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Original poster

Take-away coffee

203 replies

OnTheRoll · 31/08/2023 08:48

Had a late night working util 1am, then was up at 7am to drop off DD to the train station and looking at a very busy day ahead. There is a Costa at our train station, I hadn't had any breakfast and for a few seconds I contemplated getting myself a coffee - to pick me up and to spare the effort of making one at home. I love take-away coffee, it always feels like a treat. Then I remembered that this coffee would now be in the region of £4.50. And decided that for this money, I can wait until I get home and make one there.
If this take-away coffee had been £3.00-ish like before I would not think twice. I can still afford it technically but just can't justify this cost for a cup of hot drink.
I wonder if coffee chains will feel the impact or if there are still enough customers paying these prices?

OP posts:
CornishGem1975 · 31/08/2023 09:27

I pay for it every now again for DD but it's a treat, not an every day occurrence.

What I really object to and never pay for is normal tea in a coffee shop. Literally a teabag and water and they're charging over £3 for it? Get out of town!

User63847439572 · 31/08/2023 09:28

Costa etc is really ridiculous now
i still take my older dds there sometimes as for some reason they love it and it gets them out and about! But just order for them and don’t have anything for myself

AllProperTeaIsTheft · 31/08/2023 09:31

I never get takeaway tea/coffee. We probably go and sit in a nice, independent café for a drink once every few weeks if we're in town shopping etc (a bit more often in the holidays), but wouldn't bother with a Costa or whatever. We have a bean-to-cup machine at home which makes really good coffee.

jays · 31/08/2023 09:33

CornishGem1975 · 31/08/2023 09:27

I pay for it every now again for DD but it's a treat, not an every day occurrence.

What I really object to and never pay for is normal tea in a coffee shop. Literally a teabag and water and they're charging over £3 for it? Get out of town!

This! I used to meet with a friend once a week for ‘coffee’, we’d take turns to pay. She’d always get some mocha chocca, extra shot, whipped up, added flavoured syrup and sprinkled concoction and I’d get …. A tea bag. I just couldn’t! 😂

Coral569 · 31/08/2023 09:44

That sounds like a more expensive Costa, maybe because it's at the train station? I have a few Costa's near work and their coffee is strong so sometimes I prefer to nip out and get one if I'm very tired. But the coffee is about £3 and nowhere near £4.

LG93 · 31/08/2023 09:50

I bought a bean to cup coffee machine and a decent thermos and it paid for itself in about 3 months Vs take away coffees. It means I rarely pick up a takeaway coffee to bring home with me from Sainsbury's for example as I can make one here, or if I know I'm heading somewhere I'll want one I can take it with me, but means I don't feel quite as loathed to pay for one on occasions where it wasn't practical to bring one with me (or when I want another!)

Wolfparty · 31/08/2023 09:53

I used to buy a coffee everyday to drink on the train - was £2 a day which I felt was worth it but now it's £3.60 so I have stopped completely. I actually feel quite guilty as it's an independent stand on the platform and the couple that run it are lovely but I just can't bring myself to spend so much.

larkstar · 31/08/2023 09:55

In general, we haven't bought coffee out for several years now - it only happens if we're out on a big annual shopping trip, maybe a Christmas shop in somewhere like York or Chester - really - we just don't go shopping for anything other than food these days. The only other times are of we've been out walking in the countryside all day and then we might call in for a treat at a local coffee shop.

My daughter takes her Aeropress Go Portable Travel when they go camping

https://amzn.eu/d/hjV6DeS

I have a Staresso which I also use with capsules (less mess) - I take it away when I'm on my own in my campervan

https://amzn.eu/d/4dURUB4

as my wife won't let me take the main compact coffee machine we have which we take when we are both away in the campervan - it's narrow and fits onto a shelf and so it's easy to take away but we use it at home all the time - it wasn't that expensive

https://amzn.eu/d/2JNfGPW

So - no - we don't buy coffee out anymore generally - I'll always wait until I get home (or back in the van if we're away).

Friends of mine opened a 3rd Italian restaurant just before the first lockdown - they are super hardworking lovely genuine people but they've recently had to shut it down and sell it - no one could work harder or be more authentic and passionate - this food and business is their life, their families life.... so - running any kind of food or drink business has become very tough indeed - a local pub owner sold up and told me they made less than a penny a pint - and this must have been 5+ years ago - he and his wife left to set up a bar in Goa, India!

LG93 · 31/08/2023 09:57

Coral569 · 31/08/2023 09:44

That sounds like a more expensive Costa, maybe because it's at the train station? I have a few Costa's near work and their coffee is strong so sometimes I prefer to nip out and get one if I'm very tired. But the coffee is about £3 and nowhere near £4.

Where abouts are you? I'm south east and our 'standalone' Costa even just a large black Americano is £3.65, rising into £4-4.50 territory for anything like a late/cappuccino/mocha/hot chocolate.

wintersprinter81 · 31/08/2023 09:57

I bought myself a bean to cup machine and no longer feel the need. Always take my own coffee with me now. The investment in the machine (£400 which I bought in sale) will be paid back pretty quickly as both DH and I used to buy a coffee every morning!

