To think £2 for a babycino is extortionate

[Prrambulate]

The lovely independent coffee shop near me has raised the price of its babycino from £1 (already steep imo) to £2. Babycino in this case = an espresso cup of frothed milk with a dusting of cocoa powder on top.

This place has a selection of toys in a dedicated corner so lots of parents tend to go there to unwind and have somewhere their kids can play for a short while. I sense the business opportunity here but it also seems exploitative to me! Especially since their usual coffees are all at the £3 - £3,50 range.

Working up the courage to complain…

It's a gimmick.
That doesn't mean you shouldn't buy it - lots of people buy gimmick items for lots of reasons.
It's not silly to call it what it is.
The babycino gets people in the door as much as any other product does.

So any product that gets people into doors but without an explicit and apparent English meaning is a gimmick?

The definition of gimmick is "a trick or device intended to attract attention, publicity, or trade."

So yes.

Pretty much, yes.
That's the whole idea of them.
Nothing wrong in enjoying a gimmick, of course.

No that’s not ‘the idea of them’. Many names of dishes or beverages evolve organically over time, and the name simply sticks. They’re not direct products of marketing.

And even if your understanding is that “gimmick” = “branding/marketing”, the word gimmick has negative connotations, suggesting spurious value added. That’s a key part of the definition missed by @Flickersy

They are free in my local coffee shop, I would not pay for it. My children never finish their coffees.

Charged nearly £4 for tea in a costa the other day.
Splash of milk, teabag, hot water... max 8-10p.
VAT, Servers, property costs, admin... and subsiding a coffeeshop full of babycinos by the sound of it.

I very rarely order tea if I have to pay for it, unless it's part of an afternoon tea.
At least with coffee it seems like there is some effort being made with the noisy machines and the milk frothing. Literally anyone can put a teabag in a pot - and agree with poster upthread that the water is rarely hot enough.

A gimmick does the have to have negative connotations, though it can.

Literally anyone can put a teabag in a pot - and agree with poster upthread that the water is rarely hot enough.
That's two things. 1 is unheated cup, second is that water temp for tea should be lower than for coffee by few degrees.
I always ask to heat up the cup for a sec when getting coffee.

So many folk failing to realise that a chunk of the cost of eating out isn't the cost or time to make the food/drink - it's all the other costs associated with running a business. As for babycinos they need to be priced accordingly, like every other item.

How much do they charge for a herbal tea ( tea bag and hot water) or a normal tea ( tea bag, hot water, splash of milk)?

When you have stuff in a cafe it is pointless to think “ I could do that at home for a fraction of the cost”. You need to factor in all the extra costs the cafe has, and then think why you chose to go there in the first place and what that is worth to you.

I see 90 percent of the cost of a cup of tea (or Babycino) is the price for sitting in the cafe. The rest is for the actual drink.

@viques @SmallestInTheClass
Agreed.

But if they are all gimmicks what makes the name of a babyccino worthy of comment particularly?

Cost of the milk, employing staff, heating, electric and lighting, washing the cup, refrigeration, rates, accountant, etc, etc, etc.

And they are providing toys.

£2 is a bargain.

You are a CF

I also don't recall saying everything was a gimmick.

It’s the other way around surely? Coffee at over about 93 degrees is likely to taste burnt, whereas black tea is good at about 98 degrees (and a decent one is fine at 100).

Herbal or green teas are better at lower temperatures.

No, I did. You said you hadn't said babyccino was more of a gimmick than any other coffee names. I agree, it isn't. So why so hung up on insisting babyccino is a gimmick but being fine with all the others. It's quite odd.

I didn't really express an opinion on other names, gimmicky or not, because we were specifically discussing babycinos.

What Costa? I have only ever seen tea costing £2.60.