5.16 /// Coffee Craze: A Costly Habit or Essential Indulgence?

Hello , and welcome to Infinite Prattle , unscrubbed , unedited prattle , on everything Hosted by me , stephen , listen , like , share , subscribe and enjoy the show . Welcome , welcome , welcome . Thank you very much for joining me on another episode of Infinite Prattle . Infinite Prattle . Um , as I say it in the intro , that's really annoying .

Sorry , I didn't mean to do that again . Well , annoying I say it's annoying . It's annoying coming from me because I did the intro in the first place . Um , didn't really need to say it again , did I ? Anyway , I have had a coffee . Um , so enjoy this episode . Um , so the intro probably didn't really say it properly .

I don't think , I don't know , did it ? I don't know , is going for a coffee a frivolous experience or a nice little luxury we can enjoy every so often ?

And I say that in the main part because it's gone bloody dear to go for a coffee , like these coffee shops that pop up everywhere , namely the big chains I'm not really talking about the smaller ones , because I kind of understand why sometimes they may be a bit more expensive than you expect , they don't have the buying power , etc .

But some places like Starbucks , nero , Costa , coffee , they're quite expensive , they're quite expensive . So I'm going to be looking at today , um , you know the reasoning behind why people still shop there . Because I still do . I'm guilty for it . I have just ordered a coffee machine , though , because I used to always make myself coffee .

So a bit of a backstory here . I'll actually try and do it in some sort of order and um kind of get some uh , semblance of order . Yeah , I've always liked coffee , from probably being an adult , really , when I got into it , I think when I was a kid it's something you don't really drink , isn't it ?

And then I think I just started drinking it , probably when I was at college . We had a vending machine in the college like kind of breakout area . I hate that . Why did I say that ? Breakout ? That's what workplaces call break areas now breakout . It does make sound like you're in prison during the working day .

Uh yeah , during , like in the canteen area , like the common room area , we had like a little vendor machine that dished out cheap , basically freeze-dried coffee with more than likely I would say , probably dried milk , powdered milk and water , and that's probably what got me into coffee .

So it's probably not the best experience to get me into coffee , but that's where it started . And then I started like drinking coffee at home because it does pep you up . You know you don't really need it too much when you're a kid , but you know , when you're a young adult you seem to have energy from everywhere .

I mean , I don't know how I did some of the things I'm only 41 , but you know , sometimes you look back and you think , christ , I could . I was like a Duracell bunny . It could go forever , but coffee just helped . So I used to have the odd coffee and , yeah , I've always enjoyed it . I've always enjoyed it various ways .

I've changed my tastes over the years , like when I first started to enjoy , I used to have it really sweet , really milky , and then I started going through a phase where I wouldn't have any sugar at all and just started to appreciate the flavor of the coffee , probably when I was kind of getting into the taste of it , rather than just a , this is a sweet ,

sweet , bitter drink that I can perk myself up with . And then I started drinking it when I got when I got a proper coffee machine I was about 22 , 23 bought myself a proper espresso machine , a pressure special sound like Sean Connery , um , an espresso machine . Um , there's a weird story behind that .

Actually , I I got myself a bit in money problems because I moved into my own house same money problems I've just been spending frivolously , so I was really watching what I was spending , got myself in a bit of an overdraft . Um , it was one of the things . I was just spending money here and here , there and everywhere , going out too much , etc .

So I just cancelled a lot of things , like cancelled my sky tv , anything that wasn't necessary cancelled , and I'd really wanted this coffee machine . I've been looking at it in argos , which is like a , a catalog um retail shop in england . Uh , well , in the uk I I would say I don't know what you compare it with .

Around the world really , they have shops on the high street , or they used to , and a lot of them are moving into other stores now . But you basically go and fill out a ticket and you take it to the desk and they bring you your items .

And I've been looking in there for this coffee machine and they had it for ages and it was like £150 , so quite expensive at the time . Uh , this is like 20 years ago , like uh I don't have the money . I can't justify it .

So every so often I was treating myself to a little coffee in the coffee shop um , because I used to go out for a little latte every so often . Um , and weirdly enough , they'd reduced it in this big massive sale to 40 pound , because I'm guessing the new one was coming out or they weren't selling them , or whatever , and it was like £40 or £45 .

