Forum Topic

Can people no longer make coffee at home?

I have no wish to put coffee shops out of business.  However, I am astonished at the lengths people go to to buy a cup. I know of two neighbours who work from home and each morning they get into their cars head to the high road and come back within a very short space of time bearing cups of coffee.  There are others who walk daily to the local coffee shops and bring back Coffee in paper cups to their homes. I know you can get a really good cup of coffee at some of the coffee outlets, but equally it is possible to make an excellent cup at home1. Without adding to pollution2. Without putting themselves and others at risk by queuing outside these establishments where baristas often don’t wear masks and sanitize between customers. 3. The cost of a decent cuppa is sometimes extortionate so a decent machine and some wonderful coffee beans or ground coffee at home the cost would soon be recouped.

Sean Wales ● 2268d41 Comments

I think I’ve commented on this subject before, forgive me for repeating myself. I’ve never had a decent coffee in the High Road. I make my coffee at home.  Cheaper, convenient and relaxing .

Maureen Yakoubi ● 2267d

I agree - I cannot abide a lot of the coffee that you can buy in various places, sometimes I think the resemblance to actual coffee is merely a coincidence.During lockdown, we had so many things go kaput, but the worst and earliest disaster was my husband acidentally smashing the cafetiere - we hunted high and low to find a stand by until we could buy a replacement, and found a single cup one I'd used at work. Our computer went west, followed by the shower unit, the tumble drier, and just recently the washing machine,  the worst though? The loss of a decent sized cafetiere for a proper caffeine hit.

Vanessa Smith ● 2267d

I believe that the coffee these peeps are buying have addictive chemicals in them somehow; I don’t know, but I agree, there seems to be an explosion of the numbers of people with money to waste on high street coffee that’s hitting the £3 mark - addictive and so fashionable with the young & older liberal leftwingers that mainly occupy this wealthy west London enclave!

c james ● 2267d

That's plain daft.

Keith Iddon ● 2267d

You could be right c james they put these addictive chemicals everywhere.I swear they put them in pints of Doom Bar and Tribute.Infact I am so worried about this I am going down to Cornwall in September for some expensive Addiction therapy the treatment is based on homeopathy.

Mick Collins ● 2267d

Agree with Keith what the bloody hell have 'left wingers' to do with coffee?

Vanessa Smith ● 2267d

1) Coffee and addictive chemicals (Conspiracy) 2) Wasting money on artisan high street coffee3) 'fashionable' young & older people4) liberal left wingers  in  wealthy west London.Folks its Bingo

Matthew Swain ● 2267d

Coffe and leftys  go tegether like TFL and the Sunshine bus...https://philiphunt1066.wordpress.com/2019/11/07/jeremy-corbyn-and-millionaire-wife-laura-alvarez-corbyns-coffee-business-caught-exploiting-the-worlds-poorest-migrant-workers/

Mick Collins ● 2267d

Corbyn was a political disaster in his own right, and there is no need to discredit him further with this scurrilous report about his wife. The fact is that Cafe Mam's beans are sourced from a producer cooperative which sells on FairTrade terms, and Laura Alvarez buys them from an Oregon importer. The costs of shipping, roasting and packing are huge in comparison with the prices received  by producers, and the discrepancy between the green and roasted price is not unusual. As regards the title of this thread, I too cannot understand why people would want to buy take-away coffee to drink in the street. Is it laziness, or, since so many people do it, is it considered "trendy"? I particularly object to those who discard the containers in other people's front gardens.

Robert Fish ● 2267d

I rarely drink coffee but when I do I find coffee from those pre-filled holders  that you put over a mug and pour hot water through fine taste-wise.  Much better than instant, anwyway.

Claire Moran ● 2267d

Puzzles me too - I think it must be some sort of fashion thing. People just want to be seen with a cardboard cup of coffee in their hand.I used to work in a place that had free espresso coffee in the office but people still went out to Starbucks etc and paid for a take away coffee. When challenged they said it was better coffee. It wasn't.

Will Watson ● 2267d

With so many months working at home it is nice to have a routine that involves leaving the house. I think it is harsh to judge people for what might be their only bit of human contact/normalcy in a day. It isn't necessarily just about the coffee, but mental health, too.

Alexandra Grace ● 2267d

Cause it is Alexandra working from home can do your nut.Anyway good thing about this thread I have learnt a new word from Robert "scurrelious' I havent got a clue what it means but Im going to slip it in to some of my Zoom Pressos next week and see how it goes I do hope it's not rude i'm trusting Robert on this.

Mick Collins ● 2267d

Agree Claire, those machines are full of bacteria.

Janice Evans ● 2267d

Thanks Sean for your post. People actually making a car journey for a coffee?? This is the mentality!  Goodbye planet!!!

Juliet Hogg ● 2267d

Try spelling it 'scurrilous'. I'm fortunate in that I'm not part of the 'coffee cult' - I'm happy with a decent cup of tea.

Colin Jordan ● 2267d

No no I will spell it any way I like its my new word MINE

Mick Collins ● 2267d

I cannot recommend the Aero-Press Coffer Maker highly enough. Simpler technology for simple people. Obviously not good if you have company. I did get addicted coffee sachets at work and had to go "cold-turkey" - a dreadful experience.Incidently, is'nt scurrilous one of those words invented by Shakespeare?

