Check out the full episode here ➡kzfaq.info/get/bejne/itd-pa1_zcnKZZs.html

Watching James try not to shit on these and be pragmatic is the best part.

I think what viewers who don’t know James Hoffman need to know is his scale: he has tasted pre ground that is almost 70 years old and amazing coffees that sell for hundreds-thousands per 100g. So his 0-10 is very different to normal and he is being very kind here attempting not to discourage people not in the coffee world

My favorite part of the pandemic was getting high and watching James Hoffman review every piece of coffee equipment that IKEA sells. I must’ve rewatched that video 25 times.

It’s impossible to watch James and NOT have an overwhelming urge to brew a cup!

I love how James is not anti-chain but is very pro-independent. The way he talked about number 4 screamed Starbucks but it was pret. I also love how he wants to encourage people to see coffee differently

I could listen to James talking about coffee all day long. He is like the dumbledore of coffee.

His hair is excellent, he looks like drawings of brainy profs in comics from the 1970s like the Dandy and Beano 😂

I love James and how he talks about coffee and perspective depending on the target audience

I like the way how James H. described this. He is very professional and honest. Thanks for inviting him for a blind taste to this channel.

Ok so I don’t even like coffee but I found this fascinating simple because of the knowledge and enthusiasm in this conversation.

In the coffee world, I feel like James Hoffman is the biggest guest anyone could hope for. I would love to meet him and have him try my coffee and give me some feedback or tips!

James got me into brewing coffee at home. Started with cheap Ikea french press, then a few moka pots, one aeropress, and finally a delonghi machine. There is nothing better than finding an independent shop and try their beans and realising how different coffee can taste when u stop drinking the chain coffee. Probably have tried 16-17 different brands on the last one year and only thing i buy in my foreign travels now a days is beans.

Don’t love McDonald’s coffee myself, and I’ve never been a Starbucks fan… but love learning more every time I see or hear something from James.

I've been on a journey of discovery this year when it comes to coffee and James Hoffman has been a large part of it. My coffee game has definitely been elevated.

Love you guys!! Looking forward to listening to the whole thing. Keep it up!

Always prefer supporting independents - in most areas, local green grocers / butchers, and coffee. I still get a coffee from the big names, but its not my first option. Love James as always!

Caffè Nero is probably the best large chain coffee in my experience. I’m surprised that it wasn’t included in this test. It’s still not great, but by large chain standards I’ve found it to be the best.

I wish you'd included Caffè Nero as well, independent is always far superior but I do think it's the best of the chains in the UK

The difference in price / culture and flavour is so striking compared to here (Italy). Fascinating.

Of the high street chains, Nero with speciality blend is the best by a wide margin. Loads of discounts around too. James for the win!

what James said about Starbucks its true, the beans quality themselves is not that bad, but the dark roasting profiles, non traceable beans and the grocery store no roast date regulation is what makes Starbucks below average. For starters I experimented on buying French Roast (yes their darkest beans to date) and even brewing them with Moka Pot, there is still some sweetness to it (tho smell quite rancid because its a 2 months old coffee, backdate 6 months on the best before date and you will likely get the roast date) because the Arabica beans is quite intact even tho pretty much burnt

What a great and fascinating film, love watching James being nice but very honest!!!!!!

I only drink coffee brewed from the most select, perfectly roasted beans in water that is perfectly pH balanced, with select trace minerals at the perfect ppm, at the perfect temperature. Then I add three tablespoons of sugar and two ounces of Carnation French Vanilla creamer.

Very informative from the start, good content!

Loved this video. Thank you

Man I love James Hoffman

I subscribed. Good video and excellent conversations. Love from Texas

New viewer here - love the platform for James and our growing coffee community! Heads up that it's Hoffmann* with the extra "n"

Was recently on a long weekend in London. Went to all different coffee chains. The only drinkable was Cafe Nero and some independent special coffeeplaces.

2:00 that’s pretty fascinating!

Thanks for sharing!

it's always interesting to see what james thinks of these various coffees, even though im one of those people who really enjoy earthy flavors. therefore we disagree a lot when it comes to subjective opinions of coffees

Listening to James talk about coffee is so interesting

My mom is allergic to citrus (lemon,lime/orange) and now I KNOW why she cannot have COKE from a comment James made in this Coffee video! 🤯

I would always try and independent over a chain if I have the chance. Yes I’ll drink all of the chain store coffees but a good independent makes a huge difference

Im new to your channel (coming from james' channel), just wanted to say you have an elegant set.

Hoffman is a legit legend 🙏🏻

What independent coffee shop was it?? Let’s big it up! ☕️

Sounds about right - i stopped going to Costa due to the quality falling off. Try Nero next!

