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Leeds Station - Coffee Upgrades?

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johntea

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The White Rose is now The Beer House, reopening today apparently. Looks like SSP are just branding all their station pubs under that name as can also be found at Charing Cross, Glasgow Central, Manchester Victoria, Newcastle Airport, Paddington, Victoria and Waterloo!
 
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Goldie

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I'll miss the White Rose with its honest mediocrity. The Beer House is a reminder that in SSP's eyes, there is nothing that it cannot strip of any soul, commoditise and sell back to you.
 

Joseph_Locke

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Modern digital coffee will almost certainly require a complete upgrade of the now-antiquated analogue water transmission system and relocation of the coffee control system to a new climate controlled building. If NR have anything to do with it the new equipment will require the beans to be sourced from one supplier only and ground to a specification that is pretty much impossible to achieve. Oh, and the grinder will only be able to work in a possession and will break down frequently, assuming that the unions don't object to Barista-only operation.
 

GRALISTAIR

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Modern digital coffee will almost certainly require a complete upgrade of the now-antiquated analogue water transmission system and relocation of the coffee control system to a new climate controlled building. If NR have anything to do with it the new equipment will require the beans to be sourced from one supplier only and ground to a specification that is pretty much impossible to achieve. Oh, and the grinder will only be able to work in a possession and will break down frequently, assuming that the unions don't object to Barista-only operation.

Brilliant Mr Locke.
 

yorksrob

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The White Rose is now The Beer House, reopening today apparently. Looks like SSP are just branding all their station pubs under that name as can also be found at Charing Cross, Glasgow Central, Manchester Victoria, Newcastle Airport, Paddington, Victoria and Waterloo!

It was a bit dingy. It could do with the tidy up.
 

johntea

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SSP have applied for permission to change Pumpkin on P15 to 'Coffee Room'

Wonder if they'll use the whole space of the shelter and get rid of the current waiting area during the refurbishment as there is very little 'coffee room' in the current Pumpkin layout!
 

ag51ruk

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SSP have applied for permission to change Pumpkin on P15 to 'Coffee Room'

Wonder if they'll use the whole space of the shelter and get rid of the current waiting area during the refurbishment as there is very little 'coffee room' in the current Pumpkin layout!

There is a 'Coffee Room' at Stoke, that replaced the previous Pumpkin. You can look forward to basically the same products but at higher prices
 

61653 HTAFC

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SSP have applied for permission to change Pumpkin on P15 to 'Coffee Room'

Wonder if they'll use the whole space of the shelter and get rid of the current waiting area during the refurbishment as there is very little 'coffee room' in the current Pumpkin layout!
I'd rather they hand that building over to Starbucks, so that the bridge can be freed up for, I don't know, maybe getting from one group of platforms to another?
 

CaptainHaddock

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SSP have applied for permission to change Pumpkin on P15 to 'Coffee Room'

Wonder if they'll use the whole space of the shelter and get rid of the current waiting area during the refurbishment as there is very little 'coffee room' in the current Pumpkin layout!

Can't we have a platform 15 micropub instead?
 

Goldie

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SSP have applied for permission to change Pumpkin on P15 to 'Coffee Room'

Nooooo! I'll miss Pumpkin's tentative late nineties go at upselling the station buffet. Maybe the NRM needs to recreate one as an exhibit before they all go? SSP have clearly got their eye on another 20% of our money for a given item of food or drink, and it seems that they will stop at nothing to get it. Ruthless.
 
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Bletchleyite

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Nooooo! I'll miss Pumpkin's tentative late nineties go at upselling the station buffet. Maybe the NRM needs to recreat one as an exhibit before they all go? SSP have clearly got their eye on another 20% of our money for a given item of food or drink, and it seems that they will stop at nothing to get it. Ruthless.

Wonder will it accept Bite Cards? Mine still seems to work...for now...! :)
 

61653 HTAFC

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Nooooo! I'll miss Pumpkin's tentative late nineties go at upselling the station buffet. Maybe the NRM needs to recreat one as an exhibit before they all go? SSP have clearly got their eye on another 20% of our money for a given item of food or drink, and it seems that they will stop at nothing to get it. Ruthless.
Then vote with your wallet... it's not like there aren't better-value options on the concourse at Leeds. Spare a thought for passengers at Taunton who have a choice of Pumpkin or a 10min walk to the town centre and another 10mins back.
 

cactustwirly

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I'd rather they hand that building over to Starbucks, so that the bridge can be freed up for, I don't know, maybe getting from one group of platforms to another?

