Coffee#1 Glos Rd - my rock

Reliable. Creamy. Still on my Christmas card list.



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Costa, Cabot Circus

Circus indeed, FW prepped and served by clowns. Art granted, but watery coffee topped with 5mm of froth. SHOULD BE VELVETY THROUGHOUT. That's what I pay for, why can't it be what you deliver? Sort it out Costa.


Here's the laugh - on the receipt it actually says "No Monkeys employed at our Costa!" Would that there were - you could train a monkey to pour the microfoam from the bottom of the jug (not the airy froth from the top) so ensuring a delightfully velvety finish. These surly quote unquote baristas clearly can't manage it........
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Anutha disappointment....

Am becoming resigned to this now. Pay more, get less. Nipped into the Boston Tea Party for a FW to go this afternoon. No art, not smooth, watery and bitter. And it burnt my tongue. Meh!


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Sorry - have been neglecting this blog for a bit in favour of Porkmaster General

But back to business. Here's a pic from James:

Flat white from Extract coffee stand at the bottom of Park Street. Very good, smooth and strong. Nice artwork. Only criticism is that it could have stayed hotter for longer. Maybe that's the cup's fault not the coffee's.

I too have had some takeaway FWs recently - but none has satisfied enough to even bother posting - that's how bad it's got. BTW they were mostly Costas - you do the math...

Starbucks, why so bitter?

Texture OK on first sip, but really just a half-inch layer of froth on a bitter Americano. Not nice. And can that really be called froth art? It's no fern. No discernible pride taken. Won't be back.



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/contd.

and look it stayed right down to the velvety bottom.....




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Just in from Signore Cognoscente himself:

"Impressive fernage"

Our correspondent declined to ask the barista for her photo for this august organ, in case he was thought some kind of FW perv. His problem being? Anyway, we're getting cards printed up to deal with this eventuality. There's no shame in loving a proper Flat White. None.


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Out in the sticks

Costa, Barnstaple. An attempt at froth art, granted, but ropey coffee. Shame




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Redemption

Coffee#1, Gloucester Road have pulled it back. They're back on my Christmas card list. This one was textured throughout and had the all-important VB. Foam art created with a spatula tho'. Bit of a cheat that. But I'm still a happy bunny. Win.


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OK, I gave in...

All this fruitless searching takes it out of a body. I went to Costa. And had a Barista Maestro fix me an F-Dub. Top froth art and it was nice, velvety (but not throughout, disappointingly). I dunked my biscotti - what is it if I only had one? Biscotto? Anyway it was nice. Took me back to my Farleys Rusk days (apart from the double espresso shot). I still want a non-Costa Flat White perfect in every way: frothy fern, velvety texture THROUGHOUT and not made with Costa's bitter coffee. The search goes on....


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Homemade - smooth & tasty

OK so the fern went a bit awry, but it tasted nice, real nice; and it was as smooth as silk. Sweet too, down to a sneaky shot of Syrop de Vanille. Proper job.


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Risky - my local tea shop...

Can't afford to burn any bridges here. We discussed the how-tos and agreed a fern was not a sine qua non. And as you can see I got some sweet foam art and a velvety bottom just the way I like it. Nice one! Relieved...





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Let down, badly

You remember Coffee#1 Gloucester Road, well kindly disregard everything that went before. F Dubs (don't think that'll catch on, do you?) are not supposed to go like this after a sip or two. Are they? Where's the velvety bottom we all know and love? The search goes on (at least in this part of the realm). I'm a broken man. No foam art either. I've never had a fern, me. A sad, broken man.


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Brindley Place, Birmingham

More costa this time Brindley Place - you gotta give em 10 out of 10 for FW consistency.

Baristatastic!

Tamworth's all very well, but still no prize winners in Bristol

Best fern yet?


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T-Dawg's F-Dub

Cop that fern

Costa, Watford Gap 6/26/10

Our Midlands correspondent writes:
What a great pair of Flat Whites.
I take back previous comments about service station baristas.


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Coffee#1, Westbury Village 6/22/10

NOT a FW....

To be fair FWs don't feature on the menu, but if they can do them at other C#1 outlets, why not ask. However my grasp of the Slavic tongues doesn't stretch to "folded, textured milk" and "velvety throughout", so I ended up with a cappuccino, and a nice one at that. But not the elusive Flat White. Not going well this week.


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papadeli, Clifton, Bristol 6/21/10

Lovely place, lovely waitress but FW fail. White coffee with 5mm of froth on top. Where's the velvet. Shame.


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Costa - Westfield Centre, Derby

From our Midlands correspondent:

I have to say if you get a good Costa barista they take some beating. However Costa at Woolly Edge Services was a shocker - supports my theory about service station baristas.

My DIY efforts still ressemble a froffychino! Everytime I watch, take notes, ask questions but can never get that Flat White perfection at home. However, my Top 5 tips so far:

1. Must be full fat milk

2. Steam heat to 80 degrees

3. Swill the espresso shot round the cup before adding the milk

4. Tip the cup at angle lowering the cup as your pour the milk

5. Pour off top froth first.

Coffee #1, Gloucester Road, Bristol

This might just be the one. Or at least very, very close. Velvety smooth right down to the bottom and what's not to like about a velvety bottom? Available in double shot or single for lightweights. 9/10 (mark dropped only due to lack of froth art). Bravo.


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Boston Tea Party, Bristol 6/11/10

Messy, but smooth. And strong, SO strong. Nessun dorma!



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Costa - Henleaze, Bristol 5/17/10

In the words of one correspondent: "Pathetic." Is there some strange mystical imagery going on in that foam, faintly occult perchance? Anyway, it wasn't that nice.

Guest contribution - Coffee 2U's attempt

"Like a regular milky coffee with little of the folding foam malarkey I'd been led to expect. Very disappointing - and no fern either."

Costa - Reading Services 6/6/10

I know it looks like it's been messed with, but this is the virgin coffee. I hadn't started drinking, honest. Remember there's a 30+% mark-up over the Americano price. This was a watery Americano with some messy froth on top. No texture, no fern. Meh!