Coffee Quality and average price UK

[pricespringer]

Next year intend to travel to UK. Interested if anybody who has recently travelled there as to generally what is the quality of coffee there and what is the average price in GBP.


Thanks,

Gussy

[oneday]

Re: Coffee Quality and average price UK

well, in general the chains rule the high streets; think starbucks, nero, costa. shoddy coffee, drowned in milk, sugar and syrups.

london has a few great coffee houses, but lacks the cafe vibrance that a city such as melbourne has. times are changing though. interestingly, the chains have started to implement 11oz flat whites!


the cost can also be substantial; between £2-3 per cup, last time . to the uk worker, that is significant portion of the wage (around £6p/hour is minimum, and therefore the wage for hospo workers!)

take advantage of the strong aussie dollar is my advice!

[Toad]

Re: Coffee Quality and average price UK

We go to the UK for 2 months each year visiting family & friends.

Ended up buying a cheap espresso machine & grinder (by cheap I mean 50 pounds all up - new!), and getting roasted beans from HasBean (good).

Despite the poor quality machine & grinder, I am able to produce far better coffee than that served in any of the cafes we tried.

The sad thing is the Poms think they have a great coffee culture now, and theyre prepared to pay silly prices for it.

Caveat - Im sure there are good places around, but they are the exception to the rule & we only found one passable place (in a small Welsh village!).

The biggest rip off is asking for an extra shot (which is compulsory to get a decent strength pour) - add 50p to the cost!!!

If you also drink tea, do what I have learned to do when in a cafe - order tea. Cheaper & no disappointment. At least they  get tea right (mostly).

[luca]

Re: Coffee Quality and average price UK

The high end UK coffee scene seems to have been growing, thanks largely to the efforts of Square Mile Coffee Roastery (google it). Square Mile is the roastery run by Annette Moldvaer, who won the 2007 world cup tasting championship and has roasted coffee for the past three world barista champions, and James Hoffmann, who won the 2007 WBC. They are a very talented team, so much so that I know that there are a few Aussies, including me, who have signed up to their monthly coffee subscription! Their blog has a link to a number of places where you can drink their coffee.

Cheers,
Luca