Costa coffee -opinions

It’s ****

Agree with the previous poster, coffee in Ireland is frequently bitter. I can drink espresso abroad no problem without milk and sugar, couldn't do that here.

In my local Spar Tim Hortons (pretty good) was replaced by Seattle's Finest (awful, undrinkable).

Can't stand Costa... very burnt also hugely overpriced. My local artisan coffee shop does fantastic coffee at 2.20 for a decent Americano... so why is Costa something like 70c more than that ?

Also get treated like a human being rather than another face .... people barely looking up from the till and the 'barista standing with their back to you throwing coffee out ..

I find Costa to be much more expensive than other places and the coffee is not great at all.

Like a lot here, I would always go for a good independent place where you usually get better quality beans, but sometimes these places aren't great for meeting up with people due to less seating and business (and I feel guilty hogging a seat for an hour with just a coffee tbh) so the larger chain places can be handy for that aspect on occasions. Of the chains I would probably go for Insomnia (their new fit outs are very comfy seating wise too), as the coffee is drinkable and not extortionate, but far from great.

Norah Ambitious Checkers wrote: »

a skill that doesn't necessarily have to extend to being able to do a bit of frothy art, in my opinion.

agreed. It makes no difference to me.

here's my understanding
Starbucks and costa sell coffee drowned in milk. They don't really care that much about bean quality because the milk is used to cover the taste.
Starbucks (and i presume Costa based on comments here) use cheaper burnt beans, hence many people here noticing that the coffee is bitter.
The head barista of an international bean producer once told me that if you order a black coffee in Starbucks they will serve a better quality bean as the taste of the burnt bean would be undrinkable without milk. (he was based in the UK so not sure if this stands up in Ireland)

re Push button machines, if serviced and maintained properly they produce a really consistent quality coffee (but not artisan standard from a really well trained barista) I have sampled numerous commercial machines at the supplier's shop and the standard of coffee will be far superior to a coffee from any of the chains that use baristas. However, I accept that these machines were regularly serviced and kept in tip top condition. out in your average garage it is unlikely that the machines are regularly cleaned with line wash.

In short, if you want a good coffee go to an independent where their livelihood depends on their coffee standing out, and support your small business owners. we actually have a really great sector of artisan cafes in this country.

p.s. if anyone has ever come across a cafe selling black ivory (coffee beans sh1t out by an elephant, or the other one that uses weasels or ferrets to sh1t the bean I'd be curious if they'd tried it)