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I used to love the smell of cafes, while I was in Italy -- except in the early morning, when they smell like fifty flavours of after-shave.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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The coffee aisle in the grocery store is my favorite one. It smell way better than it tastes!
Hogan
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That's spot on!
You can get beans that smell absolutely incredible, enough to make your eyes tremble, but then the drink tastes like nothing at all!
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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When I was a kid, you still had shops that roasted and ground their own coffee in most towns. (This was before "instant coffee" really took hold in the UK.)
The smell when you walked in was superb!
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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Cafè + early morning + Italy = one Hell of a crowd of groggy-looking people wolfing down pastries and coffee with barely a trace of dignity. That arrives some minutes later.
* CALL APOGEE, SAY AARDWOLF
* GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
* Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game.
* I'm a puny punmaker.
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God, but I miss bomboloni breakfasts!
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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And I elephanting need to stop those before I become an elephanting pachyderm myself. Starbucks pastries are very good (but expensive) - I'm hooked on cinnamon buns.
* CALL APOGEE, SAY AARDWOLF
* GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
* Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game.
* I'm a puny punmaker.
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den2k88 wrote: Starbucks has the advantage of using ludicrous amount of milk and sweet creams so that every fallacy in the coffee is drown - in fact it doesn't even need to be sugared to be drank comfortably.
I don't know what's up with British coffee - it always tastes bitter to me. When I go to France, their coffee always tastes so much better - like you say, it's enjoyable even without milk or sugar.
Have you come across any coffee in the UK that's anything close to good (like in France)?
Ah, I see you have the machine that goes ping. This is my favorite. You see we lease it back from the company we sold it to and that way it comes under the monthly current budget and not the capital account.
modified 31-Aug-21 21:01pm.
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Brent Jenkins wrote:
Have you come across any coffee in the UK that's anything close to good (like in France)?
In central London there is Waterstones, an enormous bookshop. It has both a cafè and a restaurant... the cafè makes a passable espresso (but I only took it twice in several years). In the UK I usually binge on Starbucks given that it's an "exotic" experience for people who don't have that shop chain - in fact they're usually chock full of italians 
I was to try "Cafè Nero" but the pastries weren't interesting so I got out and sought a Starbucks. Cafè Costa is good but I only took a cappuccino once and that's very hard to elephant up - it takes an unusual amount of talent to make a bad cappuccino.
* CALL APOGEE, SAY AARDWOLF
* GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
* Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game.
* I'm a puny punmaker.
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Thanks for the info.. to be honest I haven't found any UK outlet that comes close to any run-of-the-mill cafe in France.
I've recently bought a Tassimo machine which has one or two drinkable capsules (yes, I know!) but it's still not what I'm looking for. I might try another brand, but then it's on to grinding and mixing beans which seems a whole load of hassle I'd hoped to avoid.. 
Ah, I see you have the machine that goes ping. This is my favorite. You see we lease it back from the company we sold it to and that way it comes under the monthly current budget and not the capital account.
modified 31-Aug-21 21:01pm.
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If you can find Lavazza coffee (I saw it sold in several markets, but outside of central London) and a decent moka you can rest assured of a good coffee. It's a bit costly Lavazza in the UK (2.75 3.85£/250gr pack, almost double what we pay here) but in line with the prices of food with respect to ours.
I use capsules too (Nespresso), for when I forgot or couldn't prepare the moka coffee. I shave the wake-car time pretty badly so I don't have more than a couple of minutes to spare. I like only a few of them but in the morning it's survival - real survival, I wouldn't dream of driving while not a 100% efficiency.
* CALL APOGEE, SAY AARDWOLF
* GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
* Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game.
* I'm a puny punmaker.
modified 28-Feb-17 10:43am.
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I bought a bean to cup machine and buy the Lavazza beans from Costco. Coffee is fantastic.
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I know. I'm hardly a fidelized person when it comes to food but having tried most of the range of (affordable) coffees now I stick with Lavazza unless forced otherwise. Besides, it's so widely sold in Italy taht it's extremely easy to find it discounted somewhere. Last time I bought 5kg of it just to not having to worry for a while.