Cllr Sam Hearn ● 2267d

I don't understand the fuss and I think it is addictive.  A lot of these coffees are made from or with syrups aren't they? Yuck!  I'd rather go for a walk.  There's something new and interesting to be found every day.  It doesn't have to be food.  Yesterday it was a large green caterpillar walking up a lime tree trunk.  Hopefully it will live on to become a lime tiger moth.

Philippa Bond ● 2267d

'Did Shakespeare invent 'scurrilous?' Apparently not. But it seems he DID invent: academe accessible accommodation addiction admirable aerial airless amazement anchovy arch-villain auspicious bacheolorship barefaced baseless batty beachy bedroom belongings birthplace black-faced bloodstained bloodsucking blusterer bodikins braggartism brisky broomstaff budger bump buzzer candle holder catlike characterless cheap chimney-top chopped churchlike circumstantial clangor cold-blooded coldhearted compact consanguineous control coppernose countless courtship critical cruelhearted Dalmatian dauntless dawn day’s work deaths-head defeat depositary dewdrop dexterously disgraceful distasteful distrustful dog-weary doit (a Dutch coin: ‘a pittance’) domineering downstairs dwindle East Indies embrace employer employment enfranchisement engagement enrapt epileptic equivocal eventful excitement expedience expertness exposure eyedrop eyewink fair-faced fairyland fanged fap far-off farmhouse fashionable fashionmonger fat-witted fathomless featureless fiendlike fitful fixture fleshment flirt-gill flowery fly-bitten footfall foppish foregone fortune-teller foul mouthed Franciscan freezing fretful full-grown fullhearted futurity gallantry garden house generous gentlefolk glow go-between grass plot gravel-blind gray-eyed green-eyed grief-shot grime gust half-blooded heartsore hedge-pig hell-born hint hobnail homely honey-tongued hornbook hostile hot-blooded howl hunchbacked hurly idle-headed ill-tempered ill-used impartial imploratory import in question inauspicious indirection indistinguishable inducement informal inventorially investment invitation invulnerable jaded juiced keech kickie-wickie kitchen-wench lackluster ladybird lament land-rat laughable leaky leapfrog lewdster loggerhead lonely long-legged love letter lustihood lustrous madcap madwoman majestic malignancy manager marketable marriage bed militarist mimic misgiving misquote mockable money’s worth monumental moonbeam mortifying motionless mountaineer multitudinous neglect never-ending newsmonger nimble-footed noiseless nook-shotten obscene ode offenseful offenseless Olympian on purpose oppugnancy outbreak overblown overcredulous overgrowth overview pageantry pale-faced passado paternal pebbled pedant pedantical pendulous pignut pious please-man plumpy posture prayerbook priceless profitless Promethean protester published puking (disputed) puppy-dog pushpin quarrelsome radiance rascally rawboned reclusive refractory reinforcement reliance remorseless reprieve resolve restoration restraint retirement revokement revolting ring carrier roadway roguery rose-cheeked rose-lipped rumination ruttish sanctimonious satisfying savage savagery schoolboy scrimer scrubbed scuffle seamy self-abuse shipwrecked shooting star shudder silk stocking silliness skim milk skimble-skamble slugabed soft-hearted spectacled spilth spleenful sportive stealthy stillborn successful suffocating tanling tardiness time-honored title page to arouse to barber to bedabble to belly to besmirch to bet to bethump to blanket to cake to canopy to castigate to cater to champion to comply to compromise to cow to cudgel to dapple to denote to dishearten to dislocate to educate to elbow to enmesh to enthrone to fishify to glutton to gnarl to gossip to grovel to happy to hinge to humor to impede to inhearse to inlay to instate to lapse to muddy to negotiate to numb to offcap to operate to out-Herod to out-talk to out-villain to outdare to outfrown to outscold to outsell to outweigh to overpay to overpower to overrate to palate to pander to perplex to petition to rant to reverb to reword to rival to sate to secure to sire to sneak to squabble to subcontract to sully to supervise to swagger to torture to un muzzle to unbosom to uncurl to undervalue to undress to unfool to unhappy to unsex to widen tortive traditional tranquil transcendence trippingly unaccommodated unappeased unchanging unclaimed unearthy uneducated unfrequented ungoverned ungrown unhelpful unhidden unlicensed unmitigated unmusical unpolluted unpublished unquestionable unquestioned unreal unrivaled unscarred unscratched unsolicited unsolicited unsullied unswayed untutored unvarnished unvarnished unwillingness upstairs useful useless valueless varied varletry vasty vulnerable watchdog water drop water fly well-behaved well-bred well-educated well-read wittolly worn out wry-necked yelping zany

Andy Murray ● 2267d

scurrilous (adj.)"using such language as only the licence of a buffoon can warrant" [Johnson], 1570s, from scurrile "coarsely joking" (c. 1500, implied in scurrility), from Latin scurrilis "buffoonlike," from scurra "fashionable city idler, man-about-town," later "buffoon." According to Klein's sources, "an Etruscan loan-word."Though Shakespeare might have made it famous?After all, he said a lot of famous things, did Will!

