to think serving instant coffee in a cafe is not on?

[KatyTheCleaningLady]

My Greggs is closed for remodeling all week, so I have to go elsewhere for my bacon roll and coffee.

I went into a nice looking independent cafe and ordered a bacon roll and a white coffee.

I then paid and popped over to the newsagents to pick something up while they prepared my order.

When I came back, she was making the coffee.

It was instant! She said unless someone orders a cappuccino or something like that, they serve instant coffee.

I had already paid and didn't see the point of making a fuss, so I just took it and left.

It's dreadful.

I know a lot of British people drink instant, but don't you think a cafe should have proper coffee?

Go ahead and give me a biscuit to dunk in it. I'm ready.

I made the mistake of asking for a decaff coffee from the kiosk at a small airport while waiting for a friend.

£2.20 for a cup of extremely stale Nescafe from a catering tin. Boak.

Never again!

jenaimorris 'Much espresso machine coffee is crap though. It doesn't matter that the beans are freshly ground if the grounds are then scorched because the machine is too hot.'

As jenaimorris says even with espresso machines and in chains the issue is with the barista and how well they do their bit. It seems rare for Costa to burn(overextract) their coffees but I can't say the same for Starbucks/Cafe Nero and various Indie Cafes.
The trouble is too many people having grown up on instant think coffee is supposed to be burnt and bitter. Real coffee can and should be strong but NEVER bitter....once you realise this buying a decent coffee out in UK becomes very difficult (after living overseas).

I have become a coffee snob as a result...there is no going back once you realise this. In a home espresso machine using high quality coffee extracting for no more than 20 seconds seems to be the key thing.

When I am Supreme Overlord Of The Universe, I shall ban all coffee. It's revolting

I hate cafetiere coffee precisely because it's weak and tastes of ground acorns

I don't mind instant coffee. I often drink it at home. However, were I to buy it in a cafe I wouldn't think it reasonable to pay more than about 50p for it. So assuming you were charged more than this then YANBU.

They often don't clean the machines well either, so you get skanky old grounds stuck to the bit the water gets pushed through, which taints the flavour.

I totally agree with UK, in that coffee is not meant to be bitter.

fragola
I live in Brid.

That doesn't suprise me! lol

Care to name and Shame the establishment?

I agree that instant is not the same; usually it is better.

Where I work I would rather drink the (shit) instant coffee dispensed in plastic cups from vending machine than the Costa Coffee in the canteen, which tastes much worse.

In the hotel on my last holiday both filter and instant coffee was available for afternoon tea. When I didn't have tea I had instant coffee, the filter was horrible.

At home we use a stovetop aluminium Espresso maker which can make nice coffee, but if it were left to me I wouldn't bother as it's to much trouble, for the advantage it gives over instant. It's not even always better.

All coffee tastes the same to me, but I hate coffee. Our local greasy spoon cafe which is used mostly by workmen charges £2.95 for a cup of tea and yet it's always really busy, people are paying three fucking pounds for a teabag.

I can't believe no-one given you one yet, OP, despite your request. Meanies.

£2.95 for a cup of tea? I've only ever willingly drunk tea once. When DH and met and he took me for tea at the Ritz and I didn't realise you could ask for coffee. Or alcohol.

As I said, I don't really like proper coffee, but I do think that's because the majority I've had is too bitter for my taste.

OTOH Illy coffee has always been nice

Stealth/Worra, I only used to like instant then since being pregnant with my 1st DS I now prefer proper coffee, have no idea why.

Having the choice in a cafe is good as some people don't want to pay over £2 for coffee TBH.

Goodness OP, another thing Britain is inferior to compared to the great and wonderful USA? It's a wonder you can manage to function at all in our poor little country.

MrsMelons

Interesting. I went right off coffee when pregnant. The smell and taste made me nauseous. I have a bad reaction to the caffeine in strong coffee since having DCs - palpitations, sweating, headache, sickness

my fave coffe is 'petit dejuner' capsule stuff for my tassimo machine, I have one every morning. I really don't enjoy instant coffee as I am yet to find one that tastes like coffe and I won't buy nescafe cos of the babymilk carry ons. might try the millicano stuff as people seem to be saying its ok. My second fave is taylors lazy sunday ground coffee done in the percolater when we want more than a cup each.

I did go off it in early pregnancy as it jsut tasted weird. The same happened to my mum.

I have a tassimo, I love most of the coffees you can get for it and the kids love the Milka chocolate.

Stuntgirl

Only the food service industry.

And the weather.

And the squirrels.

My husband prefers instant. I think it's just because that is what he is used to, which makes sense.

What the hell is wrong with our squirrels? Do the American ones have bushier tails?

Or do they juggle with their nuts?

When I first moved here, like within the first couple of days, I was subjected to a rant by someone who went on and on about how the American grey squirrels were taking over and crowding out all the red squirrels. It's true that this is happening: the American squirrels are larger and they're out-competing the indigenous British squirrels, which are now endangered in Britain.) The cranky gentleman who told me this was basically reacting to the fact that I was an American moved in to his neighborhood, so I was treated to a diatribe about "Yanks" and George Bush and then squirrels. He seemed to think that the squirrels had gotten into little boats and come over to invade Britain with the sole aim of eliminating their little red cousins.

It struck me as funny at the time and ever since then, whenever I want to joke about the supposed superiority of all things American, I mention the squirrels.

Was it the Caff of Shame from the Apprentice?

Lol at the squirrels!

I think though a bit of American one upmanship about coffee is fair game and pretty mild compared to some of the spiteful anti american bullshit on mumsnet about baby showers/Halloween/proms etc.

I would love to visit that place!

This was a nice looking place. Not a coffee house, but a cafe. It had nice decor, but not chic.

Apparently, instant is standard in such places, so I shouldn't have expected otherwise. From now on, I know better.