And I was amazed . I was like that's so much money off ? That's ridiculous . But I didn't have the money and I was like I had to make the hard decision not to buy the coffee machine . I was telling this story the other day at work and then the most bizarre thing happened .

I woke up the next day and I was a bit depressed about it , you know , because I'd been trying I'd been for a couple months trying to really tie my belt , like I was still going out with my friends but I was drinking like water and stuff like that and going to the bar and asking for like a shot of cordial , like fruit cordial , in a pint glass .

It's quite depressing paying 20p for it . That's how much it was at the time . I don't know what it would be now , probably like a quid . So I was just drinking blackcurrant pints and still having a good time , because I've always been the sort of person that didn't need to get drunk to have a good time .

But it's just not nice when you're watching your pennies . But all these things teach you something . Anyway . I got up the next morning I was kicking my heels a bit . I was thinking , oh god , I'm going to miss out on that coffee machine . It's really annoying because I've looked at it for like a year and hummed and hard , and hummed and hard .

But you've got yourself in this situation , so you know . And then I went to go out . I was going to walk into town just to have a , just to get out the house , you know , get some fresh air . I think I had to the doormat and there was , um , a white envelope on the doormat . This is nothing to do with the actual episode .

Now I'm off on a tangent here . Well , it's supposed to do with coffee , uh , and there was a white envelope on the , on the on the doormat , and I thought , what's this ? So no name on the front ? Um , felt like there was something inside of it and when I opened it up , there was £45 on it or £40 , whatever it was the exact amount for the coffee machine .

If it was £40 or £45 , I can't quite remember now , but I remember it being the exact amount for the coffee machine and I was thinking what the ? hell . I opened the door straight away to see if anyone was in the street and I was thinking who's put this through my door ?

Because I'd told my mum that I wanted this coffee machine ages ago , but I'd not told anyone that it had been suddenly reduced in price . I'd not told anyone I was going through some money problems . I told a couple of my best mates , saying I'm just trying to tighten my belt to save up , and not even really got into it .

Then , know , I'd been a bit of an idiot and just spent too much on random crap . Um , so it was really weird . So I was like right , this is money I didn't know I was gonna have . I've really . You know , I've tied my belt in . I've got everything covered this month , done my shopping , just need to go and get some bits . The money's there for that .

This is , this is like a . This is , this is . This is karma . This is karma . Surely this is karma , surely this is karma . And I phoned my mum and didn't really explicitly say to her did you send me some money or did you get someone to put some money through the door ? And I spoke to my dad before I went and spent it .

And I went now to the Argos store in Crewe and I bought that coffee machine and lugged it home because I didn't realise how big the bloody box would be . I think I called my dad in the end and saying , can you come and give me a lift home ?

I bought someone it's huge and , um , I think , ironically , he treated me to a coffee um before , before going to get it , uh , because I think I left it in the Argos to pick up later . I think that's what I did in the end . Anyway , that's not really important , isn't it ? But I bought this coffee machine .

That was my first experience in my actually making my own espresso coffee from scratch , and what it was ?

It was actually a percolator on the left hand side , uh , in the center it was a , an espresso machine , so proper , like um , pressurized , um , oh god , what do they call the bloody thing where , how you , you know , you put the coffee in yourself and you , you tamp it down and all that on the right hand side was a milk foam and it came with all the bits

and bobs , a little milk foam in a little metal jug , the glass jug for your filter coffee , and I used the actual glass bit for filter tea . I used to put tea leaves in it and filter my own tea , make them look like a pot of tea . It worked really well actually . So I never really used that for coffee at all . That was like a pot of tea .

It worked really well actually . So I never really used that for coffee at all . That was like a tea percolator for me .

And that was my first experience and that got me really into coffee then and I started going to coffee shops a bit more often and I think I've had a previous episode of my Cafe Nervosa , which was a place called Riminis in Crete and that's where I used to frequent quite a lot with my friends and go for lunch and coffee and I'd probably grab a couple of

coffees from there a week but it didn't really break the bank too much . Like a coffee was like I think a latte was like £1.80 , £1.70 , something like that . So a few times a week , you know , didn't really break the bank and I could account for that .

