coffee Archives - Page 19 of 22

January 27, 2011

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts

So there I was at Paddington waiting for my train when I thought I would get a coffee, well I’m not that much of a fan of the coffee on the train and decided that I quite fancied a doughnut too.

I was slightly sceptical of Krispy Kreme though I did quite like the look of the doughnuts and so falling to temptation bought a small americano and two doughnuts, a simple glazed ring and a lemon meringue filled doughnut.

Now they were slightly too sweet for me, but they were fresh and tasted quite nice.

The simple glazed ring doughtnut had too much glaze as there was a fair bit of sticky glaze on the underneath.

The lemon meringue filled doughnut came filled with a lemon custard and was topped with a thin meringue. This was better than the glazed doughnut and was, well let’s say it was an interesting experience.

Would I get them again?

Probably not unless I was really fancying something really sweet!

What about the coffee? Well the coffee wasn’t that bad, certainly better than the coffee you get on the train.

January 23, 2011

Costa Flat White

Experience has told me that Starbucks though they now sell the flat white aren’t much good at making them. I have also found asking them to make a skinny flat white results in either excuses that this isn’t possible or that the end result will not be very satisfactory.

Costa however do seem to be able to make an adequate flat white.

Like most things, they don’t seem to come close to the ones I had out in New Zealand. Costa also don’t complain if you ask for a skinny flat white either.

The only thing I don’t quite understand is why is the flat white more expensive than other similar coffees on offer?

Oh and another question is a flat white different to a latté? It should be in my opinion, a latte should have less foam and a flat white should use a foam consisting of much smaller air bubbles than you would find in a cappuccino. Not every coffee place I go to knows that though. Ah well one day I will need to go back to Auckland for a visit.

January 16, 2011

Coffee at Pizza Express

When the Americano I had ordered at Pizza Express arrived, I wasn’t that impressed to be honest. It looked a little flat and there was no crema, something I normally expect to see in an Americano.

However appearances aside, there was a real depth of flavour and I really quite enjoyed it.

January 14, 2011

On the train…

Earlier this week on my way to a conference decided to have a coffee on the train.

In the past coffee on the train was basically a no no for me!

Why?

Well generally it was instant coffee and as a real coffee aficionado (or is that just a posh word for snob) I don’t drink instant coffee. So I would normally get a tea.

Things have improved in recent years and now on the high speed First Great Western services you can get freshly brewed coffee from freshly ground beans. As with any high street coffee outlet you can get your choice of cappuccino, latte, etc…

I went with an Americano and though pleased to see that it was Fairtrade, it was freshly made, I was disappointed with the resulting coffee. It lacked depth, character and flavour. Don’t get me wrong it was so much better than instant coffee, but was not special and to be honest on the way back I didn’t bother with the coffee.

January 4, 2011

Middle of nowhere…

Anyone who knows me, will know I am somewhat of a coffee snob! What that actually means is I like real coffee and I don’t like instant coffee.

Today I was at the Royal Forest of Dean College delivering some training and alas all that was on offer, coffee wise, was either Tesco Instant or powdered instant vending coffee from the canteen.

As I had a bit of a break at lunchtime, I popped out to Coleford to get a real coffee. I had missed my morning coffee as it is a bit of a hike for me to get to the Forest of Dean and traffic was quite busy.

After looking around Coleford I popped into Kaplan’s Café for a coffee and had a two shot Americano.

It was very reasonable coffee and I enjoyed it, certainly not an Illy or similar, but still very nice.

Just to note that the “edited” photograph of the coffee is using the Instagram App on my iPhone and the coffee was certainly not that yellow!

December 30, 2010

The coffee drinking experience at Druckers

Out of the many cafés in Weston-super-Mare, I have visited Druckers more often recently.

It’s not that the coffee is the best, I’ve certainly had better. I often like the idea behind the cakes I see in the display cabinets, but often find them to be slightly disappointing. However the ice cream is usually very good, even if they no longer sell the blue banana ice cream that they use to. The chocolate is very nice indeed as is the mint ice cream. I do quite like the biscuits and toasted teacakes too.

Most of the time the service is quite efficient, helpful and speedy.

I think though the main attraction is that the place isn’t cramped unlike the Costa branch in the nearby Waterstones. The same can be said for the coffee shop in Marks and Spencers. Both of them are full of tables and somewhat cramped. As a result they always feel very busy and rushed even when they are empty! Druckers has a lot more room and as a result feels more relaxed.

