Great 'Do you have any coffee shop MoneySaving tips/tricks?' Hunt

penrhyn

I'm not surprised, not everyone lives in that London.:D

slimbo

Neither my husband or I drink coffee, but we do sometimes buy tea when out and about. Almost invariable we find that a "pot of tea for one" contains enough for 2 cups and, as we don't want 2 cups each, we now just order the one pot and and pick up an extra cup.

faineant

I don't go to chain coffee shops regularly but anytime I do I make a point of going for the smallest size. Is it not the case that the main difference is the amount of hot water they use to top up a standard espresso? I certainly don't recall any indication that there is more ground coffee involved.

terra_ferma

double_mummy wrote: »

split drinks buy 1 large americano 1 cup of hot water and 1 spare cup - makes 2 large drinks for the price of one

Maybe it's me, but I don't get it.
You just get two watered down drinks, not much savings in doing that. In that case if you buy an espresso, dilute with a litre of hot water you can have cheap drinks for 4 people for the price of 1....

terra_ferma

radio_hack wrote: »

I hate the idea of handing over cash, on which I've already paid tax, to a company that doesn't do the same.

I've never heard that Costa, Pret or Caffe Nero don't pay UK taxes.

CKhalvashi

geri1965 wrote: »

The thing that puts me off going to places like this (other than the price) is that you have to queue first to pay, then queue again for your drink.

The queues are usually quite long as well.

I am more likely to go to the Wetherspoons for a coffee.

I use a local shop; coffee for a quid and excellent customer service.

terra_ferma wrote: »

I've never heard that Costa, Pret or Caffe Nero don't pay UK taxes.

They don't pay as much (on %age level) as I have to pay, I'll tell you that much.

CK

jenniewb

faineant wrote: »

I don't go to chain coffee shops regularly but anytime I do I make a point of going for the smallest size. Is it not the case that the main difference is the amount of hot water they use to top up a standard espresso? I certainly don't recall any indication that there is more ground coffee involved.

There is most definitely more coffee ground involved the larger the size of the coffee. The larger the cup size the more shots of coffee you get, I know this as I used to ask for fewer shots when I was buying coffee out, (I find coffee in coffee shops too strong) and know for example in Costa they have 3 shots in a large, 2 in a medium 1 in a small.

vinylmusic

:jPumpkin coffee shops are on many railway stations all over the country
With a free Bite Card you get 20% off anything you buy plus every 5th cup of coffee is free when you get your free loyalty card stamped each time
Bite Cards also get you 20% off at many other railway station food and coffee outlets including Burger King:j

vinylmusic

I'm glad to see that many coffee shops in UK now use real coffee.
It used to be that many cafes only served instant coffee :eek:

I find many places use cheap ground coffee which is mostly tasteless
Its even worse with latte Latte should only be made with a strong dose of quality coffee otherwise it can taste like hot milk with a slight taste of coffee

The best coffee should be 100% Arabica
A mixture of Arabica and Robusta can be acceptable

Now I always ask what coffee is used and go back to the places that serve the best

A really good cup of coffee in the UK can still be hard to find

SailorSam

Buy a flask and make your own.