Latest news with #coffee
The Sun
5 hours ago
- Business
- The Sun
I work at Costa – the five annoying things people always do – please stop ordering whilst on your phone for starters
A WOMAN who works as a barista in Costa has revealed the most annoying traits of customers. Lauren Taylor, from the UK, took to social media to inform people about what they shouldn't do when ordering a coffee. 2 2 The first annoying thing many customers do is simply forget their manners. Lauren will greet customers with a 'hello' but instead of saying it back, many bark their drink order at her. "A simple hello goes a long way," she reminded them. Another grievance of Lauren's was that customers would not pick a size for their drink, instead insisting they wanted a 'normal' size. She urged them to simply look at the available sizes and pick one. The barista was also fed up with customers thinking she was a mind reader when it came to what coffee they wanted. Many would ask for 'just a coffee' despite having twenty different ones to choose from Lauren would often suggest a classic Americano with milk, but would be corrected by the customer that they wanted a latte. The barista was often stuck calling out the coffee order to the customer standing in front of them with no reply in return. She said it seems like customers often forget what they ordered or choose to blatantly ignore her. Huge coffee chain with over 1,300 shops to close high street shop Last but not least, Lauren was sick of customers ordering their coffee while being busy on the phone. Not only was it rude, but customers often order the wrong drink as they're preoccupied and then blame the barista. "Somehow, this is still my fault," she said. The video has since gone viral on her TikTok account @ laurenjtaylor with over 88k views. Costa Coffee loyalty scheme perks COSTA Club members can get early access to new menus among other perks. To join download the Costa Coffee app, it's free to download via the Apple app store or Google Play store. Stamps can be collected in any of the chain's 2,800 coffee shops, as well as around 12,000 machines in petrol stations and convenience stores. You can get stamps for spending in store and using a reusable cup. You get a free drink after collecting ten stamps, or beans as they are called. For a small latte, at £3.50, it's £35 to get a free coffee. Those going to a Costa store can earn an additional bean with a reusable cup, so that cuts the outlay down to £17.50 or buying five coffees. How it works: 1 drink purchased = 1 bean, 10 beans = free drink Small latte cost: £3.50 Number of drinks to hit target: 10 Cost for a 'free' coffee: £35 Reusable cup bonus: Yes, one extra bean You also get free cake on your birthday. Plenty of people who work in hospitality took to the comments, sharing their own stories. One person wrote: "I work at Greggs and I feel your pain." Another commented: 'I had a woman last week ask me for a normal coffee… she wanted an oat milk flat white." "'Regular latte' 'Ok medium' 'No?? Small,'" penned a third. Meanwhile a fourth said: "I work at Costa and can confirm all these things are 100% spot on." "As someone who works in a cinema I totally understand this! No one ever tells you what they actually want,' claimed a fifth. Someone else added: ''Can I get a white coffee' then proceeds to argue with me that a white coffee is a latte and there's no such thing as an americano with milk.2
Telegraph
7 hours ago
- Business
- Telegraph
The 10 best cafés and coffee shops in Manchester
Manchester's restaurant scene is booming and so too is its collection of more casual coffee shops. In the city's laid-back cafés, you can start your day with the perfect flat white, enjoy a top-notch brunch with your cuppa, sample some of the city's best doughnuts with a cold brew, or drink coffee from the café's own roastery. If you're looking for a caffeine fix while exploring the city centre, here's our pick of the best coffee shops in Manchester – from bijou joints, where the focus is on delivering the perfect cup every time, and places where the décor is as good as the drinks, to a classy Mediterranean-inspired café that becomes a bar in the evening. All our recommendations below have been hand selected and tested by our resident destination expert. Find out more below or for further inspiration see our guides to the city's best hotels, bars and things to do. Fig & Sparrow A couple of minutes' walk away from the alternative shopping emporium Affleck's Palace, at the heart of the Northern Quarter, this small independent coffee shop has been a staple in the area since 2013. Along with excellent coffee by local roastery Heart & Graft, you can order good value brunch dishes, sandwiches, soups and cakes by Stockport's Silver Apples bakery. It's a laid-back space with wooden floorboards, sage green chairs, pillars and exposed beams. Nab one of the three seats in the window to watch life on Oldham Street while you sip. Fort In the Great