Best Coffee House in the UK????
DTD,
With MacDonald's expanding into exotic coffees and Stabuck's introducing $1 shots (and going down the pan through over-expansion without commensurate turnover), do you think competition may be getting somewhat tight?
grant
Which? report
Coffee shops
Apologies for the long post but I thought it was very interesting. To get the report you need membership. Strongly recommended for the price. I'm sure they'll forgive me for cut and paste in return for some advertising. I hope I'm not breaking any rules - other than copyright...
They have Price - Health - Taste write up. Here it is...
Which? report : Coffee shops | 24 January 2008Price
Where to get the best deal on your cup of coffee.
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Price
Health
Taste
Chains vs independents
A regular cappuccino in Caffe Nero has two shots of espresso as standard
Our team of researchers visited 45 coffee shops around the UK to record prices of four popular products. Overall, independent coffee shops proved the best value. Of the chains, Caffè Nero proved cheaper than Starbucks and Costa Coffee for a cappuccino and a pastry.
For example, you’ll pay an average £1.48 for a medium-sized cappuccino in an independent coffee shop compared with £2.29 in Starbucks. This difference might seem small, but if you buy a cappuccino three days a week, you would save £126 a year by choosing an independent coffee shop over Starbucks.
On average, independent coffee shops are cheaper than the chains
And while Starbucks coffees might be huge, in some cases you could just be paying for extra hot water. In Caffè Nero, you get a double shot of espresso as standard in regular and large coffees (although not in small sizes or espressos themselves), rather than the single shot in Starbucks and Costa, which we think makes Caffè Nero better value.
Verdict
If you are a coffee shop regular, or watching your pennies, you could save money at an independent.
Coffee shop costs
Coffee chain Cappuccino (medium size) Espresso (single shot) Pain au chocolat Chicken salad sandwichb Total - all 4 items
Caffe Nero £1.80 £1.25 £1.06 £3.00 £7.11
Costa Coffee £2.27 £1.33 £1.55a £2.85 £8.00
Independents £1.48 £1.11 £1.15 £2.66 £6.40
Starbucks £2.29 £1.40 £1.17 £2.71 £7.57
Table notes
Sample sizes: Caffe Nero (9), Costa Coffee(9), Independents (18), Starbucks(9).aThe closest to a pain au chocolat in Costa was a chocolate twistbWhere a chicken salad sandwich was unavailable, the closest alternative was chosen
Health
Find out the nutritional values of coffees and snacks.
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Coffee
Ask in store at Costa coffee and staff will tell you the nutritional information for food and drinks
A black coffee with no sugar has practically zero calories and fat. But start adding milk, sugar (about 16 calories a teaspoon), whipped cream or chocolate, and the calories shoot up.
If you treat yourself to a large white chocolate mocha with whip (with whole milk) in Starbucks, that’s 628 calories – more than a quarter of your daily recommended calorie intake.
Healthy tip
Opt for a ‘skinny’ cappuccino or latte. These contain skimmed milk and have fewer calories and less fat.
Cakes and muffins
It’s not always obvious which sweet treats are healthier than others.
A classic blueberry muffin from Starbucks might have fruit in it, but it still contains 591calories, more than a double-chocolate muffin (567 calories). And a fruity flapjack from Costa might sound healthier than the rich chocolate layer cake, but it actually contains higher levels of fat and saturated fat.
Healthy tip
If you fancy something sweet, try Costa Coffee mini muffins, which contain only 71-81 calories each. Or choose a reduced-fat muffin from any of the big three, which contains less fat and calories than standard ones.
Sandwiches
Some coffee shop sandwiches contain more calories, fat and salt than a McDonald’s Big Mac.
Four sandwiches at Starbucks and four at Costa exceed the 495 calories in a Big Mac. Five in Starbucks, four in Costa and one in Caffè Nero contain more fat, and 32 in total contain more salt.
Healthy tip
Chicken or tuna and salad sandwiches are often lower in fat and calories than those with red meat or cheese. Beware high-calorie dressings.
Calorie content
Starbucks, Costa and Caffe Nero don't put nutritional details on unpackaged products such as cakes and drinks.
However, if you want to know more, each has this information on its website. Starbucks and Costa also told us that customers can ask in store for information. We’d like to see clear nutritional information available to customers in all stores.
