OLD FASHIONED

dick

dick

LOTSW Fanatic
I must be old fashioned , everyone and their uncle are walking round my town clutching cups of coffee?

It seemed to start at the opening of a COSTA COFFEE in of all places an old pub. It has snowballed to include people with those insulated metal cups with the lids. Trouble is the COSTA cups are becoming as numerous in the gutter as Colonel Sanders boxes!
 
I have to admit to once or twice walking round with a hot chocolate ( Don't like coffee) but it does seem to have become popular. I proffer sit down and drink mine. You see people doing a juggling act with hot coffee, phone and bags wondering with one they'll drop first.
 
I'm truly addicted, walking around my house with a 2-cup metal travel mug of regular coffee first thing in the morning followed by decaf for the rest of the day. The latter is hot in cold weather and iced in hot weather. I don't take it outside with me, though, because usually my hands are full.

BTW, I like Costa coffee much better than Starbucks. Starbucks uses beans that are roasted so dark that the resulting coffee tastes burned.
 
Your right Dick. We have a Costa Coffee at the hospital and you see so many visitors walking around with a big cup of coffee.
 
I have always had my doubts about Costa especially the authenticity the story of it being started by two Italian Brothers to me smacks of invented Corporate ploy and given it is owned by Whitbread that speaks volumes plus I like coffee that actually tastes of coffee . Their offerings to me are basically hot milk with a drop of coffee added very much as an afterthought so I no longer go there .

I don't like Starbucks for many reasons especially the Tax row . The best of the chains to me is Nero because you get two shots of coffee in Latte/Cappuccino . Thankfully in Newcastle there are lots of independent coffee shops so I tend to go to them because the quality is so much better . Spent any number of holidays in Canaries and there they serve Condensada [think that's right spelling] which is a layer of condensed milk [the thick type] topped with black coffee and you can add milk should you wish . It means you get a very sweet hit after you've drunk the coffee asked a local and they allegedly started drinking because they got an energy boost from the sugar in the condensed milk.

Carnation make a squeezy bottle so I have managed to recreate but have to limit my self to a couple a week for the sheer calorific value it must have . There is a lovely Cafe the Rendezvous I sometimes visit at Whitley Bay on the coast . It was built in the 1930's and remains pretty much unaltered but for the odd lick of paint . It is still family owned and being on the Promenade you can sit with an original old style Italian coffee looking out to Sea .
 
I take my coffee, both regular and decaf, black and unsweetened, which is why I really don't want it made from dark roasted beans. Because I'm not covering up the flavor, I pay more for an Americano, for which the beans are freshly ground before brewing each cup. The cheaper filter coffee has been in a pot on a warmer with its flavor deteriorating for who knows how long.
 
I have only been in Costa/Starbucks a couple of times as I am not a coffee person, but the couple of times I have been in them,they seem to make such a drama in making them,and if there is a couple of people in front of you then it can be a 15-20 minutes before you are served, plus the noise they make preparing these drinks,everything seems to have to be knocked and crashed several times,and don't get me started on the prices they charge
 
I use Costa daily. Never had a problem paying on 2.50 for decent coffee instead of some rubbish of a vendor on the street.
 
amos hames said:
I use Costa daily. Never had a problem paying on 2.50 for decent coffee instead of some rubbish of a vendor on the street.
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Amos,

The price doesn't concern me in the context of Costa its the coffee. When I used to go I would order the large or Massimo as they call it . They make it by putting the frothed milk in the cup and the shoot the single shot of coffee in afterwards [or at least they used to] and there simply was not enough coffee to make it taste like coffee all I got was hot milk [maybe I should have gone for a smaller size cup]
 
I too have noticed the increasing coffee on the move - especially travelling by train. People juggle tickets, luggage and a cup of hot coffee. Trouble is the stuff sold on railways stations is not to my taste!

Like Pearl I prefer to sit down and drink mine at a table, preferably with a nice little biscuit or some toasted pantone or such like, even a toasted tea cake!

However I hardly ever use Costa, Starbucks or such like preferring the independent. Often I have found a much more pleasant atmosphere and a lot less noises from the operating area in these places. Do a nice coffee in the Dalesman in Gargrave, and also the Loft in Bingley and so on. Places I frequent.
 
Die anyone see the news today about how much sugar there is in drinks you buy from major shops. I suppose tats why the cups are so big so they can accommodate all the sugar.
 
I did, it seems to be the "specialist" type coffees and hot chocolates with the syrups etc , the ordinary Americano, latte, filter, cappuccino and flat white coffees I don't think contain the high levels of sugar . Although I no longer go to Starbucks I am almost sure they used to put the calorific value of the drinks on their menu board so you could make an informed choice.
 
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