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Starbucks doing something right

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  • pr1mr0sepr1mr0se Posts: 1,193
    I suddenly looked back and thought:  OMG where have the last 50 years gone?  Because it was then (early 70s) that I worked in Upper St Martin's Lane in London.  Out of the tube station at Leicester Square, sharp left - stop at little coffee shop.  The chap knew his regulars.  One cup (normal size, not one of these huge buckets) and a lid on top (sans sippy thing) and I would carry it into my office, sit down at the desk and savour the moment before the start of the office day.

    So take-away coffee isn't a new thing - but the huge beakers of the stuff and the posing of importance as you carry them is.

    My (now retired) daily indulgence is a cafetiere of coffee - one cup to set me up for the day.  The thought of these SB/Costa cups leaves me cold.  And on the couple of occasions I have been into such an establishment - just how long does it have to take to serve said cup of coffee? Stand around, they nip off to Colombia to get the beans.  Roast 'em and grind 'em and eventually thrust the grounds under a huge machine that sputters steam through the coffee.  Hmmm.  Life's too short!

  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    I don't drink coffee these days, but l remember the old Cadena cafe in Gloucester. If you asked for coffee, they picked up the pyrex jug that was sitting on a hotplate and poured it into a cup. 
    If you wanted milk and/or sugar l'm pretty sure you helped yourself. 
    All this standing around in a queue while they prepare Americano, Latte, Cappuccino etc. drives me nuts, because if there's only one whizzy machine they can only do one at a time.
     All that banging and wiping round. Still, l'm sure it's worth it in the end, although l've usually finished drinking my tea by the time my OH gets his coffee . I like the nice patterns they do on the top though - some are very intricate :)
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    AnniD said:
    I don't drink coffee these days, but l remember the old Cadena cafe in Gloucester. If you asked for coffee, they picked up the pyrex jug that was sitting on a hotplate and poured it into a cup. 
    If you wanted milk and/or sugar l'm pretty sure you helped yourself. 
    All this standing around in a queue while they prepare Americano, Latte, Cappuccino etc. drives me nuts, because if there's only one whizzy machine they can only do one at a time.
     All that banging and wiping round. Still, l'm sure it's worth it in the end, although l've usually finished drinking my tea by the time my OH gets his coffee . I like the nice patterns they do on the top though - some are very intricate :)
    and now they do it in filling stations so you have to wait whilst their cars are parked at the pumps whilst they wait for the frothy whizzy nonsense to take place, then after you've filled up,once   you eventually get to a pump, you have to wait in a queue because the person behind the till is off doing the frothy whizzy stuff. 
    Devon.
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    In the obituary of mankind that will be left behind for future lifeforms to find so that they know of the idiocy that led to our premature demise, the word 'Puppacino' will be in bold. :|
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    In the obituary of mankind that will be left behind for future lifeforms to find so that they know of the idiocy that led to our premature demise, the word 'Puppacino' will be in bold. :|
    so they're not content with pumping humans full of sugar , they want to stuff their dogs full of fat?? And gullible consumers will flock to both. 
    Devon.
  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    punkdoc said:
    Being a man, I find it impossible to drink and walk at the same time, multi-tasking is not for me.
    I’m a bit like that in the mornings, I find it impossible to talk and walk at the same time. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,889
    Lyn said:
    punkdoc said:
    Being a man, I find it impossible to drink and walk at the same time, multi-tasking is not for me.
    I’m a bit like that in the mornings, I find it impossible to talk and walk at the same time. 
    I try to avoid talking first thing in the morning. It's not my best/ most diplomatic time of day.
    Devon.
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    Hostafan1 said:
    In the obituary of mankind that will be left behind for future lifeforms to find so that they know of the idiocy that led to our premature demise, the word 'Puppacino' will be in bold. :|
    so they're not content with pumping humans full of sugar , they want to stuff their dogs full of fat?? And gullible consumers will flock to both. 
    People will argue that it's a harmless treat for dogs but they're probably the same people who think it's ok to feed tuna to cats.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    I like my coffee plain and black tho if I know it's a proper one I do like a good cappuccino now and then.   On the few occasions I do visit London I have to find a Café Nero or go to Pain Quotidien (Belgian chain) to be sure to get good coffee.

    I remember a trip up the Mwhatever to go to Tatton in 2007 with a fellow forum member whom I picked up from Brighton.  We stopped at a Costa services and she had to interpret the coffee menu for me.  Nevertheless it was like dishwater in far too large a paper cup.  Never again.  At that time there was neither Costa nor Starbucks in Belgium.

    I suspect a lot of the posers carrying coffee on the hoof have not taken the time to make a proper coffee before leaving home for their commute and have lousy communal coffee machines at work.


    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    If you've ever seen " Eat well for less", one of the regular tips is to save money by taking a flask of coffee to work, instead of Costa etc.
    "You could save X amount per year". Cue stunned expressions 🙄
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