Northern Warehouse, next to its rainbow staircase up to Deansgate Mews, this slick coffee shop has its own roastery and takes making the perfect flat white or pourover seriously. Its minimalist interiors with pale grey walls, black tables and a wooden counter are flooded with light from huge windows onto Deansgate and upbeat music plays while you sip. There are accompanying pastries available to buy from Sticky Fingers bakery in Stockport – but look out for food and location changes due to an imminent move. Siop Shop This small café, in a former weavers' cottage on Tib Street, has all of the ingredients to make you smile: some of the best doughnuts in Manchester in creative flavours and designs, cheerful décor with tangerine orange, tomato red and sunflower yellow seating; and excellent coffee that is roasted in-house. Order one of its classic doughnut favourites, such as lemon meringue, or go for a sandwich baked in house. Looking for more reasons to love it? Siop Shop runs a gardening club every other Wednesday evening, too. Area: Northern Quarter Nearest Metrolink: Shudehill Website: Price: £ ManCoCo You can smell the coffee roasting in ManCoCo in the morning, as you pass by this roastery and coffee house tucked away under some railway arches near Deansgate station. All of the coffee roasted here is ethically sourced from identifiable single origin farms, estates or small farm cooperatives and you can pop in to buy a bag or sit in its purple and turquoise walled space, sipping its own ManCoCo Manchester blend. If you're inspired to create the perfect cuppa at home, enrol with its coffee academy, where courses range from 'barista training for everyone' and an 'introduction to coffee brewing' to 'latte art'. Just Between Friends A top contender for the best coffee in Manchester, Just Between Friends, has three sites – one in the Northern Quarter, one in Ancoats and one in the Cheshire suburb of Wilmslow. In the Northern Quarter, head to Tib Street and look for a bijou, black café front with the word coffee painted above the windows and its menu on the glass. The focus here is on your perfect cup with a blackboard of specials on the wall and petite hexagonal wooden tables to sit at with your drink. There's a small menu of bagels and pastries if you're after more than a caffeine fix. Federal In its three central Manchester cafés, Federal aims to 'offer the city's sunniest welcome'. It does this through the combination of consistently warm and friendly service, a buzzy atmosphere, a tempting brunch menu and fantastic coffee by roasters Ozone. Peruse its coffee menu in its Oxford Road site, checking what the weekly batch brew is, and choose a seat next to its plant-lined windows or outside next to Circle Square. You can't book and there's often a queue – but these tend to go down quickly as the service is speedy. There are cakes and pastries by Stockport bakery Sticky Fingers for a sweet treat with your drink, too. Area: Oxford Road Corridor Nearest Metrolink: St Peter's Square Website: Price: £ Idle Hands Idle Hands first launched on Piccadilly Approach in 2015 before it moved to its current Northern Quarter base in 2018. There are rotating coffee choices from roasters around the world in its quirky high-ceilinged space with plant-lined windowsills, colourful prints on walls and turquoise pillars – think Swerl roasters in Sweden or Round Hill Roastery in Somerset – and a selection of tempting pies in its counter, including pecan and lemon meringue. Its brunch options, such as fry ups on a stack of homemade hash browns, are popular too. Pollen Pollen Bakery started out under railway arches near Piccadilly railway station in 2016, where it attracted queues of people after one of its legendary sourdough loaves and cruffin pastries. It now has two permanent sites in the city centre – its main bakery in Ancoats and a café serving cakes, pastries and brunch in the new micro neighbourhood Kampus, over the water from Canal Street. Head to its industrial chic, light-filled Kampus space, for a coffee by Old Trafford based roasters Blossom and watch its pastry team making all of the treats on the counter behind a glass screen. You'll find it hard to resist taking some home. Foundation Designed by Manchester studio NoChintz, Foundation has sleek monochrome interiors, exposed brick and pays attention to detail in everything from lighting to hanging plants. When it launched in 2015, the aim was to create a flexible space for those who appreciate quality, with the motto 'coffee is everything'. Foundation's formula has proved to be a winner with five sites now open in Manchester. Its Whitworth site is attached to the hip of Whitworth Locke Hotel and has an extensive drinks menu featuring coffee classics, as well as some more unusual options such as the Kevlar – an Americano with butter and coconut oil. Haunt On the corner of central Peter Street and Mount Street, with large windows to gaze out of, Haunt is a popular