Caffe Nero
Nutritional information for Caffé Nero Coffee products
Caffe Nero Kcal per portion Fat (g) per 100g Sat fat (g) per 100 g Sugar (g) per 100g Salt (g) per 100g
Mocha with whipped cream (semi skimmed milk) 326Kcal 10.8g 6.8ga 16.6ga 0.2g
Cappuccino (skimmed milk) 27Kcal 0.3g 0.1g 4.8g 0.1g
Mozzarella and tomato sandwich 456Kcal 12.1g 4.8g 1.6g 0.5g
Chicken sandwich with oven roasted tomatoes and spinachb 320Kcal 4.8g 0.6g 2.4g 0.9g
Chocolate
fudge cake 615Kcal 22.4ga 8.2ga 42.4ga 0.9g
Reduced fat blueberry muffin 353Kcal 12.2g 2.3g 18.9ga 1.1g
Table notes
aContain what the FSA considers to be a high amount per 100g of fat (over 20g), saturates (over 5g) or sugar (over 15g).bContains less than 5% fat.Costa Coffee
Nutritional information for Costa Coffee products
Costa Coffee Kcal per portion Fat (g) per 100g Sat fat (g) per 100 g Sugar (g) per 100g Salt (g) per 100g
Mocha flake – whole milk, cream and flake 297Kcal 6.7g 4.4g n/a n/a
Caffe Latte – skimmed milk 71Kcal 0.1g 0g n/a n/a
All day breakfast club sandwich 643Kcal 8.9g 2.9g 3.4g 1.7ga
Roast chicken sandwich 325Kcal 4.0g 0.5g 1.7g 0.9g
Fruity flapjack
423Kcal 36.3ga 21.1ga 27.6ga 0.5g
Blueberry
muffin 505Kcal 21.8ga 2.3g 27.3ga 0.8g
Lemon and orange muffinb 328Kcal 3.3g 2.1g 30.8ga 0.8g
Table notes
aContain what the FSA considers to be a high amount per 100g of fat (over 20g), saturates (over 5g) or sugar (over 15g).bContains less than 5% fat.Starbucks
Nutritional information for Starbucks products
Starbucks Kcal per portion Fat (g) per 100g Sat fat (g) per 100 g Sugar (g) per 100g Salt (g) per 100g
Cafe mocha with whip (whole milk) 396Kcal 12.0g 7.0ga 32.0g 0g
Americano (no sugar or milk) 17Kcal 0g 0g 0g 0g
Cheese and pickle sandwich 505Kcal 15.7g 7.0ga 3.1g 1.0g
Chicken sandwich with lemon and black pepper dressing 285Kcal 3.5g 0.4g 1.4g 0.7g
Chocolate decadence cake 612Kcal 24.1ga 10.1ga 36.2ga 0.2g
Lemon drizzle
cake 198Kcal 15.3g 0.7g 27.3ga 0.2g
Table notes
aContain what the FSA considers to be a high amount per 100g of fat (over 20g), saturates (over 5g) or sugar (over 15g).
Taste
Our undercover expert sampled coffee in each of the big three.
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Taste
Our expert was not impressed with Starbucks's americano
To test the quality and taste, we sent Whittard coffee buyer and taster Giles Hilton to a Starbucks, Costa Coffee and Caffé Nero in central London.
Giles ordered two popular coffees – an americano and a cappuccino – in each shop. He rated them for appearance and temperature, taste and overall satisfaction.
Americano
According to Giles, a good americano should contain a single shot of espresso topped up with a third to a half cup of hot water. But he felt that the americanos he ordered contained too much water.
Starbucks was the worst offender. Giles thought that the cup had too much water, which resulted in a ‘faint coffee taste’. Costa’s was also a little oversized and ‘weak’. Giles liked Caffé Nero’s americano the best, although still a ‘bit watery’, it was ‘on the right track’.
Cappuccino
The ideal cappuccino should be a third coffee, a third milk and a third froth.
Giles thought that both Costa and Caffé Nero served a good cappuccino. Starbucks’s offering was only satisfactory and, while it tasted ‘nice’, was spoilt by being ‘too long’ and having too much froth.
Giles liked Costa’s cappuccino, saying that it was ‘correctly presented and well balanced’. However, Caffé Nero’s cappuccino was his favourite. According to Giles, it was ‘the most professional of the three’.
Taste test results
Type of coffee Caffe Nero Costa Coffee Starbucks
Americano Good Satisfactory Poor
Cappuccino Good Good Satisfactory
Overall score 4 out of 5 3 out of 5 1.5 out of 5
