Which train companies offer real (not instant....) coffee ?

[Justin Smith]

I was on an East Coast HST (First class) today and the coffee was instant.
I asked them about it and they said all East Coast trains served instant coffee, but that's wrong surely. Unless my memory is playing tricks with me the last time I went East Coast it was filter coffee.

I know we're all spoilt these days, at one time I used to drink instant coffee and not think anything of it, but now I'm not too keen.

So which train companies serve real coffee ? ! ?

 

[142094]

AFAIK you can get either instant (Kenco) or filter coffee in the cafe-bar on East Coast. Unfortunately you'd have to pay for your coffee to be the filter variety in first class, as they only do instant for free.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

I was on an East Coast HST (First class) today and the coffee was instant.

Me too! I would have preferred filter coffee and a real choice of breakfasts!
(ie I would have preferred a kitchen with chef on-board.)

On a well laden long-distance service, there's no doubt that an economically viable demand for a wider range of catering exists; my journey today was on the 8 hour Chieftan, (during which time EVERYONE wants to eat), and even first class remained at about 70-80% full.

I know we're all spoilt these days, . . . , but . . .

I wouldn't use those words but think I agree with your sentiment. A profitable business plan based on a "spoilt" customer base is still a profitable business! I base my hunch about the potential demand partly on the willingness of first class pax to pay a little more for good food & drink and good service. I think EC staff still provide excellent service, esp for First Class, but the food offerings on many services could be better - much better, (and its becoming quite a bugbear for me), but it might require a different business model to deliver it effectively and profitably.

 

[dk1]

NXEA has similar 'proper' coffee machines to Virgin Trains. I find the Latte very good.

 

[devon_metro]

FGW also serves 'real' coffee

 

[silentone]

East Coast (or it's various historical names) have always on used Instant Coffee in First Class. On occasions and some dining services the Restaurant Host will provide freshly ground coffee if it's practically possible. The instant coffee has not always been of the same brand, it's currently Kenco Really Smooth. (The red one)

The term 'Filter' coffee is hugely misused. A filter coffee or 'drip coffee' is actually the process of water passing through ground coffee beans through a paper filter. During the process the coffee will lose the essential oils from the coffee. This oil is known as the Crema and is the golden covering on the top.

The process used in Coffee chains and onboard machines is not drip/filter coffee but is actually Espresso based coffee in which hot water is pressurised through the coffee grind which gives a far higher concentration. When you ask for a filter coffee you are actually getting an Americano! (A watered down espresso)

 

[richw]

if mcdonalds/wetherspoons (both use identical machines manufactured by a company called black & white) can sell proper freshly ground coffee for around £1.39 for latte and cappucino, surely the train companys could get similar machines,

 

[Justin Smith]

AFAIK you can get either instant (Kenco) or filter coffee in the cafe-bar on East Coast. Unfortunately you'd have to pay for your coffee to be the filter variety in first class, as they only do instant for free.

Tight gits, surely it doesn't cost that much more.
I'm sure that the coffee on GNER tasted a lot better than the stuff I was served up today. It was so bad I only had one all the way from Aberdeen to Newcastle, even though it was "free" ! That said, it isn't free at all, you pay for it in the ticket price. Still, if it isn't that nice they'll save money because fewer people will actually bother drinking it !

Instant coffee sucks, only don't try the latter if it's too hot, or you'll get burnt lips.......
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

if mcdonalds/wetherspoons (both use identical machines manufactured by a company called black & white) can sell proper freshly ground coffee for around £1.39 for latte and cappucino, surely the train companys could get similar machines,

Absolutely.
Good enough for McDonalds customers but not, apparently, for East Coast customers.....
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

East Coast (or it's various historical names) have always on used Instant Coffee in First Class. On occasions and some dining services the Restaurant Host will provide freshly ground coffee if it's practically possible. The instant coffee has not always been of the same brand, it's currently Kenco Really Smooth. (The red one)

The term 'Filter' coffee is hugely misused. A filter coffee or 'drip coffee' is actually the process of water passing through ground coffee beans through a paper filter. During the process the coffee will lose the essential oils from the coffee. This oil is known as the Crema and is the golden covering on the top.

The process used in Coffee chains and onboard machines is not drip/filter coffee but is actually Espresso based coffee in which hot water is pressurised through the coffee grind which gives a far higher concentration. When you ask for a filter coffee you are actually getting an Americano! (A watered down espresso)

You are of course correct, I myself have just upgraded from a filter coffee maker to an Espresso maker at home.

 

[merlodlliw]

Wrexham and Shropshire only use real ground coffee.

 

[142094]

I'm not sure what brand of tea East Coast use in first class as well, but it tastes a bit funny.