Well SSP are a Starbucks franchisee, they have multiple outlets that I suspect are ex Pumpkin, including the Starbucks at Taunton station.
 

61653 HTAFC

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Well SSP are a Starbucks franchisee, they have multiple outlets that I suspect are ex Pumpkin, including the Starbucks at Taunton station.
I was aware that Starbucks at stations were SSP, but not that there was now one at Taunton as I haven't been there in a decade. However if I have time I'll use a Starbucks at a station on a whim, whereas I'll only use a Pumpkin if I'm desperate.

To be honest, the Pumpkin brand is a turn-off now- a relic of the late '90s/early '00s that hasn't aged well... which is probably why the rebranding is being rolled out.
 

stut

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To be honest, the Pumpkin brand is a turn-off now- a relic of the late '90s/early '00s that hasn't aged well... which is probably why the rebranding is being rolled out.

I once had to wait in the Pumpkin in Peterborough on a Friday night. I saw a man crying into his pint. It felt right.
 

Goldie

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I once had to wait in the Pumpkin in Peterborough on a Friday night. I saw a man crying into his pint. It felt right.

I was once so surprised at the price of a Pumpkin chocolate muffin that I threw the massive handful of change which I was intending to pay for it with all over the baked goods.
 

stut

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Nobody is going to call the Fraud Squad if you invent one.

Loudly announcing 'DICK' never fails to be rewarded with either a titter from behind or a weary eye roll from the staff. :smile:

"Clint" is another fun one. I'll let you figure out why.
 

xotGD

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I was aware that Starbucks at stations were SSP, but not that there was now one at Taunton as I haven't been there in a decade. However if I have time I'll use a Starbucks at a station on a whim, whereas I'll only use a Pumpkin if I'm desperate.

To be honest, the Pumpkin brand is a turn-off now- a relic of the late '90s/early '00s that hasn't aged well... which is probably why the rebranding is being rolled out.
I'm not fussed about the branding, but Pumpkin coffee tastes a lot better than the stuff that Starbucks serve up.
 

cactustwirly

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I'm not fussed about the branding, but Pumpkin coffee tastes a lot better than the stuff that Starbucks serve up.

They both taste mediocre, but slightly better than Maccies coffee (which is quite acidic)
Both are tons better than some lukewarm instant brew, with UHT milk found onboard trains!
For good coffee, you want to go to Pret, Soho, or Caffe Nero, or even better a nice independent coffee shop!
 

mafeu

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This morning at Leeds the Delice de France was double staffed to cope with the surge in demand from ex-Starbucks customers. Hopefully these customers have now discovered what coffee ought to taste like. I can't tell what is being built in place of Starbucks.

It’s the same coffee at Pumpkin, Ritazza and Upper Crust.

Coffee - like most things actually - is a subjective thing anyways. People have different pallets.

My preference will always be for a Starbucks. The only place I tend to avoid is Nero.
 

Bletchleyite

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It’s the same coffee at Pumpkin, Ritazza and Upper Crust.

Coffee - like most things actually - is a subjective thing anyways. People have different pallets.

My preference will always be for a Starbucks. The only place I tend to avoid is Nero.

For a decaf, Starbucks any day. Only place decaf is (a) proper beans rather than packaged rubbish, and (b) tastes of coffee.

Other than that I mostly drink tea these days (and it's fairly hard to get that wrong). Caffeine-rich coffee seems to churn my stomach if I have too much, but I do still partake occasionally.
 

johntea

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I find the McDonalds coffee to be quite decent, plus you can essentially have 100 of them for a tenner if you search certain popular online auction websites!
 

NorthernSpirit

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I'd rather they hand that building over to Starbucks, so that the bridge can be freed up for, I don't know, maybe getting from one group of platforms to another?

What about replacing the Pumpkin on Platform 15 to a series of coffee vending machines? One machine could offer Starbucks to go, another could be a generic Klix machine that serves Nescafe coffee, Cadbury's hot chocolate, PG Tips tea, Starburst fruit drinks and Knorr soup, with another machine being a Costa machine.
 

xotGD

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What about replacing the Pumpkin on Platform 15 to a series of coffee vending machines? One machine could offer Starbucks to go, another could be a generic Klix machine that serves Nescafe coffee, Cadbury's hot chocolate, PG Tips tea, Starburst fruit drinks and Knorr soup, with another machine being a Costa machine.
Klix - Dreadful!

We used to have them at a former workplace and one of the drink options was some kind of hot fruit concoction. At least the wasps enjoyed it.
 
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