MumblesParty · 31/08/2023 09:59

I go with DS to Starbucks once a week after football, he likes the Frappuccino and I have a cappuccino. We’ve got the app so we get about 1 in 5 drinks free. It’s expensive but I feel I can justify it as a once weekly treat. I love takeaway coffee but would never buy it more often than I do, because of the crazy price.

Fifireee · 31/08/2023 09:59

I got a coffee machine and now I just don’t bother. The last time I had a coffee it was in central London and £3.70. I thought it was just so stupid I decided not to buy another one ever again!

SaturdayGiraffe · 31/08/2023 09:59

There’s also too much competition. I can go to our local high street and have a choice of 7 coffee places within 2min walk.

The best place we found recently was a South American cafe in Elephant and Castle, £1.50!

SisterAgatha · 31/08/2023 10:01

I still pay it on my office day as it’s a small independent and tastes lovely, I get a stamp, and I feel like it’s actually worth the money and not dish water like costa and other chains.

agree that McDonald’s is consistent and never tastes burned which is the most upsetting thing a coffee can be

SisterAgatha · 31/08/2023 10:02

Also mine is £3.50 and it’s zone 1 central London so £4.50 is outrageous. Was it a coffee or some cream dessert coffee thing with all the business?

Comedycook · 31/08/2023 10:06

Never buy takeaway coffee unless I'm absolutely desperate. Such a waste of money as far as I'm concerned. I'm also fed up with charities and life insurance companies telling me that the amount of money they want from me is just the cost of a takeaway coffee.

Skinnermarink · 31/08/2023 10:08

SisterAgatha · 31/08/2023 10:01

I still pay it on my office day as it’s a small independent and tastes lovely, I get a stamp, and I feel like it’s actually worth the money and not dish water like costa and other chains.

agree that McDonald’s is consistent and never tastes burned which is the most upsetting thing a coffee can be

Pret are buggers for this! Plus their filter coffee used to be 99p too, it’s £1.75 now.

It’s not just about the physical coffee in some cases anyway. Sure, I could make a decent coffee at home and take it with me in a flask. But, on days where I have to be up for work at 6 I don’t care to wake my toddler up clattering around doing that (small flat) plus the way the trains work out I have 20 min to kill when I get to where I work. Fine in the summer to sit on a bench with a home made coffee, but shit in the rain or the dark winter mornings.

defi · 31/08/2023 10:08

I love takeaway coffee as a treat. Probably have it once a week with friends or on the go. Also if anyone is with Vodafone, you get rewards and often they have a free regular drink at costa

Maplestars · 31/08/2023 10:08

I used to get one or two a week, but I probably only bother every other month now. Partly because sometimes you pay a fiver for a coffee you could make at home, and they burn the coffee or put too much or too little syrup in it, or don’t even heat the milk properly. Then I’m really upset at my ‘treat’
the last 2 times I’ve been to costa it was barely drinkable because they’d made it wrong.At least at home I can make it right.
when I go now it’s for a seasonal drink that I can’t make at home, or to an independent that I know will make good coffee

BellaTheDarkOverlord · 31/08/2023 10:08

If I was working nights I’d go costa at 3am for a coffee. It’d be quite nice if we weren’t busy. However normally I take my own coffee cup out which keeps coffee hot up to 12 hours. It’s great.

AlwaysFoldingWashing · 31/08/2023 10:09

I have also invested in reusable cups and make my own at home to take with me on walks/ to the park/ car journeys etc.

The Costa loyalty scheme has also changed so you now have to have 10 drinks before you get a free one and it used to be 8.

Coffee and a magazine used to be a small treat but I now very rarely indulge in either as I just can't justify it

SadlyACupOfTeaDoesNotSolveEverything · 31/08/2023 10:11

I have coffee out twice a week plus on occasion at the weekend as a family - so 10 a month on average and all sit in as the same price in the independent cafes I like. Prior to the pandemic I had about 25 to 30 a month 😳.

AllProperTeaIsTheft · 31/08/2023 10:12

I find it a bit mind-boggling that so many people seem to buy coffee and lunch out every work day. I take a packed lunch and make coffee/tea at work (or would take a flask if that weren't convenient). Quite apart from the expense, I'd rather not eat packaged sandwiches etc all the time.

SisterAgatha · 31/08/2023 10:15

Skinnermarink · 31/08/2023 10:08

Pret are buggers for this! Plus their filter coffee used to be 99p too, it’s £1.75 now.

It’s not just about the physical coffee in some cases anyway. Sure, I could make a decent coffee at home and take it with me in a flask. But, on days where I have to be up for work at 6 I don’t care to wake my toddler up clattering around doing that (small flat) plus the way the trains work out I have 20 min to kill when I get to where I work. Fine in the summer to sit on a bench with a home made coffee, but shit in the rain or the dark winter mornings.

Show quote history

Agreed, pret coffee is awful these days. It gives me anxiety too as they don’t take names and everyone is waiting for a flat white so the potential for fuss puts me off. For £3.50 I don’t want added fuss.

id take a flask but I just cannot be bothered to carry it with all the laptop and notepads etc.

Costa… I really cannot stomach. It’s awful.

enchantedsquirrelwood · 31/08/2023 10:16

If you're in London, Pret's filter coffee is quite cheap. It used to be 99p, but I guess it is more now. It was also cheaper if you took your own cup.

Wow just seen it's £1.75 now. Still a lot cheaper than Costa though.