 

[philjo]

I found the tea served to me in standard class on East Coast almost undrinkable last time I travelled.
You can get a choice of teas (e.g. earl Grey, green tea, herbal teas etc) on most train companies e.g. FGW, EastMidlands, Virgin, W&S, Eurostar etc. EastMidlands & Virgin also had them on the trolley & offered to go back to the buffet to get it once when the trolley had run out. Their standard tea is uaully much nicer as well.
you only get the standard offering on east coast- looks like I'll have to take a flask with me next time! GNER always used to do the Twinings teas & it was much better & a bit cheaper too!

 

[jamesontheroad]

Wrexham and Shropshire only use real ground coffee.

There are all kinds of interpretations of what that means, sadly.

Filter coffee, as explained by silentone, is also known as drip coffee. It's extremely common in the States, where it is always a pleasure to pull into a gas station or diner and get good cheap fresh coffee poured from a jug. It's unsophisticated, but at least it's fresh and tasty. Amtrak use it on their trains, incidentally.

"Fresh ground" coffee can mean many things, but on a train it is most likely to mean an intergrated, low maintenance, one-button operation "bean-to-cup" device, which grinds the beans for just one cup as it goes. "Fresh ground" doesn't necessarily mean made by barista etc etc etc.

I'm gradually getting over my own arrogant coffee snobbery, but instant coffee has always revolted me. I see nothing wrong with filter/drip/jug coffee, and I can't taste the difference between a bean-to-cup machine's coffee and that made by a minimum wage barista in Starbucks. Ultimately it depends most on the quality of the beans used, and despite all their marketing guff I've never really liked the taste of Starbucks, Nero or Costa beans.

For sophistication, the best coffee for me for me has to be Italian or French espresso. Cheap, strong and the perfect start to the day, served outside a traditional Parisian bistro or on an Italian piazza. But for day to day homely warmth, I love the simple weak but warming taste of filter coffee in an American roadside diner.

 

[rail-britain]

I'm not sure what brand of tea East Coast use in first class as well, but it tastes a bit funny

It should be Twinings English Tea
It's taste can vary on how strong it is, personally I prefer it quite weak as it becomes too bitter when strong

I usually only have one tea, and then orange juice after that

 

[142094]

Cannot be certain of course but it didn't taste like Twinings Breakfast Tea last time I was on board, had a strange taste to it, almost as if it had some flowery flavours to it. One person sitting opposite me asked if he could just have a teapot with hot water, he'd brought along his own tea bags. Might have to remember to bring my Yorkshire or Ringtons bags next time.

Grand Central had an advert on a while back saying they were using tea from a company called Mad Hatter, and this had a peculiar taste to it. However last time I was on a GC the cup was PG Tips, so not sure what happened to the Mad Hatter stuff.

I normally drink quite a lot of tea, so I could probably go through 3 or 4 on a normal Newcastle - London run. However I've learnt my lesson to use the toilet just before the Cross as I've had to run a few times and forgot the 30p charge as well.

 

[sheff1]

This is a real bugbear of mine. As the quality of coffee served eleswhere gets better (even, as has been pointed out, at the likes of Wetherspoons and McDonalds) that on trains gets worse.

When Voyagers were introduced on cross country trains through Sheffield the one saving grace was the bean-to-cup coffee machines. Now we get only instant.

On Midland Mainline you used to get fairly reasonable filter coffee with your breakfast. I have no idea what the barely drinkable stuff is nowadays.
Even worse if you travel first class at weekends - after making your way to the counter where 'you MUST show your ticket before ordering' you are presented with a cup of hot water and a sachet of something alleged to be coffee but which is, in fact, undrinkable save in emergencies - the instant stuff sold to standard ticket holders is preferable. I no longer bother and make sure I purchase before I board.

 

[Justin Smith]

I found the tea served to me in standard class on East Coast almost undrinkable last time I travelled.
You can get a choice of teas (e.g. earl Grey, green tea, herbal teas etc) on most train companies e.g. FGW, EastMidlands, Virgin, W&S, Eurostar etc. EastMidlands & Virgin also had them on the trolley & offered to go back to the buffet to get it once when the trolley had run out. Their standard tea is uaully much nicer as well.
you only get the standard offering on east coast- looks like I'll have to take a flask with me next time! GNER always used to do the Twinings teas & it was much better & a bit cheaper too!

If it`s ever a choice between instant coffee or tea, I`ll choose tea, until they start using instant tea of course....
The only thing about tea, for me any way, is I want a biscuit or cake with it whereas I don`t mind (decent) coffee on its own.
Incidentally, whatever happened to instant tea ?
Didn`t they try selling it in the 70s or 80s ?