* CALL APOGEE, SAY AARDWOLF
* GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
* Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game.
* I'm a puny punmaker.
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Sounds good.. I'll give them a try, thanks! 
Ah, I see you have the machine that goes ping. This is my favorite. You see we lease it back from the company we sold it to and that way it comes under the monthly current budget and not the capital account.
modified 31-Aug-21 21:01pm.
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Sounds like it might be the way to go.. what machine did you get? I'm looking for something reasonably compact..
Ah, I see you have the machine that goes ping. This is my favorite. You see we lease it back from the company we sold it to and that way it comes under the monthly current budget and not the capital account.
modified 31-Aug-21 21:01pm.
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Mine is a Krups one, I've been really impressed with it. They were selling them half price in Debenhams before Christmas but they seem to be back to full price at the moment. Worth keeping an eye out for them though when they go on offer.
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Thanks, I'll keep a lookout for them
Ah, I see you have the machine that goes ping. This is my favorite. You see we lease it back from the company we sold it to and that way it comes under the monthly current budget and not the capital account.
modified 31-Aug-21 21:01pm.
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Starbucks coffee is barely drinkable, their tea is, in the words of Douglas Adams " a liquid almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea". Costa coffee I find too strong and bitter, with little coffee flavour. Of the chains, I like Nero best, Leon isn't bad.
Most of the time I make my own (as I work mostly at home) and - having tried every coffee they sell, and plenty of others from different suppliers - keep coming back to Mayfair Blend from the Drury Tea and Coffee Company on New Row in London.
And no, I don't have any connection to them other than as a customer 8)
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Not a fan of starbucks, or its fanboi following.
Anyone who orders a "latte macchiato" obviously doesn't know anything about either coffee or the Italian language.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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I go straight for the "caramel latte" or "mocha". Espresso in the UK (the only place I visited enough to feel at ease when I'm there) is usually terrible so there's no point in taking it therefore I go straight for the "exotic" stuff.
And latte macchiato actually exists now in Italy, it's a large glass of warm milk with just a tint of coffee in it - basically what in Starbucks passes for regular coffee. It's one of the least ordered things but it does exist.
* CALL APOGEE, SAY AARDWOLF
* GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
* Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game.
* I'm a puny punmaker.
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den2k88 wrote: Espresso in the UK (the only place I visited enough to feel at ease when I'm there) is usually terrible so there's no point in taking it
You've got that right.
One of the items on my "plus" list for not living in the UK is the espresso.den2k88 wrote: it's a large glass of warm milk with just a tint of coffee in it
So it's a macchiato rovescio? At least that makes more sense -- "milky coffee tainted with milk" doesn't.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Mark_Wallace wrote: So it's a macchiato rovescio?
More like an oversixed cappuccino with an undersized espresso as the coffee base. Usually it's only referred as "latte", so if you actually wish to drink simple plain milk you should specify "latte bianco" else they will drop coffee in (and my girlfriend hates it since she doesn't drink coffee).
When someone says that he/she doesn't drink coffee it's looked strangely upon, like some sort of disease, even worst that beeing a teetotaler! My girlfirend doesn't like alcohol nor coffee and she's basically considered a freak
BTW, I took an espresso at Radisson hotel in London, all extra-luxury and 4£ for a coffee. It tasted like s**t. Worst experience ever. I needed to stay awake for other 14 hours and it was 9:30 pm, so I coughed the dough anyway. Never again.
* CALL APOGEE, SAY AARDWOLF
* GCS d--- s-/++ a- C++++ U+++ P- L- E-- W++ N++ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t++ 5? X R++ tv-- b+ DI+++ D++ G e++>+++ h--- ++>+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
* Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game.
* I'm a puny punmaker.
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Just remember, Folgers was around way before Starbucks. With that said, Folgers sucks.
I prefer some of the stronger coffees, not much of stickler on brand names, as long as it has medium to bold flavor.
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I usually can taste the difference (I am talking about espresso, of course), but, at the end, what I really need is the caffeine.
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I agree. I started because its free caffeine at the office!
Hogan
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