Nowadays not so much Like I don't know like my wage has gone up since then and I'm probably in a better place financially but I kind of I don't know . Money goes up like inflation , blah , blah , blah , blah , but the price of the price of coffee now just seems exceptionally dear , and I am . I am buying into it because I went to Starbucks today .

I had a freebie , so I went to Starbucks today and I've been coughed for a couple of times this week and I do spend probably too much money and that's why I've ordered this new coffee machine , because I decided enough is enough . I've ordered a new coffee machine and it's like an espresso pod and I know the environmental impact , blah , blah , blah .

You can recycle them now . They're all recyclable , so it's not an issue and I'm going to recycle . Um , so fear not people , but I've ordered this thinking . You know , the coffee machine itself was on Black Friday sale . It was 45 pound for the coffee machine , got great reviews and it takes the law .

Coffee pods and espresso coffee pods from all the different brands and I ordered some Amazon Basics coffee pods and I got 100 , so that's 100 drinks , 100 shots of coffee .

So yes , I have to have my own milk if I want to make a latte , but I buy milk anyway for like £13 or £14 , so that's insane to me , like I mean , I know it's only like one little shot . It's not a proper espresso .

The coffee's probably not , maybe as good , but I'm going to be paying like 13p for a cup of coffee , like minus the cost of heating the water up . Yes , yes , yes . But even if you say with milk and the coffee , maybe even £1 , £1.50 I'm spending per drink .

That's a damn sight less than going to Costa Nero Starbucks , even a local coffee shop , and buying a coffee .

And it does make you think that the prices of the coffees in there nowadays and I'll go through some in a minute and I think it'll shock you and it really really irks me now because when I go in , I think it's literally hot water , a shot of coffee or some foamed milk , um , and a shot of coffee , and you're really really paying .

Paying that much because the experience isn't even there anymore . I think these places have gone too generic . So I'll go into that in a minute .

But , yeah , so I'm going to be when it , when it arrives , um , I'm going to be literally 13p a day , um , for a coffee , and I can make it at home , I can put it straight in my takeaway cup , get it straight to work and not have to make a bypass journey on the way . I can do it myself whenever I want . Yeah , so I'm really pleased .

So like over a space of a week , that's like going to cost me . So like 13p times 7 is that's not right ? Maths has never been my strong point . Yeah , so like , yeah , it's not even a pound , is it ? No , like 91p . So I'm paying a pound a week for the pods and then say I say I get through like three pints of milk , four pints of milk .

Milk in the uk at the moment for a liter . Uh , like four pints is like about 150 to 180 . So you're talking I can make seven coffees . How much ? How much is in ? How much is in a liter ? So okay , so take it five days a week for working . So five days of a week , four pints , one litre , so 200ml in each cup about .

So I can make five coffees for £1.55 . And if each one costs me 13p for five days , so this is for my weekday coffees for going to work , this is for my weekday coffees for going to work .

It's going to cost me basically £2.20 for my five weekday coffees for work and commuting and then I'll drink shit coffee when I get there if I want , if I want another perk up , but £2.20 for five days of coffee and then if I want one at the weekend or whatever , I'm trying to cut down on the lattes and I'm trying to move back to Americanos and just black

coffee with maybe a little sugar in , because I'm trying to cut down on the calories . I'm trying to lose some weight . I sound like jack black on the tenacious d album there . Um , yes , I'm trying to lose some weight , so I probably will even eliminate that .

1 pound 55 , so it's a quid if I use them for seven days without milk and you're probably talking at the most . Three quid , three pound fifty if I have milk every day in an espresso shot and like I'll just go through some of the prices in the uk right now .

So I I don't go starbucks as much anymore , namely because there's not many in crew , uh , that are accessible on the way to work . Costra is normally the one that I'll go to because they're just a bit closer on the way and if I I'm honest with you , you get better service there .