spot to work during the day while it slips into a place to sip an aperitivo in the evening. There are speciality coffees by Leeds-based North Star Coffee Roasters, its own homemade chai lattes, bagels and sandwiches, and a brunch menu that includes a tiramisu French toast. The classy space is inspired by all-day Mediterranean cafés and bars with a chequerboard floor, marble tables and metro tiled bar. Area: Petersfield Nearest Metrolink: St Peter's Square Contact: Price: £ How we choose Every restaurant in this curated list has been tried and tested by our destination expert, who has visited to provide you with their insider perspective. We cover a range of budgets, from neighbourhood favourites to Michelin-starred restaurants – to best suit every type of traveller's taste – and consider the food, service, best tables, atmosphere and price in our recommendations. We update this list regularly to keep up with the latest opening and provide up to date recommendations. About our expert Cathy has lived in Manchester all of her life and still feels spoilt by the culture and varied dining options on her doorstep. You'll find her chasing her children around the Whitworth or sipping G&Ts in The Refuge.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Donald Trump's granddaughter Kai, 18, spotted working at Dunkin' Donuts
Donald Trump 's granddaughter Kai Trump was spotted taking orders behind the counter at a Dunkin' Donuts drive-thru. The teen, 18, posted a hilarious clip of herself attempting to work the register and help customers to her TikTok account earlier this week. In the video, a customer pulled up to the window and the smiling teen double-checked their order, took payment, and handed over the iced coffee. Kai donned a bright pink tank top and orange shorts to match the company's iconic colors. And while it appears as though she didn't actually get a job there and that it was a stunt to promote a new YouTube video in which she tried every one of the coffee chain's drinks, fans were in shambles over the footage. 'Reminds me of your grandpa! Hard workers!' one person complimented in the comment section. 'She's such a great person,' someone else wrote. 'Donald working at McDonald's and now Kai working at Dunkin Donuts. Epic,' another shared. During the race to become president, Trump, 78, worked at a McDonald's in Philadelphia. Video captured from within the kitchen showed the now-president passing out orders to a group of grateful prearranged 'customers' - Trump supporters understood to have been pre-selected by his camp. Trump removed his suit jacket, put on a black and yellow apron, and proceeded to cook batches of French fries, something he said he had wanted to do 'all my life.' He then proceeded to dip wire baskets of potatoes in sizzling oil before salting them and handing them out to customers through the restaurant's drive-thru window. Thousands of people lined the street opposite the restaurant to watch. On YouTube, Kai posted a video called Kai Trump Eats and Drinks EVERYTHING at Dunkin' Donuts to her 1.16 million followers. She was joined by her little brother Tristan, 13, and her best friend, Emma Markin, 16, for the endeavor. The trio rented out the coffee chain so they could have it all to themselves while they tried and rated everything on the menu. They made their way through all the Refreshers and coffee drinks, before eating from a tray of mouth-watering donuts. It appears as though Kai didn't actually get a job at Dunkin' and that it was a stunt to promote a new YouTube video in which she tried every one of the coffee chain's drinks Viewers thought Tristan was the star of the show with his witty quips and boyish charm. He also confessed in the video that it was his first time having caffeine, so his face of disgust had users laughing. 'Kai's little brother is hilarious,' someone wrote. 'You can see the caffeine hitting him,' another said. 'Tristan on caffeine is the funniest thing I've ever seen,' a person penned. 'I know moms aren't your target demographic but as a boy mom(26 now), watching the caffeine and sugar hit and escalate in Tristan was hilarious. Brought back memories,' a mom detailed. 'Tristan is freaking hilarious- crying with laughter!!!!' a comment read. Someone else said: 'Tristan has those big energy Trump genes.' Others begged Kai to do more videos with her little brother, who people compared to his grandfather Donald. 'Loved your little brother. He's witty and charismatic like his grandpa,' a user begged. 'OMG, your brother is hilarious. You need to include him more in your videos. He's so adorable. Thanks for sharing!!!' another expressed. 'Little dude is the best guest on the channel! Please do more with him,' someone requested. Another wrote: 'This boy is so candid and so honest. Bring him in [the] next videos. He is so entertaining.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
How Do You Build a $500 Million Coffee Chain? By Selling Matcha to Teens.
