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Original poster

Are there any coffee experts out there?

32 replies

seemenow · 17/03/2022 20:28

I had a coffee in a Neros today, and it was awful. I think it tasted burnt?
The issue is that coffee in almost every coffee shop I’ve tried in the UK has this taste? I’ve lived in Italy, and the worst bar, in the tiniest village doesn’t make coffee this bad. Why are these massive corporations, with training programmes, not able to produce a good cup of coffee? Just to mention, I drink lattes or cappucinos, so maybe it’s the milk? Put me out of my misery please, am I deluded, or is there something wrong with their coffee?

OP posts:
ColettesEarrings · 17/03/2022 20:43

It's not you. Starbucks are the worst for over roasting their beans. Nero in our town are awful not so much for the coffee but the service, they're bloody awful! Costa are the best chain locally but we're lucky to have a number of very good independents, and a roaster in the next village over

saltedcaramelanything · 17/03/2022 20:47

Starbucks - and I imagine all the big coffee chains - purposely burn their beans in roasting in order to make the taste consistent across all their shops. Consistently shit coffee. But consistent.

If I have to drink chain coffee, I have to get syrup in it to mask the terrible coffee. Or at least use coconut milk, which I think has more of a taste.

Ttelracs · 17/03/2022 20:54

Oh, I hear you...

I had a flat white at Costa's the other day and I was really shocked as it actually tasted really decent (it was quite early in the day). (Though to be fair, of the chains, they're the best in my experience.)

Independents are generally better, and I have lived in towns where they had coffee stalls in the market that ground the coffee there and then for you. There's no comparison.

We have a pod machine at home but very rarely use it due to the environmental impact. If we're going to go with ground coffee, we opt for our cheap little cafetiere mainly though every now and then the other half insists on getting the ancient Bialetti pot out and making REAL espresso...I'm not a huge fan of espresso but having tasted the real thing does spoil the chain experience quite a bit!

(And yes, we drink instant if we're really in a hurry...)

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General food
CheeseMaiden · 17/03/2022 20:54

It could be very dark roasted beans but it might also be down to the water type, we have very hard water in some parts of the UK which can completely change the taste of coffee.

Leggingslife · 17/03/2022 20:55

Check it's a single shot. Some do double shot as standard and it's just too much. Costa is better.

Original poster
seemenow · 17/03/2022 21:08

Oh I’m so glad to hear some of you agree. I am no expert, or connisseur, but seeing the success of the big chains, and absolutely detesting their coffee, makde me feel like I was completely deluded.

OP posts:
Original poster
seemenow · 17/03/2022 21:12

Leggingslife - I don’t understand how doubling the quantity could affect the taste? A double espresso should taste exactly the same as a single espresso?

OP posts:
Pyri · 17/03/2022 21:18

I cannot agree with you more on this. It is so sad to see the queues of people at Costa, Starbucks and Nero for what is utterly shit coffee and this horrible dated decor that looks like it hasn’t been touched since 1997. I always feel really thirsty after drinking one of those coffees?! And it’s always served with scolding hot milk and burnt beans. Really gross coffee. I suspect the people that like it are people that order the ghastly Toblerone hot chocolate coffee drinks that Costa brings out over Christmas which are basically hot milk shakes.

The little indies near me are so much better. Grind in central London is lovely.

Original poster
seemenow · 17/03/2022 21:29

@cheesemaiden Actually you might be on the right track there. I live in an area with very hard water. But, wouldn’t a company that boasts of having great coffee try to rectify that if that was an issue? I used to be a coffe drinker, before I came to this country, but have all but given up. I have my Bialetti,, but it’s just not as good as a bar coffee.

OP posts:
tearinghairout · 17/03/2022 21:36

I go to Cafe Nero and can't say I'd noticed it being bad but had a Starbucks recently on the motorway and it was awful to the point of being undrinkable. I had to leave it. Complained, and was given an email address for head office. I have oatmilk at home and use a cafetiere, second small cafetiere with oatmilk in the microwave and use the plunger to froth it up. Delish!

Original poster
seemenow · 17/03/2022 21:38

Bar Italia might be the only place I had a good coffee in the uk, apart from this wonderful independent coffee shop on the North End road, Fulham, that, sadly went bust whilst we lived there in the 90’s. We were poor students at the time, but we seriously considered trying to buy their coffee machine off them.

OP posts:
lanbro · 17/03/2022 21:43

I own a coffee shop and we buy our beans from a local independent, we get loads of compliments on our coffee and many, many regular customers.

When the machine was installed I spent a long time setting the grinder and the pour to make sure it was right, the resulting crema is beautiful and I personally now can't drink a Costa/Starbucks/Nero as they're awful.