We dont have Pratt but I agree Costa is the best of the rest, esp when it comes to a Flat White or Cappa, the cup of black I dont know.

I generally think costa is the earth-y one. Pret usually is 'quite all right' for the kind of chain, when it comes to coffee. That said I usually buy something milky espresso-based like a cappucino at chains like that. though I don't mind bitter coffee, I prefer one that isn't. I definitely am not the biggest fan of acid overtones though. Which makes it so that I always look for a coffee that is round and caramel-y in the overtones, but has body without being bitter. And that is honestly the hardest thing to find in my experience :D.

Chain cafes have their benefits 100%. About a year ago, I was in an unfamiliar neighborhood, and I wanted a coffee. Very cartoonishly, I found two cafes side by side. One, a romanian chain called 5 to go, very much built on the Starbucks model, and the second was an independent shop. I went into the second, there was no line either, so why not? Well. The barista inside had his picture on the wall, under a sign that read "unqualified personnel", as a joke, of course, but it was foretelling. I ordered a cappuccino and he gave a Starbucks grande sized cup of bitter and watery tasting espresso mixed with a gallon of milk essentially. The foam was comparable to what you would get from a hand held coffee mixer. Also, the lid to the cup didn't fit well, so I spilled some on myself. And they had a very strange grinder as well. It had a collection cup attached to it, from which he dispensed into the portafilter. Instead of every coffee dose coming out straight from the grinder, into the portafilter, it collected in that container and sat there a while, before being brewed. I sincerely doubt it made much difference, but it was questionable design, unless any of you guys know what the benefit might be, I'd love to know. But, on the whole, moral of the story, I could have gone to the convenience store around the corner, and gotten a vending machine coffee that would have been better

Thing is about the chains is that they are there when you want a coffee , especially Mcdonalds, many a nightshift have they brought joy even if i know its not that great

Pret is my fav chain filter coffee, plus it’s also cheap

Thing with any of these chains is that you also get a completely different experience whichever one you go to based on the skill of your barista. Because the often don't get good training and have to educate themselves a lot

I always choose Pret as my go to coffee when I'm out and about. Prefer the taste to other chains

I enjoy very good independent coffee, but I also enjoy getting a giant "vat" of McD's coffee with lots of cream and sugar to sip over the entire morning at work. Cheap, fast to pick up (no lineup like Starbucks or Timmy's), smooth (less likely to be burnt tasting than both). I know that's because of the dairy and sugar, but I enjoy that mix. I love it when a quality cup is good enough to not need them, but I also enjoy the taste of coffee with cream. James was so respectful. I would have ended on something that he would consider an 8-10 just to leave him with a better taste in his mouth, lol.

The best coffee I ever had was from Nude Espresso when I was on a trip to London . It was so good I wrote a poem about the experience!

Having listened to a lot of James, this made me wonder if there is (or should be) a trend of BYO EQ. I wonder if people listen back to the audio of themselves on shows and think: "That's not how I sound, or not how I would like my self to sound". I guess you're at the mercy of the editor and the limits of the setup (mic, dac etc) but still something I thought about when listening to this. Not that this sounds bad, it's just a very different sound stage/mix that I'm used to hearing James' voice come out of.

They should have put coffee from his company in the line up to see if he could tell

Best coffee I’ve ever had was served in a Co-op in Venice . Cost €1 . It was amazing

I do love mc Donald's coffee much more than starbucks hahaha. Even though he said its bitter. But where I come from we do drink bitter coffee and I don't put sugar in it just cream

Cafe Nero, recommended in England. Get a loyalty card too. One free cup after ten.

Those tiny nuances between the chains is what gets you addicted to them, so when you go literally anywhere else it’s not what you’re used to, and that’s when you know they got ya!!

The best cup of cheap coffee is in my kitchen. But other than that, there are these gas stations here in Florida called Race Trac and they have those machines that grind the beans for each cup of coffee and it's a pretty damn tasty cup of coffee.

I actually quite like McDonald's coffee! 😂 As long as i get a latte or cappuccino it tastes pretty good to my unrefined palate. But Starbucks always tastes really weird to me, at least it does in the one nearest to me.

Would liked them to have Cafe Nero in there.. to me seems to be the best high street one

That was fun!

I got a really fancy light roast bag of beans for christmas from my brother and the bag said notes of apricot. Usually I find these notes vague at best, but damn that stuff actually reeked like sour molding apricots in baby poo! It's absolutely vile by itself but in a tiny amount blended in with my usual dark roast stuff it adds amazing complexity and zest.

In my opinion Cafe Nero has the best tasting coffee of the chains.

My personal favorite is McCafe coffee in Canada (I'm not sure if they use different beans elsewhere in the world)

thanks!

