Coffee

Much rather find an independent than one of the chains.

The Monmouth Coffee experience is still of a wonder to me

Nero for me too. Almond croissant.

When I dated a Sicilian he said Nero was the nearest to proper Italian coffee.

I despise Costa. Their coffee tastes like burnt dishwater. Starbucks not much better.

But none of them come close to walking into a genuine Italian coffee bar and standing up at the bar to drink an espresso with an accompanying pastry. And NEVER ask for a cappuccino after 11am unless you want to get sneered at!

I much prefer Starbucks for iced drinks and Nero for hot. Starbucks example - the hot caramel macchiato tastes almost burnt, whereas the iced one is cool and refreshing. In Nero, I like their hot chocolates, and they do pretty good lattes.

I had a Costa mocha the other day and it was nothing special. Pretty generic. I only really got it as I needed a coffee to drink while I waited to be seen in an audition and the only cafe near the bus stop I was at was Costa.

Monocle shoppe

I go to the one with the hottest barista. I like something sweet with my coffee.

Wetherspoons is great when I have time to kill with an average price around £1.25 including unlimited refills.  Waitrose coffee is free with even a tiny purchase like one carrot though it's a pain to have to carry a cup round these days to get one  McDonalds is fine for me, especially the Flat White, and Subway using points or Greggs with a breakfast roll are good value

I get my McDonalds coffees for very little money but best not to say how, though it's pretty well known. In Subway the points from food purchases soon build up and it's only 100 for a coffee; I've over 2200 banked at the moment.

Don't do Starbucks, Costa Coffee or the like. Okay if you want somewhere to sit and socialise but not good value for quick takeaways.

Oh BurlyBear

Can picture you in the Nero’s down Oxford Road, use both myself the one near Oxford Road Station and the by Holiday Inn.

I really don't like coffee but drink it when I'm out as in town centres it's impossible to get an old-style huge pot of tea with hot water & lots of milk (tea rooms and garden centres are still reliable in this respect) and if I drank what I liked all the time (hot chocolate), I'd be the size of a barrel.

The "free" coffee in Waitrose is disgusting (I've tried latte, espresso etc) but I still have their latte at every opportunity as it gives me a chance to sit down briefly in the warm and use the free wifi and loos.

My compromise if out and paying is a mocha, but since Curzon cinemas changed the chocolate they use, theirs has been too sweet, as is that used by all the chains I've tried, eg Pret, Costa etc.

Chain-wise, I avoid Starbucks for tax reasons and Nero is ridiculously expensive, so if I am using a chain, I prefer Pret (quick service, more affordable, discount for use of own cup), with Costa or Eat as back-ups.

Flavoured drinks in all these places appal me as they're like drinking liquid sugar - how do people swallow this stuff and what is it doing to them?

If anyone can recommend a place which makes a mocha which isn't overly sweet, I'd love to know, please.

I have a cafetiere at work, so my money can be spent on showtunes and holidays.

If I do purchase then it would be a flat white and if it has to be a chain then Nero wins handsown.

Pret do good coffee but as its owed by McDonald's then I try to avoid, which I find very easy to do.

Whenever Im in the UK either independent or Costa. Dont like Starbucks much. Been to Caffe Nero twice and didnt enjoyed the taste of their coffee. Costa's cappuccino is great.

But in all seriousness, being a bit of a coffee snob (Hey, I'm an ex Barista I get to be right?) I also prefer independant ones. They're a semi-chain now but Coffee 1 have excellent coffee. And currently I'm lucky that the cafe that shares the building I work in has been taken over by an Italian family restaurant (Giovanni's for any Cardiff residents) so I'm getting lots of real Italian coffee sent my way...spoiling me for anything else!

Of the chains I prefer Costa, because theirs is at least strong enough to taste. I do however have a Starbucks a stone's throw from my house, and it's my go to 'work' coffee shop so I find myself drinking that more.

Don't be fooled by the McDonalds link - they bought a 33% chunk of Prêt back in 2001 but flogged it a few years later. Prêt's actually now a German-owned, Luxembourg headquartered company with Austrian parents!!  Shame they don't do Viennese coffee and pastries!!