Best and worst coffee shops/chains etc

[alexf380]

Personally speaking, I can't say I've had a bad coffee from Costa in a long time. I do only drink a basic flat white, so the simplicity is maybe working in my favour, but I am surprised that so many find it undrinkable.
I would also recommend Mór Bakehouse for a small chain coffee shop. Not only is it nice smooth coffee but they do a wide range of savoury pastries... Guinness steak pie anyone?
In terms of cheap hot drinks though, Greggs is satisfactory, and Bayne's flat white and Lorne sausage roll is the breakfast of champions.

 

[BuhSnarf]

The Lidl and Aldi knock off Azera tins of coffee I find are my favourite instant coffee for a decent price (usually about £2-3 a tin) and they make a decent smooth black coffee.

 

[Bletchleyite]

The Lidl and Aldi knock off Azera tins of coffee I find are my favourite instant coffee for a decent price (usually about £2-3 a tin) and they make a decent smooth black coffee.

I tend to prefer the Kenco ones as they are granules rather than powder, but that kind of instant is generally I find the best of the breed as I note above.

 

[ChrisC]

I tend to prefer the Kenco ones as they are granules rather than powder, but that kind of instant is generally I find the best of the breed as I note above.

I also think that the microgrind granules like Kenco ones are very good for an instant coffee. I use them most of the time at home and for a flask. The M&S Gold coffee of this type recently came out top in a testing by ”Which”. I‘ve tried it and thought it was as good, if not even better than Kenco, and being their own brand at a slightly lower price.

 

[Polarbear]

Of the larger, national chains, I prefer Caffè Nero. Costa is ok for me, but not as good as it once was whilst I regard Starbucks as the coffee chain for people who don’t really like coffee!

Coffee #1, whilst not yet a national chain, is also pretty good, though owned by Caffè Nero I understand.

In the north west of England, there’s an independent called Coffee House which is very good. They currently have just over 40 branches, but are expanding at a steady pace.

I’ve just recently been in Poland for a week, where alongside many good local shops, the big 3 in the UK are also muscling in. Costa is quite widespread, with Caffe Nero & Starbucks being less common. What is notable is the significant uplift in quality of products in both Costa & Nero over there.

 

[317 forever]

Coffee #1, Leon and Soho Coffee are good at giving whole milk when I request it in my lattes. Some Leon self-service machines even let us choose our milk upfront.

Pret went downhill a few years ago, as they increased their types of milk with some in cartons. When I'd request the semi-skimmed they would just add some to whatever other milk was in the jug at the time. Alas Caffe Nero seem to be doing the same thing now.

 

[Broucek]

Pret went downhill a few years ago, as they increased their types of milk with some in cartons. When I'd request the semi-skimmed they would just add some to whatever other milk was in the jug at the time. Alas Caffe Nero seem to be doing the same thing now.

I'm slightly surprised that a chain would allow employees to do this...

Do people may have medical reasons for wanting different sorts of cow's milk?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Coffee #1, Leon and Soho Coffee are good at giving whole milk when I request it in my lattes. Some Leon self-service machines even let us choose our milk upfront.

Costa generally do whole milk. It's my preference too, indeed a flat white should ALWAYS be whole milk unless specifically requested otherwise (and that is Costa policy; everything else defaults to semi).

 

[BuhSnarf]

Coffee #1, Leon and Soho Coffee are good at giving whole milk when I request it in my lattes. Some Leon self-service machines even let us choose our milk upfront.

Pret went downhill a few years ago, as they increased their types of milk with some in cartons. When I'd request the semi-skimmed they would just add some to whatever other milk was in the jug at the time. Alas Caffe Nero seem to be doing the same thing now.

Nero and Coffee #1 are the same company, so hopefully they don't change that.

 

[Railwaycat]

Tesco's cafes.
The coffees good (not too keen on the decaf though) and they actually sell it in bags in the cafe. Foods good too, and cheap - avocado on sourdough toast with a choice of toppings, mushrooms on sourdough toast for two examples. Unfortunately for some reason they've dropped the scampi and chips (chips were crisp on the outside soft on the inside) and the shaksuka with eggs and sourdough toast (replaced it with Turkish style eggs on toast, not a fan of that!)
Don't like either Costa or Starbucks coffee - only been in there once, never again. Just had 10 days in Ireland and had some great coffee in small cafes.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 26 May 2026 ==

There are some very good instant coffees these days, which I find plenty good enough for at home or for a flask. The microgrind ones like Kenco Millicano are really quite good (they incorporate a small quantity of very small coffee grinds and thus taste much more like the real thing, though it does give a slightly gritty, thick feel to the drink, particularly if you have it strong). But to hark back to Maxpax...really? I don't think even Starbucks on a bad day is worse than that. The one thing I would say is pretty vile is the near-universal use of UHT milk in places like the Netherlands and Switzerland. The latter is particularly flummoxing because of how there are cows everywhere!

We drink Littles at home. From just being available (for us) at Mainsgill Farm shop some years ago it's now even in Tescos.

 

[BuhSnarf]

Interesting article on coffee prices on the BBC this morning: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr5pp1m6z06o

 

[High Dyke]

Enjoyed a decent coffee in the Newport (Isle of Wight) outlet of Grace's Bakery last week. Unfortunately, they don't have any outlets outside of the island, but do use a local supplier for their tea and coffee. The majority of my visits are usually to a Costa (for context)

 

[boyaloud]

Some information for the filter coffee drinkers, i noticed in the "petit Pret" takeaway -only branch by platform 4B escalator at Birmingham New St station, they have filter coffee for £1.20 regular or £1.40 large. I was surprised such a small branch does it - they don't offer iced drinks! Also you can use their app, scan it and you earn a star and after 10 stars you get a free item ( for me last time it was any coffee). Very handy when changing platforms!