To serve guests instant coffee

[Drinkingpimmsinmygarden]

DH and I aren't really coffee drinkers (prefer tea)so we just have a jar of instant coffee such as Nescafé. No real ground coffee.

Are we being unreasonable not to have 'proper' coffee in for guests?

Riiight....so I'm the 'rude cunt'

etiquette appears divided as to whether one should enquire about the authenticity of one's coffee. Or choke the repellent stuff down if presented with ersatz. Just don't bloody offer coffee, OP. It seems to be far too risky an enterprise.

OP's question has been satisfactorily answered. One needs: kettle, cafetiere, nespresso/tassimo, gaggia machine, stovetop thingummy, several brands of 'donkeys' piss' (including caff and decaff), 'real' coffee (including caff and decaff), whole milk, semi - skimmed, skimmed milk (better add some soya, rice and goats milk in too for good measure). Woss the problem?

It seems to be fine to carp at school dinners and act as if breakfast cereal (which my kids eat every day) were poison. Expect a decent cup of coffee, though, and the pitchforks are out.

As a guest I would (and have) definitely take what is offered, and would STFU. It doesn't stop me explaining on a thread like this what I prefer and why!

I wouldn't dream of saying anything so rude as "I don't take fake coffee" and I don't think anyone here has said as much.

Gosh, scotch, you're like the reincarnation of Emily Post, aren't you? How do your delighted guests ever bring themselves to leave?

What the fuck is real coffee??????

Only real coffee for me, otherwise tea please

hauntednoddycar

I'm quite happy to drink instant if offered although it's not what I make for myself.

I do hope all the instant refusniks have proper leaf tea and a teapot ready for people like me who don't particularly like teabags

If you popped in without warning I could offer you a choice of at least half a dozen loose leaf teas, China , Indian, black or green.

But are any of them decaf Phaedra?

I cannot STAND coffee, even the smell is enough to turn my stomach and have me holding my nose.
If we've got coffee in for guests, count yourself lucky.I wouldn't be farting about with guessing whether someone would be huffing over the fact we dared to serve instant stuff instead of ground whatnots.
Whatever happened to being gracious and accepting of what your hosts have in?
I love my Earl Grey tea. I wouldn't stamp my foot and inwardly huff if all I got offered was Typhoo! I'd just graciously accept and enjoy my tea!

motherinferior Well, if people are that arsed about it then they can take a flask round. Saves me the hassle of fannying about with the cafetiere

Honestly, is this sort of thing an issue? Or has the Health Visitor been judging me because I've been poisoning her with Euroshopper dirt in a jar?

I don't know anyone with a coffee machine either. I've never had any complaints about my instant coffee. If someone asked me before I made it, is it instant? and then said they'd prefer tea, I'd be fine with that. If they turned their nose up after I'd made it then I'd know not to invite them back. Unless they apologised profusely for not checking first. oh ok, I would invite them back. But their card would be marked.

For the record, I've been known to ring house-keeping while staying in a nice hotel for work, and ask them to take away the coffee machine and little glass cups from my room and bring me a kettle, a mug and more teabags .

Scotch

I have a mass selection
Any type of teapigs tea, twinings salted caramel or gingerbread green tea, Yorkshire tea
Coffee - millicano, or any tassimo or cinder toffee cafetiere
Oreo hot chocolate or peanut butter hot drink
I drink them all but guests seem to like picking (for that read rummaging in the cupboard to pick one, I don't have a list)

LRD if they don't like it, they can lump it. It's not like they can ONLY have Euroshopper coffee- they can have Lidl chocolate milkshake, water, or Complan. If that's not choice, what the frig is?

Phaedra :) we'd do just fine then.

We only have tea and coffee in for guests. We buy the smallest packs and jars avaliable so its less to dump in the bin when it reaches its best before dates. It's all foul, brown and wet, so same difference to me.

We have to ask guests to bring the cow juice though. Apparently our dairy free substitute doesnt work very well in foul, brown liquid.

We have a good range of fruit teas and cold drinks though!

We've got tons of tea, from green, to earl grey, to Yorkshire. Plus random fruit teas such as orange and cranberry.
If you're into coffee though then you get what you're given. Like it or lump it and all that.

Wow, people feel really strongly about coffee! OH and I only have instant in the house, because it's all my mum (our only regular coffee-drinking visitor) drinks. She has coffee so weak you honestly can't tell the difference between what she drinks and milk, so I'm guessing real coffee has never been a priority for her. Neither of us likes coffee and to be honest I wouldn't know how to make the "real" stuff. We don't have a coffee machine thingy (why would we when neither of us drinks it?), or a cafetiere. When we have guests other than my parents, I do offer coffee, but tell them in advance that it's instant.

I assume the difference between coffees is greater than the difference between, say, tea bags and loose leaf tea, or even different types of tea? I will happily drink most varieties of proper tea (not the herbal stuff) so tend to be fine with whatever I'm offered when out. I do think it is odd for people to take umbrage if only instant coffee is available. It seems to be an attitude you wouldn't find in relation to other food/drink offerings.

Signyourname there's nothing snobbish about preferring loose tea over tea bags. There are some tea bags which are very good (Tea Pigs for example which are basically loose tea in a muslin bag) but that is not the case with bog standard Twinings or similar.

The loose tea from a proper tea merchant bears little resemblance to the contents of most tea bags.

I assume the difference between coffees is greater than the difference between, say, tea bags and loose leaf tea

Not for me. I don't drink instant coffee at home but the difference between a reasonable instant and ground isn't huge.

The difference in tea bag tea and top of the range loose tea for me is, say imagine you're a cider drinker - it's the difference between Diamond White/Mangers and proper Normandy cider; or if you're a whisky drinker the difference between a cheap supermarket own blend and a 25 year old Highland Park.

YANBU.

I only drink fresh coffee and don't like tea or instant coffee. But that doesn't mean I think you should keep some in at all times on the off chance that I might come round.

But if I do, please offer 'tea or instant coffee' and I will very happily have a glass of cold water. Don't offer coffee and then watch it go to waste as I let 99% of the cup go cold.

And if you know I am coming and you know I don't drink instant it would be very very much appreciated if you had got some ground coffee in.

I get tea, even herbal tea, in if I know an expected guest drinks it.

Phaedra - I couldn't disagree more - about the difference between 'good' instant and ground.

Of course there is plenty of not nice ground coffee - but instant , all instant, feels different on your tongue. Totally different drink.

Instant coffee gives me the shits. As does tea. I don't always feel like explaining this to people so I guess you will have to write me off as a snob. Or rude.

CharmQuark I'm sure you're right in your case. I have a marginal preference for ground but I don't feel particularly strongly about drinking instant if that's what is on offer. Although I suspect a fresh , good instant may well be more pleasant than a ground coffee that's been on a hotplate for hours.

I don't like Nespresso machines and their ilk. They all have a creaminess to them created by the process which tastes artificial.