To think fussy people ordering coffee should always be in a separate queue

[HarveysPJs]

Drives me mad. I just want to buy a sandwich, and in front of me is someone ordering 4 coffees with very exacting requirements.

@Halliehallie9828 Great! I’ll order 4 of them!

[quote HarveysPJs]@Halliehallie9828 Great! I’ll order 4 of them![/quote]
Crack on.

If you’re in a National Trust cafe on a Saturday morning, are you in so much of a hurry that you can’t wait a few extra minutes?

Train tickets used to be another one I thought this about - one queue for people who are just getting “a return to Brighton” (say) and another for discussing a million different possible tickets and routes. They got over this by having machines everywhere though - and letting people tap in with a debit / credit card for certain journeys - so maybe this is your answer? A bit sad though as it would cut jobs

Before the advent of ticket machines, the station where I grew up had separate counters for 'today's tickets only' which was good as it meant the people buying rail cards or working out the cheapest route from Exeter to Dundee and arranging luggage in advance (a thing in those days) were in the slow queue, while the people who only had 5 mins before their train left were in the fast queue.

I feel your pain. I now refuse to go to a coffee shop with my son as he's "discovered " coffee and is, of course, an expert in that irritating way only teenagers can be. By the time he's studied the list of coffees, questioned the barista about origins, strength and grind of beans. Then questioned how they are going to make it, dithered over whether to have semi, full or skimmed milk or oat milk, dithered more over whether he wants a syrup, toppings etc....we've finished our drinks and are back home and he's banned from the coffee shop 🤣🤣

Queues moved a lot quicker when the options were tea, black coffee or white coffee.

@emmetgirl

When I hear someone order a "one shot decaf oat latte" I want to suggest they just get a glass of water.

Oh yes everyone who’s allergic to caffeine and lactose should drink water how so very understanding of you

@12309845653ghydrvj

I think it depends—like a skinny latte is quick and easy. But I used to work in a coffee shop and wanted to kill anyone who asked for “extra hot”, “no foam”, “3/4 shot”, or who tried to have a 5 min chat about the different options for non-dairy milk.

Why? I always ask for my coffees extra hot as I hate luke warm drinks.

Am i making some awful faux pas? 😮

It can go both ways, though.

DH: can I have a black Americano please?

Barista: would you like milk with that? (Lists milks while DH is saying 'no, thank you. No milk. Just black' with increasing urgency).

@MuserOwl

My Dad in starbucks ten years ago

"I want a cup of coffee and no questions "

I don't particularly like Subway, but I'm minded to go in there and ask for 'a ham salad on white with no questions'.

Something tells me they'd rather let me go hungry than fulfil that request.

Funny how tea doesn’t cause all these issues and manages to quickly cater for all dietary needs when ordered... @RizzleDrizzle

I can’t stand the stupid names for the different coffees and the ‘fancy’ —wanky— names of the sizes. Nothing like dressing up a turd and rolling it in glitter.
Can you tell I’m a tea drinker?! Just your bog standard tea with milk, keeping it simple.

tea with milk !
Too complicated:
a tea bag, then boiling water, nowt added

I often long for the simplicity and speed of Italian coffee bars. You go up to the counter, order your coffee - which is almost always a simple cafe (ie espresso) - knock it back like a vodka shot, and you can be in and out the door in under 2 minutes. No, would you like almond milk, single or double, how about a pastry, have you got a loyalty card etc?

There is a place for Costa and Cafe Nero, where there is a variety of drinks and you can take your time over them, but ordering takes so bloody long! I've gone in there during my 'coffee break' and by the time I've reached the top of the queue, it's already time to go back!

It’s like the banks in the old days when you just wanted to pay a bill and had a cheque ready written and there’s some idiot in front of you doing several complicated transactions and paying his life savings in in 50p pieces while your lunch break is being eaten away before your eyes.

Is this the right queue for a small Americano?

@SecretSpAD this will be my daughter in a few years time! She already wants her squash made with a mix of slightly more blackcurrant, a bit of orange - and sparkling water.

I don't generally go in coffee shops because I'm a tightwad and I don't know how to ask for what I want apart from in Starbucks* and I don't want to be that person when there's a queue behind me to say can I have whatever is most like an extra hot quite strong milky coffee with no foam, but bigger than a flat white, which is sometimes OK, but not always as 'flat' as one would expect from the name and too small anyway.

*It's not on the menu but is in the till, but the closest to what I want is a caffe misto in Starbucks which is half filter coffee, half hot milk, and it's a bit of a lottery whether the serving person has a. heard of this and b. will actually agree to sell it to you. They often claim that 'they don't do that one any more' which could be true, it's probably years since I tried to get one.

But in McDonalds, I just use the machine and get a latte and a single or double espresso to put in depending on how much caffeine I need. And it's still cheaper and nicer than the smallest cheapest offering from Costa.

I sympathise, though I avoid coffee shops. The chain ones are all filthy. Maybe they have improved on that front since Covid, but I haven't checked. I am happy to leave them to their extra humungous soya decaf frappe whatnot and have a proper demitasse of café noir at home.

Ha you would all hate living in Australia. I had a little laugh at myself when I heard myself ordering a double shot soy flat white and a grande skinny latte extra hot It’s just normal here. I am now a coffee snob and I don’t care. It is excellent coffee. Being a barista is a fairly respected job as far as they go and no one round here would put up with any shit

YABU I know it’s annoying to wait, but if I’m paying for something I want it how I will enjoy it, not how it necessarily comes I.e. I’m in Starbucks - I’m having the blonde roast. I’m in a sandwich shop can I please add cheese to that?

Two queues - one for “Ive got specific requirements and will take more than 3 minutes to order” one for “I just want to pay and go”

All shops and similar should a “I just want to get on with” queue and a “I have all day to waste asking drippy questions, passing the time of day, demanding precise twitters in my order” queue

I went to local coffee shop the other day as it was my turn at work to buy nice coffee.

I ordered:
flat white soya milk
Hazelnut soya latte
Skinny cappuccino
Double shot skinny cappuccino
Gingerbread oat milk hot chocolate.

I felt like a right wazzock.