Like in general the staff are nicer and and I'm not saying that they're all bad in Starbucks around my area , but that's just my experience that generally the cost of staff are a little bit more engaging , and even if they're putting it on a little bit to be nice , then it's nice that they're trying to be nice , whereas I've been in Starbucks a few times

recently and the service is just like what do you want ? There's the money , take the money . Here's your receipt , here's your receipt , here's your drink . And it's just like , wow , just paid a lot of money for that drink . He could have at least smiled at me .

So yeah , so a latte in Costa Coffee which is probably using about 200 , 250 mils of milk for a medium . In fact . I think this one might be for a small . It's £4.40 per drink £4.40 . So one drink is more than what I would spend in an entire week if I make them myself , which is insane . And a cappuccino is £4.40 .

And these prices are coming off costapricescouk . So this is where I'm getting the information . These seem reasonably up to date . From my visits recently , I know these can vary as well , because obviously you have franchises and you have motorway services that are a little bit more expensive . But an Americano is £3.80 .

So just literally a black coffee , so made with espresso , yes , fair enough . But then , topped up with hot water , is £3.80 . And that would literally cost me 13p to make it myself , maybe double it to boil the water , whatever it is to boil the water , um , but crumbs that's . It's a shocking difference .

So the three places I mainly frequent are Costa , nero and Starbucks and Nero . I do like Neroero's coffee . Costa's alright , it's very strong . I was watching James Hoffman . I've mentioned him before . Great , great , great great YouTube channel . If you like coffee , he reviews coffee stuff . He reviews machines , techniques and everything .

So if you like coffee , go and give him a check out . He's not going to thank me because he doesn't know me . It's not like an affiliated . He's asked me just to say to you because I'm no one , but I just enjoy his channel . Go and check out if you like coffee . Um , and he did a thing where he tested caffeine .

Caffeine in costas is very high and I think that's why I like it . It is a bit addictive though , and I do notice if I don't have a costa it does . It does kick my heart a bit . Um so nero . This website is called menu pricecouk . It doesn't really say when the prices are from .

It kind of hints on the on the google search that it is from like november this year or september maybe , and the prices again seem seem reasonably accurate . So again , a grand latte is £4.40 . Um , flat white is £4.15 . A mocha regular size is £4.25 . A regular latte is £4.10 . So slightly cheaper than costa , I think .

Is that , yeah , so a little bit cheaper , the kind of like middle of the road prices , because I think they only have two sizes . And then then we get onto Starbucks , and Starbucks are kind of a different entity in pricing .

They have a lot of speciality coffees , like you know , like the gingerbread ones and such things , and it can be quite shocking to to see the difference in prices and to see the actual um you know , to see the actual when you see it in front of you , thinking that's , that's what I'm paying for a drink .

And then when you compare it to what I've just said about like how much um you can do it for at home if you buy a machine , fair enough , there's a bit of an out expense , but , like them , machines are quite clean because it's literally you put your coffee pot in , you press a button and it does it , and then it ejects the pot and there's really no mess .

It doesn't like get the coffee grounds everywhere and all you have to do is every so often , just like run , run some um cleaner through the machine so it doesn't get all all uh crystallized up um from like hard water and stuff . What's it called ? What's it called when you get Happens in kettles as well ? Oh , I can't think of the word .

You know what I'm on about , though . You know what I'm on about

, but yeah . So the difference here is a cafe latte in Starbucks is £4.55 , which is insane . It is insane . A white chocolate mocha £5.70 . I think these are the small ones . So I was in , I was in Starbucks today and one of the drinks was uh , oh , there it is . Uh , caramelized , a macadamia oak latte £6.65 .

And some of the drinks that were like in the £5 area were just either the small or the lot or the medium ones , not even even the large ones . Some of the large drinks were like six , nearly seven pounds . And to put that into perspective for my American friends , let's see what Like what , was it £5.85 for a cream Frappiato ?

We have a converter now , don't we ? On the Apple calendar , what are we doing for currency ? Let's see what we're doing for currency . Let's see . So , currency pound I'm sure this is riveting for you hearing me search British pound to dollar , american dollar , australian , dollaradian dollar , where's ? Oh , it'll be under the us , okay . So five pound 85 is 7.33 .

