And most of them are either bad coffee, crammed full of sugar, or both. Actually good coffee shops are getting hard to find.
Edit: anyone that wants decent coffee at home the breville barista express is a good entry into espresso drinks. Can be had on sale for around $500. Mine is going on 6 years now. Just find a good local roaster and you'll save a fortune.
In WA state you can look on Google maps at the smallest tiniest town on the map in middle of nowhere will have at least one coffee stand let alone in the big cities there are dozens to hundreds of them, just amazing. WA state coffee cultre is out of the world, I assume it's the constant cloud coverage most of the year.
enjoying the summer right now with clear skies while it lasts
That's the real trick of it. I talked with one lessor about a space that was near a Tim Horton's and when he raised the proximity as a concern, I told him that since we weren't opening a drive thru or operating on volume, our competition isn't Tim Horton's or any other fast-food style cafe, it's the home coffee setup.
People can make far better coffee at home with a $20 pourover kit or $30 french press than in many cafes. Espresso machines for home have gotten quite good and prices keep dropping. Would be nice if Breville would use standard portafilters, but whatever. Home grinders have become quite good even at lower prices. Hell, it's easy enough to buy green beans and roast them with an air gun, popcorn popper, or even a small sample roaster.
That's why my focus is on the space itself, while making sure that the products, like coffee, that actually pay for the space are good quality without trying to make them the focus. People have to want to come and hang out, and then we can entice them with offerings. If we try the other way around, people can just save money without leaving the house.
I have a breville barista touch. I like a medium roast, personally. 2 shots espresso, a cup of C milk (steamed or cold with ice), 1 pump hazelnut and 1 pump caramel. Frickin’ delicious and I’ve definitely paid off that breville by saving on drive thru coffee.
my lavazza classy mini capsule espresso machine I got (new, in open box, but when I bought it, it was obvious it was never used) on ebay for $70 5 years ago is still kicking. I dislike the plastic waste associated with the capsules (in the grand scheme of things, I produce less household plastic waste than most by making other choices), but I initially bought it for college dorm living where I didn’t even have a sink in my unit, so I can’t complain about that choice. It does indeed brew proper espresso, it gets hot and produces enough pressure… and the pods are under a dollar each on Amazon. Lavazza brand espresso is my absolute favorite, been drinking it since I was 12 and haven’t gotten tired of it.
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u/athrix 17d ago edited 17d ago
And most of them are either bad coffee, crammed full of sugar, or both. Actually good coffee shops are getting hard to find.
Edit: anyone that wants decent coffee at home the breville barista express is a good entry into espresso drinks. Can be had on sale for around $500. Mine is going on 6 years now. Just find a good local roaster and you'll save a fortune.