Brilliant. Had to sub

It has to be a subjective view., but I have tried a couple of independents only out of convenience and Idid find they both had smoother and richer flavours. I also noticed that using say Costa the flavour could vary at different times. I hadn't eat or drank anything a few hours beforehand to affect my taste.

I'm actually blown away by this, but only because I think Costa is absolutely dreadful. Maybe I've just had bad baristas but it always tastes like someone has diluted burnt tyres whenever I've had to drink it. McDonald's on the other hand, while not a great coffee, is reliably drinkable (but then they have bean to cup machines so removes the element of human error).

The most exciting coffee I’ve ever had abroad has always been independent coffee shops

If you would drop in Moscow (not recommended) you wouldn't find any of these chains anymore, but independent coffeeshops here is exceptional and cup of filter coffee would cost you no more than 3 pounds

He made a really good point about the independent places trying to mark up their coffee based off the prices of chains, if your nobody and small you gotta grow from humble beginnings before trying to put yourself up there just cause your an independent shop

Its like my kitchen, I have my Gold Blend "intense" then its the Nespresso and ultimately the bean machine. Why? cos I love my coffee, erm well any coffee within reason. But when coffee costs more than a pint of beer its a hard choice except in the middle of winter when its freezing cold, thats when a cup of coffee wins, every time

My favourite is Monmouth Coffee!

2:29 "you don't know what brand these are, neither do I" they are literally written on his cups or on his notepad.

Whats written on the bottom of the silver cups?

This is really interesting. For my taste, Costa is significantly more enjoyable than Starbucks coffee which I just cannot drink. Independent shops, I find, have noticeably better coffee but I've had lots of variance with the same shop - one day the coffee is great and the next is a bit dull.

I think global chains must have totally different suppliers depending on where in the world specific franchises are located, because where I live in Ontario Canada, McDonalds coffee is considered to be really good. At least, as good as you could hope for from drive-thru coffee. Tangentially, I'm always amused by the difference in how "McDonalds" gets pronounced; in North America, we say "Mick", but Brits put a heavy emphasis "Mack".

It is an absolute necessity to cleanse your palate after sampling each coffee. Otherwise, the coffees that follow will have a different taste.

First time seeing the channel up on YT, thanks James, now i have another channel worth subbing to!

Out of the big coffee chains in the UK, my favourite coffee is from Cafe Nero. Independent coffee shops are definitely better.

A&W is by far the best.

Starbucks coffee tastes awful and it's over priced!

Loved listening to this - but i wish the tasting was done with a latte which is what most people drink - the scores would flip - with the sour independent coffee dropping to the bottom.. these high street brands roast specifically to work in latte's & cappuccino's

Thats interesting. My experience has always been that Pret is far nicer than Starbucks or Costa.

I specifically refuse to go to ichains when I'm abroad, the whole point of traveling is for experience, why would i forfeit that by going to something familiar

Costa, to me, is a very strong caffeine content drink. The best I've had is one I had in a garden shop in the Midlands. Had it once never to have it again.

What was his top 3 for quality?

Subscribed good content I must say.

can you do this again for north american chains? Timmies ? etc.

Tim Hortons , Starbucks Verona , McDonalds High Mountain Organic .

Please come to Sweden and taste our coffee! The country where Starbucks failed.

What about Caffe Nero? Always my high-street favourite

I want to try that Cola trick now :)

Love watching James :) Just because a place is independent, it definitely does not equal good coffee, or experience. I've traveled all over the US for work the last 6-7 years, and had such bad coffee at a lot of independent places, I rarely even risk it anymore. Even the ones who price high. I know people love to jump on the "hate big brands band-wagon", however Starbucks has always been a consistent place for a good americano or flat white. I'd say 9 out of 10 times. And unlike some of the independent places, they are always happy to correct or remake anything I don't like. No hassle.

the only way i down a starbucks is with a shot or two of espresso, it comes to around $5. would rather go to other small shops, here in NYC there’s a lot of good ones

Pepsi would rank higher on a blind taste test due to it being slightly sweeter, however people tended to prefer Coke when drinking a full serving (at least during the time of the Pepsi challenge)

If you only drink chain coffee and want to prepare for different taste profiles, switch to iced coffee PLAIN (imo Dutch Brothers is better than SB) and then start off trying more independent shops. Phil'z in CA and Chromatic in Santa Clara if you have the opportunity.

Favorite cup of non-local cafe coffees is still dunkin original blend. Wish they made this just the fast food coffees, including dunkin

I have to agree I don’t like coffee until I go to an independent coffee shop. I can actually drink it and enjoy it

I feel like Nero coffee offers a better quality but again it comes down to personal preference. One thing is for sure that they shouldn’t be priced that highly…

What about Nero? I wonder what James thinks about them?

ordered a latte from starbucks for 5 pound and that's the very last cup of coffee i bought from starbucks