At 3:30 p.m. on the Upper East Side of New York City, Emma and Maddie, both 12 years old, are sipping matcha lattes at their usual after-school hangout: Blank Street Coffee. As the name suggests, Blank Street made its name in coffee—launching in 2020 with a Brooklyn cart, and then, with the backing of millions in venture capital, rapidly expanding with stores across the city and beyond. Coffee snobs balked at the brand: The chain's automated espresso machines and aggressive expansion plan struck them as inauthentic to cafe culture. But now the company has caught a fresh stride by leaning into sugary, colorful, caffeinated, TikTok-friendly green tea. The Biggest Companies Across America Are Cutting Their Workforces Microsoft Plans to Cut Thousands More Employees All the Hollywood Action Is Happening Everywhere But Hollywood The Fed Waits Out the Tariff Economy The Path to Record Deficits There are a variety of flavors—among them, strawberry-shortcake matcha, blueberry matcha, white-chocolate matcha. New this month are a rocky-road latte and cookies-and-cream matcha. 'At first I didn't like it, but now I do,' Emma said of her $7 iced green drink, smiling through her braces. The sixth-grader said she charged the drinks to her parents' credit card once or twice a week. 'The matcha part isn't sweet, but the part with the syrup and stuff at the bottom is good.' 'I used to walk by here and not know what it was, but I heard about it from TikTok so I stopped in,' added Maddie. 'It's become a trend. A lot of the high-schoolers order it at school.' Blank Street joins many brands, including Sephora and Stanley, that have been propelled to a broader cultural relevance because of teen customers. The craze now has teens and Gen Z customers proudly sipping matcha and posting about brightly colored drinks that measure high in sugar and even higher in clout. The company now boasts a $500 million valuation, a large number for a coffee chain that isn't Starbucks. 'I see people all the time in class with a Blank Street cup,' said Cooper, a 15-year-old ninth-grade private-school student. He said the coffee chain had invaded his New York City classrooms this past fall. He estimates he patronizes Blank Street four times a week. Blank Street co-founders Vinay Menda, 32, and Issam Freiha, 29, say they didn't set out to capture the wallets of Sephora teens. They are college friends who started the coffee chain after working together in venture capital. Freiha is originally from Lebanon and Menda from Dubai. The duo researched trendy Asian coffee chains and decided to try a similar approach in the states. (A third co-founder, Ignacio Llado, joined in 2022 to expand Blank Street to the U.K.). They realized they could hit it big with flavored matcha two years ago after a mixologist on their London team created a blueberry drink that went viral. Since then, Blank Street has been doubling down on new matcha beverages, rolling out a few every season. Matcha now accounts for approximately 50% of the business, Menda said. 'Matcha is amazing for mixology,' said Freiha from the company's Brooklyn offices one recent morning. 'It's something we can build way crazier, amazing flavors. We've barely scratched the surface.' Blank Street raised $25 million in a Series B round of funding at the end of May, bringing its total funding amount to $135 million, a spokeswoman for the company said. The company says it is profitable. It earns an estimated revenue of $149 million annually, a person familiar with the business said. It has plans to eventually expand its 90 global stores to locations such as Miami and Los Angeles. 