Yes, they recently started using their coffee. Having said that, I don't know if this was a national rollout. I tried it several times on promotion (free) when it they announced the switch from their previous coffee.

Can't say I've tried Costa Coffee from Shell. Will give it a shot next time I fill up at Shell! :)

I just read they pulled it. So I guess I wasn't alone in my opinion.

I’ve got no clue why people are so gung ho on Pret, I’m assuming because they figure it’s European and have never been to an actual euro Pret location?

People treat them like gas station food, it’s not like some top tier cafe lol

Been using JJ Bean espresso roast myself for about a month now, really enjoy it but still doesn’t have that depth Moja does.

Also if you’re in a pinch, Breka’s house espresso blend is actually very good

I don't really see the allure of Pret either, but coffee for the masses, it was not terrible.

If we're talking fast food chains with good coffee - Australian McDonald's is holy shit level!

https://i.ibb.co/sdyKR841/image.png

Proper 3-group espresso machines - 2 of them per shop if not more depending on size, with barista staff dedicated to them. Proper grinders. Proper drinks!

Yes, I find McDonald's overseas takes their coffee pretty seriously. Even in HK and Singapore (select locations,) have dedicated San Remo machines and baristas. I was impressed.

ugh spare me the aussie coffee thing. i have 2 aussie friends and i always rag on them for how insufferable they are about their coffee culture lol. its like in the australian high school curriculum to tell foreigners that aus is the only country that starbucks couldn't make it in.

I honestly don't get it either, when I lived there it was just a bunch of hipster places that served coffee like they did in Vancouver. I mean, sure they had a bunch of Italians and Greeks immigrate over and bring over their method of making the stuff, you don't see the Italians and Greeks making it their whole identity.

Out! Both of you out from this thread! :haha:

We get up and drink coffee at difference times, and don't want to put much effort into brewing a cup. This single serve coffee maker works well for my wife and I:

https://i.ibb.co/KppfnnMb/hamilton-b...grendition.png

For the longest time, we used to run Tim's coffee through it, but we switched to McDonald's medium. I don't know if Tim's changed, or if McDonald's is just better.

Funny thing I find about Australians as well (the few I know well) is that they are crazy about coffee but seemingly don’t really give a shit about the quality which seems so counter intuitive.

Like we have a very good friend who comes to Canada once a year the guy has a very nice machine at home, fund raised at the hospital he works for for a proper machine, and then just buys like “whatever” beans to make coffee with. It’s like just care about getting it in you than actually enjoying a good cup lol

The 3-4 different people from Aus know are all exactly the same, instant or some shit bean, good enough, would -never- spend $25+ for a pound

They have the machines, but they don't always have staff who know how to use them

How can they not know how to use them? Expresso machines today are made to be quite idiot proof. Even high-end machines like LaMa, Slayer or Synesso, they are so precise on everything. One might not have the expertise to properly tune the gears and whatnot, but once it's set, as far as operating them, it's no more than maybe an hour training.

Whenever I am away from home, I'll grab a larger bag of beans, properly dose them and tune my grinder/expresso machine to fit and just leave a note to wife about how much she needs to use for every shot, what temp and time and the result is highly consistent (one of the key points about high-end gears really) and all she took was maybe 15min of shot-pulling 101 from me and that's it.

Because it's aunties working there, and they are taught by aunties who are maybe taught by someone who knows what they're doing

This is absolutely true. The aunties and "ah baks" (think Badhobz) have no idea how to use it and don't want to deal with the machines.

We went to the McDonald's at Admiralty and that's where I saw the San Remo. It was the lunch rush and they had a younger girl working the machine, so I took the opportunity to try a shot of espresso and cappuccino. While it wasn't mind blowing, they did a pretty good job with all things considered.

considering most coffee shops dont make good espresso drinks i wouldnt expect much from any ordinary shop anywhere in the world including aus. there are only a few dozen speciality shops in all of the gvrd that really know what they are doing. go to any super busy neighbourhood coffee shop that is not a hipster shop and ask for a cappuccino. they will probably ask you 8oz, 12oz or 16oz? i doubt aus gas stations and mcdonalds have baristas or the training to actually do things right. when i talk to my friend in sydney about it who is not a coffee nerd, i can tell that as long as someone is pulling espresso shots then he thinks it's good because here in n/a drip is more common which is just a worse form of coffee (often true)

Dem aunties need to stick to working at the Costco food court or focus on making Xiao long bao.