Better Coffee..............

We have alluded on other threads to improving the quality of coffee served on preserved railways.

Given Brunels comments on the offerings available at Swindon this has clearly be an issue for some time.

But as Robin rightly pointed out there is almost certainly a demand for it.

Now its not that difficult to produce quality coffee 'off train' but are there any 'coffee experts' who can help to improve the 'on train' offerings - it might be worth doing the same for tea & hot chocolate.

I suspect that some sort of 'one cup' coffee filter' might be the solution

 

Even a Nespresso or similar would be a start. But you don't go for the coffee I suppose.

Simon

 

I agree that I don't go to railways for the coffee, but if I can't get acceptable coffee on site, I inevitably wander into town and get my fix elsewhere so dodgy coffee will probably lose customer spend. Art galleries have generally sussed the coffee thing, but historic attractions such as palaces and stately homes are still very hit and miss, ranging from superb to instant coffee.
In my world of work , we do indeed offer Nespresso, because it is straightforward to provide and the quality is assured, although as a coffee snob, there's no way I would serve it up at home! The bottom line is that if a railway offered Nespresso, they would keep me on site.

 

High five brother!

;-)

 

Power on a MK1?

 

Whole question of catering on railways is a problem. It takes facilities and a bit of time to make expresso coffee properly and time is something which is not always available on tourist railways. Filter coffee gets stale if kept too long so I fear instant it will be! (Alas)

Similarly with ice-cream. One tourist line I know serves Minghella ice-cream, including gourmet stuff as the "weekly special" and at fair prices but it takes time and facilities to serve. A fridge stocked with self-service pre-packed products is easier.

PH

 

There is a good point hiding in here. The availability of decent hot drinks and possibly food will form a big part of the opinion people take away from their day on a preserved railway.
But for every coffee snob there will be the person who favours a mug of tea and slice of home made cake from one of the smaller intermediate station tea rooms. I know I do.

 

Absolutely so. VisitEngland have a quality guarantee scheme in which a professional assessor judges each applicant under a number of headings including catering and they have to reach certain minimum standards. Under each heading, an "accolade" may be awarded to places with a particularly high standard, Several steam railways and steam centres belong but apart from one with an overall "gold accolade", not one has a special award for catering.

PH

 

Good home made cake and a well made tea is always something I will go for. I suspect though that most passengers on preserved lines start and end their journeys at the terminal stations

 

Well, I did think ditto Corfe Castle & Abergynolwyn, but I was trying to keep it simple 'Principal Stations' then

 

You could include decent rest rooms after drinking to much coffee or tea or beer or.......


Nick

 

Yes, a consistent inadequacy.They can at least be clean (one of VisitEngland's criteria mentioned previously)

Paul H

(By the way I presume by "rest rooms" you mean lavatory, loo or bog?!)
P.

 

Khazi, Thunderbox, Heads, Outhouse, Trap,.............................

 

Yes, plus all other names given to the little room, comfort station..............!

N

 

Warning: this next sentence may be considered too middle class!!

Waitrose have those quick easy bean to cup machines for your free coffee - these take about 30 seconds to make a really nice cuppa!

I think lots of preserved railways are missing a trick. Don't bother trying to run the catering yourself - advertise your tea shop/cafe as a retail space for rent in the 'food and drink' sector - I garentee you would get floods of offers of local business who want to move in there and run a decent coffee shop without the railway doing anything other than collecting the rent..

If they make a crap cuppa, serve them notice and get new people in!

Much as it pains me to say this - and it would look totally wrong - offering the space to costa or neros or similar would net the railway a ton of cash, and would draw people on sight who are looking for a coffee and not a train. But once they are there 'oh look! A steam train! I never knew...' Etc etc

 

You could fill pages on here with examples of how "in house" or "contract" produced the best results. For instance the coffee complained of so memorably by Brunel was produced by a contractor and the best coffee place I know (not on a railway) is not a chain establishment.

PH

 

The OP mentions "one cup coffee filter". This is indeed an option at the Kidderminster Railway Museum on the SVR. ("Instant" or "Filter")
A round coffee equivalent of the teabag goes into a plastic holder that sits on top of your cup. In goes the hot water and it drains through the "teabag"into the cup.
Excellent cup of coffee, complete with a biscuit. Was £1-60 yesterday, and drunk in pleasant surroundings.
Probably dearer than a mug of "instant", but worth the price differential.

Also, an honourable mention for the community-run kiosk on the NR station at Droitwich Spa. Again yesterday, a large latte was £2-25, and a much better product than that served by a National Chain which shall remain nameless.......

 

Lots of really positive suggestions here! Another very simple one is that if a railway is offering filter coffee, don't fall into the trap of using the cheapest "coffee" in the filter and also note that reducing the amount of coffee you put in the machine is another false economy. Two of the railways I visit very often have boosted trade in local coffee houses by this short sighted strategy!

 

There is just a trifle more to it than that. A certain well known company produces catering packs which you simply cut open and tip the entire contents into the filter of a commercial coffee maker. The resulting "fluid" smells exquisite but tastes of absolutely nothing. I suspect they realise that nothing more is required in a country that describes sauces by their colour rather than their flavour, i.e. "red" and "brown"!

Resignedly
Paul H