For me the environment in which you drink the coffee is just as important as the coffee itself. That’s why I go out to drink coffee, it’s the whole experience, and not just the coffee.

December 2, 2010

Pizza Express

So there I was needing a bite to eat, I had had no lunch and it was looking like that working late that night I wouldn’t have a chance to get anything decent to eat and would have to grab a takeaway…. didn’t fancy that.

Luckily I had in my pocket some spare Tesco Clubcard Reward vouchers that were about to expire, so I thought lets use these, have a really nice meal, but where?

Well (from the title of this blog posting) you guessed I went to Pizza Express. Using the vouchers does restrict you to specific places, I had considered Café Rouge, but traffic was bad and to be honest did I want to be disappointed again? So the only place left from which to choose was Pizza Express. I have been to Pizza Express quite a few times before and have enjoyed my meals there. I also quite like their range available in the supermarket.

I did consider not going, as the place was empty (well it was late afternoon) and I wasn’t really wanting to be the focus of all the staff as the sole eater in the establishment, however time was against me and I was hungry!

As I was hungry I decided to have a starter and though there was a fair bit of choice, I went in the end for the Calamari Al Forno, breaded calamari with house dressing.

So no rings here then! More chunks of squid that were breaded and cooked. I did like the presentation and it was a nice portion, not too small and not too big. Alas the calamari was a little chewy, partly I guess as it was either overcooked (unlikely) or double cooked (more likely). The house dressing was a wet mayonaise with probably too much vinegar, but there was lemon for those that like me who prefer that. I did eat them all up and did enjoy it, it’s just I know that calamari can be so much better than this, however this is much better than a lot of calamari I have had at other places.

After my started I went with a Romana Pizza Pollo Pancetta.

This pizza has a stretched very thin base, similar to those (allegedly) you can find in northern Italy. The base was covered in red pepper (peperonata) sauce and topped with chicken, yellow peppers and what was suppose to be crispy pancetta.

Not this was really nice, what I did like was that it had flavour, wasn’t salty (as some pizza places to do with their pizza) and looked great. The chicken looked to be real chicken that was ripped and placed on the pizza, rather than processed pre-sliced chicken you can find on some pizzas. The yellow peppers were nice and crunchy. However one slight problem, the crispy pancetta looked like it had been replaced with proscuttio! It was neither pancetta or crispy. I didn’t complain as it was still nice, but it would have been nice to be told that this is what they had done.

I was quite full at this point, however the waiter pointed out that they had a selection of small desserts served with a coffee. Now that sounded just right. So I went with the Caffé Merenghina and my choice of an Americano.

The dish comprised os a small individual lemon pastry tart topped with a, in my case, slightly droopy meringue. The tart was great, not too sweet and not too tart and just the right size. The coffee was also decent.

The bill (I already had a coffee) came to just £21 which wasn’t bad at all in my book for a really nice meal. I will be going again.

October 17, 2010October 30, 2020

Flat White

So what is it with the Flat White?

It was never available in this country and now it’s all over the place. First I see Costa sell it and now Starbucks is also selling the Flat White.

So what is the Flat White? According to Wikipedia:

Originating from Australia and New Zealand, a Flat White is a coffee beverage prepared by pouring steamed milk from the bottom of steaming pitcher over a single shot or double shot of espresso. As with many other espresso-based drinks the Flat White is interpreted in a number of ways. In Australia it is commonly served as a single shot of espresso, whereas in New Zealand it is more commonly served using a double shot.

So it’s popular in Australia and New Zealand, and yes a fair of them have come over to the UK, likewise they are also popular counties to visit. But why the sudden popularity here in the UK of the Flat White?

No idea!

I have had it a few times now in the UK, from Costas and Starbucks and though nice, it’s not quite the same as a Flat White from New Zealand such as this finished one….

October 9, 2010October 30, 2020

Coffee and Panini

Ten years ago no one in the UK knew what panini was. Today the place is awash with them.

Yes we had toasted sandwiches, anyone for a Breville? However the popularity of the toasted Italian panino has grown considerably over the last few years.

In the main the thrust of this growth has come from the coffee chains of Starbucks, Costa and Caffe Nero, though now it appears that everyone is selling panini.

And there lies the problem…

It’s all you seem to be able to buy in some places, as every outlet is selling them. If you want something different, tough!

September 14, 2010