I also find they don't make them very hot. I took a takeaway from my own shop on a long drive, was still drinkable after an hour! Bought a Costa on the motorway, horrible and cold within 10 minutes.

I always try to use independent cafes. We care about repeat customers and our reputation and can't rely on our big name and high volume of traffic

Fluffycloudland77 · 17/03/2022 21:44

I think this too, it’s shit coffee in these big chains. Too hot and burnt beans.

chelle0 · 17/03/2022 21:59

Costa coffee is horrific. It always tastes disgusting. Give me Starbucks any day!

ufucoffee · 17/03/2022 22:02

I had a Costa for the first time recently and it was horrible. I hate coffee from all the big coffee sellers Nero, Starbucks etc. but I do love the coffee in ....... McDonald's. It's lovely. We have coffee at work provided by a local firm and that's really nice too.

Deadivy · 17/03/2022 22:04

I live in Italy and the one thing I notice when I visit the UK is the temperature of the coffee is much higher. I had cafe lattes and cappuccinos there which take ages to drink as they are so hot, where as a cappuccino in Italy can be drank in one as it's tepid, and only comes in one size ;-)

Laurie01 · 17/03/2022 22:07

Ianbro, I would love to visit your cafe!

thecapitalsunited · 17/03/2022 22:31

I hate the overroasted beans they serve in chains and like a previous poster I have to get syrups in my coffee if I buy from them. I understand why they do it - you expect the same taste in every branch of a chain and the only way to do that with an inconsistent product like coffee beans is to overroast them like crazy.

I ended up buying a Sage Barista espresso machine and a subscription to a bean I like plus a small bag of beans of the month picked by the roastery which I refer to as my wanker coffee. Also have a bialetti, a cafetière and an aeropress. The sage machine and the aeropress are the most used in this house.

TooManyPJs · 17/03/2022 23:08

The blonde roast in Starbucks doesn't taste burnt.

BrioLover · 18/03/2022 11:57

We used to own an independent coffee shop and were taught the following by Extract coffee roasters who we partnered with for machine maintenance and beans

  • using too hot water burns the grinds so you get that bitter taste
  • not cleaning the machine properly or regularly gives a bitter taste
  • not using a water filter in hard water areas gives a... you guessed it... bitter taste!
  • over stamping the coffee grinds also affects the way the coffee is extracted by the water

So basically we discovered that loads of chain places just don't train their staff properly or maintain their machines, and that's even before you realise that the over roasted beans, that also create a bitter flavour, are cheaper because they're less in demand worldwide. Yuck. We now have a proper machine at home and just stick with independent shops.

pucelleauxblanchesmains · 18/03/2022 12:05

I quite like Nero coffee and think it's the best out of all the big chain coffee shops. Costa is OK and Starbucks is grin. We had some good independent places locally for coffee but they shut down as COVID left them financially unviable which means I have to pick my poison out of the big chains, so to speak.

NalPolishRemover · 18/03/2022 12:08

We have a Sage Bambino Plus machine & we sometimes buy Starbucks beans & it makes really delicious coffee. In fact I'm having one right now. It took a while to get all the settings just right but once we did Its just a case of pressing a button now.

We wouldn't be without the Sage now & if it broke we'd 100% replace it.

I would actively avoid the cafe with the boiling hot coffee - it's one of my pet peeves. I can't stand scalding coffee. It ruins the taste

I also agree that the best coffee by far is to be found in Italy

YetAnotherSpartacus · 18/03/2022 12:11

I also find they don't make them very hot. I took a takeaway from my own shop on a long drive, was still drinkable after an hour! Bought a Costa on the motorway, horrible and cold within 10 minutes

Coffee is not meant to be scalding hot. The coffee will taste burned and the milk scalded. They are supposed to cool down after ten minutes.

NalPolishRemover · 18/03/2022 12:11

I can't stand Costa coffee & would rather have none than that.
Nero is nice but we don't have one where we live.

ShirleyPhallus · 18/03/2022 12:22

@lanbro

I own a coffee shop and we buy our beans from a local independent, we get loads of compliments on our coffee and many, many regular customers.

When the machine was installed I spent a long time setting the grinder and the pour to make sure it was right, the resulting crema is beautiful and I personally now can't drink a Costa/Starbucks/Nero as they're awful.

I also find they don't make them very hot. I took a takeaway from my own shop on a long drive, was still drinkable after an hour! Bought a Costa on the motorway, horrible and cold within 10 minutes.

I always try to use independent cafes. We care about repeat customers and our reputation and can't rely on our big name and high volume of traffic

Coffee that’s still hot to drink an hour later would ring alarm bells for me, it means it’s been scalded and wouldn’t taste good. A decent coffee should be able to be drunk right away!