Pret "unlimited" coffee

jpaul said:
it was all over the forum for the allergy death - no ?


Maybe you can WFPH , but , not sure what jobs people have where they could make multiple trips to a coffee shop during the day ?
in a previous job without works coffee&tea-making, it was easier to take a prep'd flask with you to work,
equally we had a sandwich lady who came everyday with your pre-ordered request, usually al-desco
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Any city job I guess? To get to my old firm's coffee shop I had to change floors anyway, to get to a Pret i had to go one floor further (to the ground floor) and probably walk the same distance from the lift to be inside Pret (there was literally occupying space in the same building on the ground floor, just had to go out the front of my firm and straight into the door on the right. If i did the same thing but left, I was in a Costa. within a 75m or so walk there were at least 6 other places selling coffee (a Pure, Press, three independents, Eat).

New firm there's slightly fewer but still a good 5 options within 5 minute walk.
 
There's one in my office so I'll be signing up. Should be able to do at least 3 a day. First month is free too!

I do wonder if this is a bit of a gimmick to convert people to going to Pret when many are only going to the office once or twice a week and once we're back full time they'll end it or jack the price up.
 
rG-tom said:
What amazes me the most is that very very good coffee shops that use decent coffee beans etc, don't charge any more than the likes of Pret/Costa/Starbucks that are using ~£10-12 a kg (to a consumer) beans. The stuff in a specialist shop would cost you £25-30 a kg (to a consumer). Considerably better value, and much better coffee!

My beans are circa £25 a kg, my grinder doses Australian 24g double shots, meaning a home-made double shot coffee costs circa 60p a go for me. Add milk and we're probably not far off a quid cost to make a decent latte in reality, so you're paying 100% mark-up for someone else having to have all the gear employee etc. not THAT terrible really!
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I walk past a Workshop coffee on my way to work and occasionally treat myself. It is good coffee. But I'm pretty sure it's at least £1 a cup more than the chains.
 
Psiko said:
There's one in my office so I'll be signing up. Should be able to do at least 3 a day. First month is free too!

I do wonder if this is a bit of a gimmick to convert people to going to Pret when many are only going to the office once or twice a week and once we're back full time they'll end it or jack the price up.
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They're hoping you'll buy their full price sandwiches etc. when popping in for your subscription coffee.
 
I don't actually think I've ever had a Pret coffee, which is weird given there's 2 within a minute of my office. Their chocolate frappes are divine and diabetes inducing in equal measure though.

For £20 I'd be inclined to give it a try in fact, the only reason I'm not is that I'm not allowed back in the office until next year.

In regards to the independent vs chain debate, surely its all personal preference? I've had some excellent coffee from smaller chains / independents but I've also had some where their house roast is not to my taste. Got to agree with willhub though, if you're just after a white coffee or strong black, greggs is definitely one of the nicer ones for me.
 
Pret coffee is okay for a big chain but as a coffee drinker who doesn't like sandwiches there is no appeal to going to one of their shops. They have the most basic of seating, not far off sitting in a McDonald's. They also seem to make their coffees too quickly like they just have to press a button from a vending machine. Sure their service is swift, but they are so far removed from the ethos of what a cafe is, that it's a hard pass from me.
 
The main appeal for me is purely the price, I think the last pret I had before this offer was December 2016, their coffee cup size isn't acceptable to me.

My go to was a large mocha in Costa, and yes I rate Greggs coffee higher than Nero.

From best to worst

Popup Bikes Mcr, Black Sheep, Costa, Greggs, Starbucks, Nero, Pret.

I'd class nero and pret both on the blander side.

I can't imagine this will last very long, if it does It's a win for me because it will save me money.
 
Chojin said:
They also seem to make their coffees too quickly like they just have to press a button from a vending machine. Sure their service is swift, but they are so far removed from the ethos of what a cafe is, that it's a hard pass from me.
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Pret may have some good equipment ... the top end coffee machine manufacturers/Marzocco do have automatic tamping + pressure profiling, 10's of K's, but,
probably as good as best, home 1K machines.
 
So I think an espresso costs me about 30p, not really factoring in leccie etc.

So this is a very good deal, when adding in milk and the cost of a machine etc. I'd probably do this if I lived in a city.
 
Begbie said:
So I think an espresso costs me about 30p, not really factoring in leccie etc.

So this is a very good deal, when adding in milk and the cost of a machine etc. I'd probably do this if I lived in a city.
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Got to find out what they mean by "Coffee", may be it limits to the filter, not espresso/americano etc.
 
Raymond Lin said:
Got to find out what they mean by "Coffee", may be it limits to the filter, not espresso/americano etc.
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Very true! If it was espresso, I'd be happy. Prety coffee is ok everytime I've had it. It'd actually about break even for me. I pay £15 per month on a sub, and most likely end up buying another bag at £8-10.
 
Malevolence said:
I had to Google what a 'pret' is. Apparently it's some sort of hipster coffee/sandwich setup. Nearest one to me is over 40 miles away, oh well....
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You've never been to London then. There's about one branch for every 10 people. I'd say it's more of a corporate behemoth than "hipster". :p
 
Frustrating that it’s yet another subscription service, but if it’s going to be cheaper for some I can understand people going for it.
 
It's not shareable.

Also it's most of their menus not just americano, I get pumpkin lattes at the moment.

I then pop over to Sainsburies to get cheap pastries
 
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