Comments on: A test of Blends – Costa Coffee Vs. Caffe Nero Vs. Starbucks

By: Free Coffee Samples

Free Coffee Samples — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 09:50:59 +0000

Free Coffee Samples…

I couldn’t understand some parts of this article, but it sounds interesting…

By: Gaz

Gaz — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 23:41:02 +0000

I go to Italy all the time on business and Costa and Cafe Nero are just as good as the Cafe’s in Rome, Milan, & Palermo. I live in London so don’t know what all your cafe’s are like but these two chains here are just as good as our Italian cousins. Well that is when you drink it the italian way – without milk. There is the occasional day when it tastes like rubbish and i just throw it away but on the whole it’s great better than I seem to be able to make with my espresso machine that cost over £500…what a waste of dosh that was.

But I fully agree with that person that said Starbucks is just coffee flavoured milk haha too right it’s horrible in there!!!

By: George

George — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 11:28:16 +0000

I wish people paid as much attention as you used to these days. I think it’s the fault of the automatic machines. The right volume of coffee will come out of them, regardless of grind/freshness/tamp. That’s why most espressos (including Costa’s and Nero’s) look emaciated. If the machines were semi-automatic and the shots were always timed, the improvement would be incredible.

But this is a good reason many people prefer Starbucks over the others: it doesn’t matter at all how good/bad their espressos are, because most people are having them disguised with loads of milk and flavourings (something Starbuck’s does well and which it is easier to make consistent).

By: Guarde

Guarde — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 13:01:55 +0000

dont know if this is a dead thread? Just like to big up my local bucks….of course they are what they are, but some of the core team at my local branch have been there for 5 years, and really love their coffee! Blanco is right, bucks are a mass corporation not a boutique, so their standard “coffee cocktails” are just that….very standard. It then comes down to the individual store. The manager has the potential to generate interest and sales around wholebean coffee/origin and that comes down to his or her ability and drive to create a team that wants to do this.

At my local, when it’s quiet the guys sample out a few different coffees, (some fresh in Papua New Guinea last time!) and we swap coffee stories, and share great admiration for Cup of Excellence and Rwandan coffees! When I ran a Costa, we checked shot weight and grind three times a day, and all my staff had to understand what they were drinking. Espresso has moved on soooo much since then (6 years ago!) but we did the best of what we had. If we want the big boys to do better, lets suss out the stores that do it right and make more of them do that! (Very simplistic, but you know what I mean!)

By: amir khattab

amir khattab — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 23:12:22 +0000

i just remember getting a double espresso at costa once and it looked like pepsi..
n starbucks is a bit too fast foody, but i know what you mean about the staleness. its all foil packed but every fifth bean seems to be a bit dry

By: jim

jim — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 23:09:27 +0000

Just poorly brewed usually. In terms of raw ingredients that I bought from each store the Costa stuff was the least awful. For various reasons Nero’s didn’t give themselves the fairest shot by selling me some very stale coffee (which was the same coffee they were using for service). Which was a shame.
I would describe none of the three chains as having particularly Italian espresso. Nero does seem to be the least offensive whenever I speak to the general public though.

By: amir khattab

amir khattab — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 23:03:53 +0000

tastes too dry in my opinion. as far as italian espresso goes neros is the only one thats even close. im not talkin lattes etc but espresso? nero all the way ;D

By: jim

jim — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 23:02:02 +0000

Costa’s coffee was by far the lightest roast of the three.

By: amir khattab

amir khattab — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 22:14:18 +0000

starbucks = coffee flavored milk
costa = overly roasted, over priced nescafe
caffe nero = ACTUAL espresso that doesnt rely on accesibilty to a mass market to build a niche in the market

By: George

George — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 21:09:54 +0000

This is outrageous! You are perfectly entitled to post a review of their products and it can be as badly-written, derogatory or biased as you like (not that I’m suggesting anything of the sort, but I imagine that was something claimed by whoever forced you to take it down). As long as it is not libellous (i.e. factually wrong or misleading, combined with derogatory), there is nothing anyone can legally do to stop you. That’s what free speech is all about.

If you see this, please can you e-mail me to clarify why you took it down?