Costa coffee -opinions

OldMrBrennan83

This post has been deleted.

OldMrBrennan83

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45365893

Coca-Cola is to buy the Costa coffee chain from owner Whitbread in a deal worth £3.9bn.

Whitbread said its board had unanimously approved the deal as being in the best interests of shareholders.

Whitbread chief executive Alison Brittain said the company would now focus on its Premier Inn business in the UK and Germany.

Whitbread bought Costa, which is now the UK's biggest coffee chain, for just £19m in 1995.

At the time, it had just 39 outlets. It now has more than 2,400 UK coffee shops, as well as some 1,400 outlets in 31 overseas markets. Costa Express has 8,237 vending machines worldwide.

maxwell smart

I see Costa now have a Flat Black on their Menu.

Is that the same as when you let all the gas out of your bottle of Coke??

CeilingFly

Patww79 wrote: »

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45365893

Costa in Ireland is not owned by Whitbread.

Here it is operated under licence by MBCC foods who also operate most KFC & Pizza Hut.

€86m turnover (north & south) and €9m profit in year up to Jan 2017.

That's some serious profit!

The high horse brigade

maxwell smart wrote: »

I see Costa now have a Flat Black on their Menu.

Is that the same as when you let all the gas out of your bottle of Coke??

Flat black is just an americano with the water in first, it keeps the crema. It's been around a while Costa didn't invent it

Edit, sorry it's long black, they've got it a little mixed up

stuboy01

here's my understanding
Starbucks and costa sell coffee drowned in milk. They don't really care that much about bean quality because the milk is used to cover the taste.
Starbucks (and i presume Costa based on comments here) use cheaper burnt beans, hence many people here noticing that the coffee is bitter.
The head barista of an international bean producer once told me that if you order a black coffee in Starbucks they will serve a better quality bean as the taste of the burnt bean would be undrinkable without milk. (he was based in the UK so not sure if this stands up in Ireland)

re Push button machines, if serviced and maintained properly they produce a really consistent quality coffee (but not artisan standard from a really well trained barista) I have sampled numerous commercial machines at the supplier's shop and the standard of coffee will be far superior to a coffee from any of the chains that use baristas. However, I accept that these machines were regularly serviced and kept in tip top condition. out in your average garage it is unlikely that the machines are regularly cleaned with line wash.

In short, if you want a good coffee go to an independent where their livelihood depends on their coffee standing out, and support your small business owners. we actually have a really great sector of artisan cafes in this country.

p.s. if anyone has ever come across a cafe selling black ivory (coffee beans sh1t out by an elephant, or the other one that uses weasels or ferrets to sh1t the bean I'd be curious if they'd tried it)

OldMrBrennan83

That's all well and good, and I'd prefer the nicer coffee, but small cafes are always in towns so you have to leave the main road, sit in traffic, and find parking. The beauty of Costa and all are the locations.

That's said, I bought a machine lately and got a hundred disposable cups in B&M so more often than not I can take my own or bring a flask. Keeps me away from the caramel crisps too :pac:

J_E

Patww79 wrote: »

That's all well and good, and I'd prefer the nicer coffee, but small cafes are always in towns so you have to leave the main road, sit in traffic, and find parking. The beauty of Costa and all are the locations.

That's said, I bought a machine lately and got a hundred disposable cups in B&M so more often than not I can take my own or bring a flask. Keeps me away from the caramel crisps too :pac:

:eek:

Why!?

OldMrBrennan83

J_E wrote: »

:eek:

Why!?

They were only about £2 and I only like drinking from them.

Mr Magnolia

Not very environmentally friendly though. Possibly why they were so cheap...