latte art that they insisted on drawing on my supposed cappuccino. I didn’t want the pretty picture late art; just a decent cappuccino. But they wouldn’t listen.

While I could make a better cappuccino at home (using my then Bartaza Sette 270W, and by temp surfing and pressure profiling my modded Breville DuoPro), their “cappuccino” was way better than the fake cappuccino’s and espressos and americanos produced by our office coffee machine. Then Covid hit in March 2020 and work at home we all headed. Which allowed me ample time for an early morning cappuccino. I now WFH full time and enjoy a daily morning cappuccino (well actually 2) made on my NZ and Lelit E.

Since then I loathe to buy a cappuccino in a coffee shop, though I suppose if I look harder I will again find one that makes semi decent espresso (Covid put them and many downtown coffee shops out of business; I in any event live uptown).

I won’t buy an after dinner decaf coffee in a restaurant anymore, as even the best restaurants (even Italian or French) do not train their staff to make good espresso. When I do order a coffee, it always turns out to be watery tasteless swill with foam on top, which I end up returning with apologies. One resto proudly gave me another complimentary cup, which had somewhat thicker foam on top of brown water, which I pretended to drink.

I can only think of one exception, and that is George, which is IMHO the absolute best and also most expensive French restaurant in Toronto. They served an excellent cappuccino, but then that was before I was spoiled by the quality of espresso that I have recently been able to produce with my NZ and Lelit E.

My quest for a good cup of cafe or restaurant espresso thereby continues. I really really would love to find a Toronto based barista with a reputation for making stellar espresso, so that I can compare what I make (and how I make it) to theirs. So @lancehedrick , who do you know in Toronto who makes great espresso?

I used to enjoy coffee shop and restaurant coffee. Now, I only enjoy mine. I suppose it was worth it …. Sigh 😔

tompoland

Dusk my man math says that in that case I would have to avoid buying coffee out until the year 4,097.

JahLaza

Yes and how much coffee can one drink after the quota being exceeded most days at home due to the justification of this excessive expenditure 😂

CoyoteOldMan

JahLaza Yes and how much coffee can one drink after the quota being exceeded most days at home due to the justification of this excessive expenditure 😂

Oh, that’s easy:

https://www.medscape.co.uk/viewarticle/drinking-coffee-and-tea-may-cut-mortality-risk-2022a1002755?uac=317466MN&faf=1&sso=true&impID=4924311&src=wnl_ret_221129_mscpmrk-GB_daily

(just don’t read beyond the headline… the amount of coffee was indeed very low)

Amberale

It is “Man Myths” guys.

fawad411

My personal experience went amazing with dutch bros there staff is like angels and treated you so nice.

JHCCoffee

I generally ask for an extra shot, to get strength and flavour into a passable range.

When ordering a cappuccino I ask for a small cup, not much milk and thick foam.

With luck, I can get things into normal cappuccino ratios of ⅓ espresso, ⅓ milk and ⅓ thick foam. Generally that’s wishful thinking, as more often than not they think I need extra milk with my extra shot.

Then there is the issue of balance. Haha.

They always have signs about the great beans on offer and their origins. They should add: but then we destroy these great beans through terrible barista technique.

Has anyone tried adding salt? Unfortunately not available at most coffee shops. Never tried it, but I read about it somewhere.

dfk41

I can often second guess a coffee by looking at the staff, the cleanliness, their routine, and I am rarely wrong. Sometimes you get a well made coffee but to put it simply, the beans are crap

Twotone2

The best coffees I’ve had, outside of the fancy hipster cafes in Glasgow some of which were really good or really bad, was in Spain.

We stayed in a hotel in Competa twice and the breakfast cortados were excellent I remember going to a wee coffee van in Malaga, plastic cups young girl serving and coffee fantastic.

I find restaurant coffee to particularly terrible generally speaking.

Those fancy cafes in Glasgow do make some really great coffees though not that I go to them much now.

Decent coffee in France and Italy too obviously but much more traditional which I like especially cafe aux lait in France.

HarveyMushman

My only consistently good experiences are at roastery cafes or small places where the owner/founder is also the barista.

I would always get reliably good coffee and sometimes a bit of educational chat on the beans at places like Ozone, Dark Arts and AllPress. I’m guessing they want their staff to be able to demonstrate the beans they’re selling in the best light. Ozone also had a pretty extensive training course for their baristas and they always seemed passionate about their job. Some of them entering WBC and the like.

Beyond that, you’re probably getting minimum wage student-types serving your coffee so it’s a small miracle if it even resembles coffee.

There’s two places near to me which fully look the part on appearance - Strada, E80’s, pourover station etc, even shelves selling brewing gear. Then a revolving team of people who very clearly couldn’t care less about what they’re serving.

Twotone2

I remember years ago on the ferry from Dunkirk to calais, must been around 2010 as it was the same time as Spain vs Holland in the World Cup final, anyway I was watching the guy serving coffees in the bar he just banged some ground coffee into a portafilter stuck it in the machine cup underneath switched on a walked away until the cup was full of coffee and water it looked absolutely disgusting.

Around the same time we were on Majorca in a hotel in Palma and the hotel had this huge espresso machine with about six PFs it was a huge copper and brass thing and watching the guy behind the bar making coffees was amazing and they were perfect it was a joy watching him doing his thing and producing four or five coffees simultaneously, think the espresso machine might have been made by Expobar who made the Brewtus but obviously it was a commercial machine and looked amazing.

HarveyMushman

Bought a couple of coffees for the first time in ages today as we’re moving house and the coffee stuff is packed.

£3.80 for a flat white….

Gotta say it wasn’t the worst coffee I’ve ever had but nearly £4 each… we’d be spending £15 a day on coffees if we didn’t make them at home!

Platypus

HarveyMushman we’d be spending £15 a day on coffees if we didn’t make them at home!

This is the logic I use when I have my eye on new coffee bits , “it’ll pay for itself in no time” ! 😆

JammyDodger

Platypus you’re exactly right. One of my colleagues at work baulks at the price of my espresso machine (I know, he’s a heathen), but spends around £10 every day at Starbucks. That’s £50 a week. Or just over £2500 a year.

My gear has happily paid for itself. I have learnt a new skill I didn’t have before. I can make better coffee than I can buy in 9/10 coffee shops. I get to drink delicious coffee as soon as I get up without having to go out and queue at a cafe. I have a new hobby that I really enjoy and new internet friends to geek out with.

Even without the financial saving, I’m so glad I decided to buy an espresso machine.

JHCCoffee

I love the rationale, and will be sure to mention it to my wife while she rolls her eyes 🙄at the new Varia VS3 grinder that I just placed on the kitchen counter for seasoning and testing. It’s meant to be a grinder for auto travel / extended stay. So it should pay for itself, right? 😁 She will say that I could just use my hand grinder (1Zpresso JMax).

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