Coffee

[benhall.1]

So there's this thing that's "gone viral". You've probably seen it. It's an American tourist's impressions of life in the UK. Only one thing really caught my attention: the guy said that the coffee in the UK is rubbish (or some such word, I forget). Now, I've never been to the States, so I wouldn't know about Stateside coffee, but friends I know who have been have told me that the coffee in the States is rubbish.

This has me intrigued. So, American chums who've been to the UK: what is it that you didn't like about British coffee? Also, British chums who've been to the States, what is it that you didn't like about American coffee?

As you can tell, this is a matter of great international import.

[Coffee]

When I saw the title of the thread I wondered why you didn't just send me a pm...
I was in the U.K. for two years. I... don't remember disliking the coffee at all.

[benhall.1]

When I saw the title of the thread I wondered why you didn't just send me a pm...
I was in the U.K. for two years. I... don't remember disliking the coffee at all. :shrug:

Actually, yes, I probably should have.

When were you here?

[Coffee]

2006-2008 at RAF Lakenheath.
Honestly, I can't remember anything I disliked about the coffee per se.

[an seanduine]

For my money, the worst coffee is from your local USN coffee mess. After drinking that bilge, everything else is some class of "not so bad".
Considering the international availability of various roasts, and the ability to do your own grind, I just don't understand how you can hold an entire nation accountable for good or bad brewing of coffee.

Bob

[benhall.1]

It's a strange thing here in the UK that, very much depending on the individual establishment, coffee can be great or absolutely abysmal. There are plenty of pubs, though virtually no restaurants any more I suspect, that still serve instant coffee. There's just no excuse for that, IMO. But I can think of at least one place, in a well-known tourist destination in the Cotswolds, where although the coffee is made from beans, it is dreadful. Almost undrinkable.

Thankfully, these days for the most part coffee here strikes me as being somewhere between pretty good and great. Is this exactly as it is in the States? I.E. people didn't used to give enough attention to coffee, but now they do? Or what? Or am I wearing rose-tinted specs about coffee this side of the pond? Have we still got a long way to go?

[an seanduine]

Well clearly tastes in the type of roast and type of bean will vary. I like Italian style roasts, and stick pretty close to water method decaffeinated beans. We do our own grinds. Here in the 'States we seem to be having a surge in availability of 'boutique' coffee roasts.
I know that sort of sounds 'precious', but it beats the large corporate mantra of:" We have only two sizes. . .too large and too small!"
St*rb*cks are ubiquitous here, and at least provide a drinkable cup.
Since we're retired now, we don't often have coffee 'out'. But we enjoy a cup at a couple of privately operated (non-chain) espresso shops. And no matter how plush the restaurant we may go to for a celebration, it will get struck straight off the list if the after dinner coffee isn't up to snuff.

Bob

[benhall.1]

Well clearly tastes in the type of roast and type of bean will vary. I like Italian style roasts, and stick pretty close to water method decaffeinated beans. We do our own grinds. Here in the 'States we seem to be having a surge in availability of 'boutique' coffee roasts.
I know that sort of sounds 'precious', but it beats the large corporate mantra of:" We have only two sizes. . .too large and too small!"
St*rb*cks are ubiquitous here, and at least provide a drinkable cup.
Since we're retired now, we don't often have coffee 'out'. But we enjoy a cup at a couple of privately operated (non-chain) espresso shops. And no matter how plush the restaurant we may go to for a celebration, it will get struck straight off the list if the after dinner coffee isn't up to snuff.

Bob

Ooh! I can't drink de-caf. Just, like, NO. I've yet to have a cup of de-caf coffee that tastes like coffee to me. Starb*ll*cks is pretty ubiquitous here too and I can't stand their coffee. It tastes like plastic to me. And I totally agree with you about restaurants - they've simply got to have good coffee to get near my 'list'.

[Nanohedron]

I call 'em Charbucks 'cause to me their coffee tastes scorched. Won't touch it.

Dunn Bros and Caribou Coffee are local chains that, despite being chains, seem to have coffeemaking down; this may be in part due to their being confined mainly to the Twin Cities Metro Area. Both are reliably good IMO and I never wonder if another shop might be better, but I think I lean more toward Caribou: Many's the tionól where Caribou was on tap, and each time I recall being distinctly pleased and comforted by their brew. Lucky me.

That place in the Cotswolds, Ben: Do you know if their coffee is served fresh? Because troubling to make it from whole beans won't help if the coffeepot sits on a hotplate for hours. But I expect you know that. The only way to keep coffee fresh and hot for extended periods is to keep it in a thermos right after brewing.

[Coffee]

Decaf? Yeah I drink that most of the day, every day.
But my decaf is clear and comes straight out of the tap...

[Nanohedron]

Decaf. The very idea.

[benhall.1]

I call 'em Charbucks 'cause to me their coffee tastes scorched. Won't touch it.

Quite agree.

That place in the Cotswolds, Ben: Do you know if their coffee is served fresh? Because troubling to make it from whole beans won't help if the coffeepot sits on a hotplate for hours. But I expect you know that.

Yes, I do indeed. And I suspect exactly what you suggest.

The only way to keep coffee fresh and hot for extended periods is to keep it in a thermos right after brewing.

I don't even like that, although I see what you mean. Still not hot enough or fresh enough for me.

[Nanohedron]

The only way to keep coffee fresh and hot for extended periods is to keep it in a thermos right after brewing.

I don't even like that, although I see what you mean. Still not hot enough or fresh enough for me.

Ha. I suspect you've never tried it.

If you want bethermosed coffee at its best, I wouldn't serve it to others past a couple of hours max (such a duration is an unlikely event in any case); it's still in reliable good form up to that point. Beyond that is shaky ground. I wouldn't keep it hot any other way, for leaving it on the burner is absolutely out of the question. But at home for my private use, I descend into savagery: When I brew a pot I only drink a couple of cups, so I put the fresh coffee in an ewer, I suppose you'd call it; whatever you call it, in the end it's a thermos made for serving coffee, but it looks nice enough (thanks, Mom ). Anyway, what doesn't fit in the ewer I drink up, and the ewer serves me over the next couple of days. It may not be hot by then, but it still tastes fresh, which is the main thing; cold coffee and I are old friends, but it can't be stanky and foul. The thermos works against that like a champ. If I want to I can always nuke it. Anyway, at home I'm in it for the caffeine, not the finer points. As I said, savagery. But it's a refined savagery.

[calanthrophy]

I call 'em Charbucks 'cause to me their coffee tastes scorched. Won't touch it.

Yes. I've always wondered how they get away with charging $3 a cup for it.

[Nanohedron]

I call 'em Charbucks 'cause to me their coffee tastes scorched. Won't touch it.

Yes. I've always wondered how they get away with charging $3 a cup for it.

Not to mention their culture of browbeating customers with their prancy corporate language. "I'd like a large, please." "You mean a Venti." "Do I? Explain 'Venti' to me." "It's a large." "Then I'd like a large." "You mean 'Venti'."

Actually, no. I don't.