Richard Cathcart ● 2267d

Good point made earlier about people needing to escape in lockdown. However it is the special car journey that irritates me.

Sean Wales ● 2267d

Re Shakespeare. I can believe all those words are attributed to him, but many, surely, just in print, which is what the OED cites. I cannot imagine that ‘dawn’ was not a named concept earlier.

Vivienne Cox ● 2267d

Did Claire say anything about 'those machines' being filled with bacteria? Whatever, you've put me right off.

Anne England ● 2267d

The ideal water temperature in espresso machines is 90-96°C. I would have thought that would kill off most bacteria. Perhaps the first few cups of the day might be a bit dodgy.

Robert Fish ● 2267d

Mick - from Google "scurrilous/ˈskʌrɪləs/Learn to pronounceadjectiveadjective: scurrilous    making or spreading scandalous claims about someone with the intention of damaging their reputation.    "a scurrilous attack on his integrity"    h    Similar:    abusivevituperativederogatorydisparagingdenigratorypejorativedeprecatoryinsultingoffensivedefamatoryslanderouslibellousscandalousopprobriousvitriolicvenomousunfoundedill-foundedgroundlessbaselessunsubstantiatedunwarrantedunsupportedinsupportableuncorroboratedunjustifiedunjustifiablebitchycontumeliouscalumniouscalumniatoryaspersiveinvective    humorously insulting.    "a very funny collection of bawdy and scurrilous writings"

Jennifer Selig ● 2267d

Andy - what a wonderful post - I have managed to spend quite a while looking up the meanings of some of these lovely words.  In particular:-Budger  -  Hornbook  -  Nook-shotten  -  Skimble-scamble  -  Tanling.Bet I'd get some odd glances if I dropped these into casual conversations.  What a wonderfully, descriptive language English is.  Thank you Will and Andy too.     

Jennifer Selig ● 2267d

Lime scale is a breeding ground for bacteria.

Janice Evans ● 2266d

Anne, was agreeing with Claire for her choice of the filters, they are cleaner than any coffee machine.

Janice Evans ● 2266d

In our walking escapes from home during lockdown and beyond we encountered a word new to us which was used by Shakespeare as one of our finds was a medlar tree...

Philippa Bond ● 2266d

Anne, Google bacteria in coffee machines.

Janice Evans ● 2266d

But professional coffee machines, if the baristas are performing routine daily and weekly cleaning, shouldn't be a problem. The bacteria horror stories are surely mostly about domestic machines?

Robert Fish ● 2266d

Well actually I stop drinking from the machines years ago because I was working with a Company that hired out these machines and if you was to see the state of them when they came back for servicing you would not want to drink anything from them, some cafe's are using filter so quite safe,

Janice Evans ● 2266d

I am, sipping my home brewed coffee, and enjoying the quiet irony of contributors to ChiswickW4 getting steamed up over the origin of the word "scurrilous". I have long loved the word "panache" since a previous employer insisted that we do everything with panache. It comes into our language via French and Italian and apparently describes the way that a person walks when they have a feather in their hat.The blokish French Monarch Henry IV (our Charles II's grandfather) used to employ the admirable battle cry of "Ralliez-vous à mon panache blanc!" or "Follow my white plume". I am told that after umpteen republics many Frenchmen (and women) still venerate the name of "Le bon Roi Henri" and his salty reputation. His partly mummified head apparently survived the revolution. True panache.In French Canadian Panache can mean the antlers of a deer or moose. So be careful how you use the word next time you are in Montreal.

Cllr Sam Hearn ● 2266d

I too love the word ‘panache’ and coincidentally used it in a letter I have had published in the most recent ‘New European’ but you’ll need to buy your own copy if you wish to know to whom it was applied.As for coffee, I also grind and brew my own but I have enjoyed a cup or two at Chief, but that may only be because it gives me the right to mess around with their pinball machines downstairs.

Alastair Banton ● 2266d

Then there is the culinary term, panaché. Does it refer to the "flamboyance" of the colour mix of different vegetables, fruits, etc?

Robert Fish ● 2266d

I bow to your professional knowledge, Janice. I must say my only concerns before were about the cloths used for wiping the steam wands.

Robert Fish ● 2266d

It's your choice Robert, my partner still drinks from them I tend to go for cold drinks when out and about which has not been for sometime obviously.

Janice Evans ● 2266d

Ive just been down to Hush Hush and had a Baked Panache ..it was luverrleee it was cooked on a need to know basis and cash only and I had to eat it hidden under one of the staffs dresses incase an LBH operative came in.. .. well worth the effort.

Mick Collins ● 2266d

Very hush hush then.

Vivienne Cox ● 2266d

Panache is a great word as is élan.Un panaché is also great but is a rather disappointing shandy when you order it in France I buy coffee occasionally and take it home sometimes. It didn’t occur to me that some people are judging me because I carry a coffee when they have no idea what the circumstances are.Amar is the current favourite with me, which is a takeaway coffee place.

Stewart Jones ● 2265d