Now , is that how much you pay for a caramel cream frappiato ? I don't know , I don't know , uh , would you pay four pound 4545 for a latte which is £5.58 or $5.58 ? It just seems like a lot . It just seems , it seems like a lot . And listen , I've told you I'm guilty . I go these places , I still purchase drinks .

It irks me , but I like the taste of them , but I'm not getting the experience . I don't think I don't think I'm getting the experience . Like I sit down , sometimes they're really busy , they're sometimes full of kids and I love kids . But you know my , my idea is a coffee experience is to it should be a relaxing experience .

It should be about the taste of the coffee , um , the the texture of the milk . I sound like a right bozo , um , but that's what it should be . The experience in my head .

Like seven years ago I was in morocco and I was drinking really good filter coffee or , surprisingly , espresso coffee , surprisingly good for my hotel and having fresh donuts and I was sat on a little pavilion like a little like seating cafe area where they did the evening meals .

But during the day it was like a cafe area , just looking out , watching the birds , reading a book , not even having headphones in because it was quiet and just enjoying the coffee black coffee at that and just eating a donut and it was just bliss . That's . That's what my coffee experience is .

You go to nero costa starbucks and they're just packed and very rarely do you see them empty . Now , like , especially the ones in my area , like I don't live in , like I don't consider my area to be like an affluent , affluent area I do live in Cheshire , but I just think where are people getting the money ? Like , where ?

And it's like , like for me , I'll go in sometimes I'll have like a toasty in the morning . I'd treat myself in the morning , have a toasty and a coffee . I'm trying to do it less and less and less .

Now it'll be like seven or eight pounds for that and you see people going as a whole family and they're all ordering fancy coffees , large ones , medium ones , sandwiches .

Um , I mean , I really like the beyond meat breakfast bap from starbucks , from you know , vegan , uh , vegan cheese , the vegan patty I think it's vegan the Beyond Meat stuff in a little roll and they are now , I think , £6.80 . £6.80 for one and they're not even that big . They are delicious .

I really enjoy the flavour of them and they are delicious and I would buy them a lot more if they were cheaper , um , and that that kind of wraps me up really is they're obviously not lowering the prices because people are still buying stuff from there . So and it's like everything in life , isn't it ?

Unless people boycott something or stop doing it as often , things that are never going to change . And I just would like to know the profit margins on these coffees ? Really would love to know . And on these sandwiches , like I know that beyond meat stuff's a little bit more expensive . Vegan cheese a bit more expensive .

Vegan eggs probably more expensive , um , is it six pound 80s worth of expense , like I just feel like that sandwich just costs like maybe 1.50 max to make . And if they sold it for three quid you know I'm not a businessman Even if they sold it for £4.50 , they're still making 100% profit . It just mind-blows me that they get away with that .

But I am buying into the system , but no longer . It will be a treat for me going forward , and only if I'm going to get the experience out of it . I think that's the thing .

Where I'm going to leave it there is it'll be a treat unless I'm going to get the experience , because when I go in they're really busy and I have to kind of shut off and I can't hear what my wife's saying or my friend's saying , and that's not the experience for me .

I want to go to I might start going to like local , quiet cafes that have something about them and have speciality coffee rather than mass-produced stuff . Yes , I'm gonna leave it there because I've rambled on far too long about coffee , but I like coffee . It's too dear . I bought my own coffee machine . I'm gonna try and use it also .

Try and lose a bit of weight by not having milk every day . And you know what do you do , though . Do you buy ? Do you buy into the system ? Do you think it's worth getting a five pound coffee , because not everyone has a coffee machine at home that can recreate that or is it a little treat for you ? Is it something you go in ?

Go ask my treat for going to the gym this week , or , um , you know you've done something in your life , and ? Or it's a treat to go meet your friend in there and and have a chat and and do you tolerate the old , the noises and everything that are going on there ? Is that acceptable to you ? Do you mind that ? Am I just a moaning old bastard ?

Anyway , thanks for joining me , this has been Infinite Prattle . Have a great week and I'll speak to you next time you've been listening to Infinite Prattle . Thanks for listening . If you liked this episode , go back and listen . You've been listening to Infinite Dreadhull . Thanks for listening .

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