Has anyone found the escalating price of coffee in restaurants or the posher gastropubs a little alarming? It’s routinely £3 a pop, often higher.
Meanwhile, indie coffee shops hover resolutely around the couple of quid mark. For example, local fave the Fields Beneath, Tufnell Park’s stylish Bear + Wolf, and Kentish Town newcomer Somewhere Over Knowhere all charge £2 for an Americano or long black. Cute NW1 pitstop Two Doors Down clocks in at £2.20, as does seminal Soho joint Flat White. Even better value? Coffee cart Bean About Town, a bargainous £1.70 – but then they haven’t got expensive premises to worry about.
Why, though, are we bean-counting today? Because, at a recent meeting at the Great Northern Hotel right next to King’s Cross station, we were slapped with a whopper of a drinks bill which really took the macchiato.
Sure, its curved Victorian splendour makes for an attractive destination, as does the plush mirrored bar, uniformed staff, and nooks and crannies made for trysts. A sunny afternoon even allowed us to sup outside on its buzzy terrace, observing a never-ending line of black cabs depositing businessmen, or vacationing silver foxes with their gunmetal blondes.
But despite this sense of theatre – of grandeur even – our swiftly delivered Americanos weren’t the slightest bit memorable, at a hefty £4 each. That was before an automatic 10% service; and so, together with just one small bottle of water (at £3.50), we were charged £12.65. Ouch.
We’ve long since passed the eye-watering fiver pint in many London pubs. But will 2015 be the year of the £5 cup of coffee? Or do you know somewhere that’s hit the mark already? Spill the beans below.
9 thoughts on “Is 2015 set to be the year of the £5 cup of coffee?”
Although we charge half that, I don’t feel it’s unreasonable, just go with a different mindset. If you go somewhere grand with silver service, it’s the experience costing that much, not the product. It’s the rare occasion you’d do it, and in this case it’s a shame the coffee doesn’t live up to the price – I recommend tea in these places – even less value when focussing on the 4g of leaves in hot water, but it should be good enough to sit back and enjoy the building, the service and the plush toilets.
The Colombian joint in Nags Head market. £1.10 for a sit down black coffee that, what with it being a Colombian joint, is several times better than anything a KT barista can come up with.
I’m in Paris visiting new coffee bars. About 3€ for a flat white here. Personally I wouldn’t order coffee in a hotel restaurant, not because of price but because it’s not what they do. I usually go after dinner for a coffee elsewhere. Mostly at home.
We take great pride at Great Northern Hotel in serving only rich Monmouth coffee in an extraordinary location. A restorative bolthole, at the heart of city life. Offering unrivalled value for those looking for thoughtful hospitality, luxury, and a warm welcome in luxurious surroundings. Serving only the finest of coffee from breakfast until late.
It is too expensive and there’s a simple solution, vote with your feet – don’t buy it! That way they won’t think they can get away with charging so much. Using Monmouth coffee as an excuse is no excuse. 250 grammes of their best coffee is probably about £5 and it will make about 8 cups of coffee.
It is a lovely bar, and most importantly for most people, it’s not their own dime. But – wowsers, £5? Put it towards a glass of champagne.
Try Fes, Morocco, here you can get a great glass of coffee for around 65p!
Being a pedant, i couldn’t read any further than the flawed headline to this article – which surely should be ‘Will 2015 be the year of the £5 cup of coffee?’
However it must be said that, if the gormless will pay it, then the rapacious will charge it.
Wtf branding bullshit!! and the tailored copy writed answer does not even have a clue about customer service just more a crap sale pitch in the wrong place.
£4 for a coffee is definetly a steal. If a venue wants to charge for the so called “experience” it should highlight a minimum spends to its customers.