 

[jon0844]

Instant tea went out with windows that line up with seats on trains.

 

[googolplex]

I'm not a coffee person, so I normally have tea or sparkling water. I've noticed the orange juice is the from concentrate stuff, which I find has a funny after-taste.

 

[Greenback]

Instant tea was vile, nasty, repuslive and foul! I tried some once and said never again!

If it has now disappeared, I'm delighted!

 

[jamesontheroad]

If it has now disappeared, I'm delighted!

PG Tips still sell it!

http://www.pgtips.co.uk/teas/

 

[142094]

Instant tea is quite handy for flasks, no need to add milk which would only cool the tea down and mean when you go to drink it it is already cold.

 

[Mojo]

For someone who despises coffee and thinks it's the devil's drink I have always got the impression that there is something wrong with instant coffee, which seems to be the objection for most people to trolley services instead of buffets on trains. For a tea drinker I honestly can't tell the difference.

Is there some reason that they can't make "coffee bags?"

 

[142094]

Thougt they already had done that somewhere?

 

[DaveNewcastle]

Is there some reason that they can't make "coffee bags?"

Shudders at the thought!

Next you'll be suggesting putting milk in plastic bottles instead of glass, or putting screw tops on wine bottles, or slicing loaves of bread before selling them! Stop being so silly. You'll only give the train companies more daft ideas.

 

[JohnB57]

Is there some reason that they can't make "coffee bags?"

Coffee bags are and have been available for years. Here for example - http://www.coffeeperfection.com/coffee-bags.php

 

[TDK]

Wrexham and Shropshire only use real ground coffee.

If you want to be be picky they actually use coffee beans that is ground by the coffee machine in the new coaches
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Instant tea went out with windows that line up with seats on trains.

My bro bought some just the other day but then again Mark 3's are still going strong

 

[jon0844]

I was only joking, but today I did learn that you can get coffee bags - which I never knew existed!!

 

[TheExmoorBeast]

I always prefer freshly brewed coffee, but there are rules.

1. Always use freshly drawn (or filtered) water.

2. NEVER pour boiling water on coffee (or tea!) it burns it & impairs the taste.

3. Always use a kettle, not a still/water boiler, the oxygen in a water boiler/still gradually disappears so it again impairs the taste.

4. Always wait at least 20 seconds for the water to stop bubbling before adding it to the coffee or tea.

5. Always warm the Teapot/Cafetiere beforehand.

5 simple rules for excellent tea/coffee.

Before you ask I don't know of any companies that offer proper brewed coffee anymore, I suspect that H&S rules probably disallow it! :roll:

 

[silentone]

if mcdonalds/wetherspoons (both use identical machines manufactured by a company called black & white) can sell proper freshly ground coffee for around £1.39 for latte and cappucino, surely the train companys could get similar machines,

Correct. Many places use those machines and I have in the past had a great amount of dealings with the company responsible for the machines and what happens on East Coast is nowhere near like what goes on at these places.

I think East Coast actually use the same Coffee Beans as McDonalds, I could be wrong.

If a machine stops working anywhere the company who maintains them 'First Choice' will come out and repair it within hours. They also perform maintenance at regular intervals. All the cover needed is part of the contract to maintain the machines.

Every company provides all the required information to staff on how to operate the machine from startup to end-of-day. Certain staff, usually Supervisory to Management, are also shown how to taste test and alter the machine to deliver a superior product.

None of this happens on East Coast. There are very basic instructions for startup, operation and cleaning, although that's a problem which really is mirrored throughout everything.

East Coast also use UHT milk in these machines which doesn't help at all as they were designed for fresh milk.

 

[merlodlliw]

Instant tea was vile, nasty, repuslive and foul! I tried some once and said never again!

If it has now disappeared, I'm delighted!

Recall the old days of BR (late 50s/early60s), on a few trains and buffets,you could not tell the difference between tea or coffee, I agree instant tea is awful stuff nothing like the leaf in the pot that used to clog up eveyones sink and the famous 30 cup chrome covered teapots that stood on a heater for hours on Crewe station buffets.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

I always prefer freshly brewed coffee, but there are rules.

1. Always use freshly drawn (or filtered) water.

2. NEVER pour boiling water on coffee (or tea!) it burns it & impairs the taste.

3. Always use a kettle, not a still/water boiler, the oxygen in a water boiler/still gradually disappears so it again impairs the taste.

4. Always wait at least 20 seconds for the water to stop bubbling before adding it to the coffee or tea.

5. Always warm the Teapot/Cafetiere beforehand.

5 simple rules for excellent tea/coffee.

Before you ask I don't know of any companies that offer proper brewed coffee anymore, I suspect that H&S rules probably disallow it! :roll:

Spot on beast.