'The influencers are all drinking it, like it's just a part of their lives, so you feel like you got to try it,' said Madison Ginsberg, a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of Florida. To help its marketing team think about customers it serves, global creative director Mohammad Rabaa says his team creates fake personas with character-building mood boards around each new matcha drink, to 'market it in a hyper-specific way.' Blank Street's strawberry-shortcake matcha persona is, for example, 'an East London Girl who listens to Katseye,' Rabaa, 29, said. 'The Aries latte is someone who hangs out in McCarren Park, is from Brooklyn and feels, to me, more Charli [XCX].' A new cookies-and-cream matcha drink is 'a Lower East Side Dimes Square boy.' The team hasn't decided what kind of music the character listens to yet. The company has had huge success with some flavors, like banana-bread matcha. Others haven't done as well, like a grapefruit cold-brew spritz Freiha described as 'the most rogue one we've ever done.' (The character for that one was 'a Dua Lipa listener who does summer in the Amalfi coast. Very bougie,' Rabaa said.) In other words, Blank Street is trying to sell a lifestyle. 'You're not just getting matcha, you're getting a vibe,' said Alexis Taliento, a 23-year-old Brooklyner. Taliento said she preferred Blank Street to Starbucks, whose menu she finds overwhelming. 'Blank Street is clean, new, fresh. It's super aesthetic.' Adri Thomas, a 22-year-old public-relations professional originally from Chicago, said she associated Blank Street as a hot New York spot because she had heard about it from YouTube vloggers. When she moved to New York last year, 'Blank Street was literally one of the first places I went, before I even had any of my furniture.' A Blank Street matcha drink can have 25 grams of sugar—just at the daily suggested limit for women by the American Heart Association. Maddi Klancher, 23, works in financial technology and said she bought matcha from Blank Street four to five times a week, mainly out of convenience. She has had better matcha from other places, she said, but at $7 a drink, Blank Street has lower prices. Blank Street has an invite-only membership, where baristas give customers access to pay $22 a month for up to 14 drinks a week. The program has a long wait list and has fueled online frenzy. Maddie Kane, a clean-energy researcher in New York, said she had jumped the line by gifting herself a membership through the website, a loophole that's since closed. 'I hacked my way into it,' Kane, 25, joked. Alessandro, 16, said she'd always thought matcha was 'disgusting,' but enough peer pressure from friends had convinced her to try Blank Street's. 'Strawberry shortcake tastes like a cake,' she said. 'I had a headache after.' Write to Chavie Lieber at Stablecoin Legislation Will Juice Demand for Treasurys—to a Point Fed Holds Rates Steady and Keeps Door Open to Cuts Waymo Wants to Bring Its Robotaxis to New York City QXO Proposes $5 Billion Acquisition of GMS What UnitedHealth Can Do to Revive Its Battered Stock
Wall Street Journal
a day ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
How Do You Build a $500 Million Coffee Chain? By Selling Matcha to Teens.
At 3:30 p.m. on the Upper East Side of New York City, Emma and Maddie, both 12 years old, are sipping matcha lattes at their usual after-school hangout: Blank Street Coffee. As the name suggests, Blank Street made its name in coffee—launching in 2020 with a Brooklyn cart, and then, with the backing of millions in venture capital, rapidly expanding with stores across the city and beyond. Coffee snobs balked at the brand: The chain's automated espresso machines and aggressive expansion plan struck them as inauthentic to cafe culture. But now the company has caught a fresh stride by leaning into sugary, colorful, caffeinated, TikTok-friendly green tea.
