Tried something completely different today..

Was at Banker's Hall Sunterra Market and had a Signature Premium Smoothie made on the spot.. pretty delicious for $4.29..

Coffee, unless I'm in the USA where they don't appear to make it.

Was at Banker's Hall Sunterra Market this morning and tried something different.. Their Sunterra Signature Premium Smoothie.. blended right in front of the eyes with a full banana and all fresh premium ingredients.. yummy.

Er, may I please direct you to http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/dinin...cks-other.html

Apparently according to many here it should be Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, Tim Hortons none of which I believe actually serve coffee!

The first post certainly sets the tone:
"Starbucks is a pretty safe bet when traveling"
I'm not usually a fan of American humour, but that line really tickled me.

I'm not a coffee snob, but I also agree that Starbucks is a pretty safe bet when traveling. If you disagree, perhaps you could inform us of what you think is a pretty safe bet while traveling?

As already listed in the other thread: illy, Tchibo, Costa, Caff� Nero, Pret (not the US version), Apostrophe, and a few others.

Starbucks is a pretty safe bet - safe to have poor quality coffee and espresso drinks. I avoid them, as well as any doughnut shop coffee places and gas station coffee.

These are all great suggestions.
Can you tell me where to find them in towns like Waterloo, IA and Kearney, NE?
I'm sure it's in the other thread, so I'll look there.
I would disagree with this.

And that is why I travel with a french press and my own choice of coffee. There is no need to have an American chain at every location around the world, just as there is no need to have a chain at all. There are many wonderful local coffee places too, and you will find some of them listed on that thread.

Different cultures have different tastes. I stand by my decision to avoid any coffee from a doughnut shop or a gas station.

OK, like I said previously, I'm not a coffee snob. I can't imagine traveling with my own french press and coffee, but obviously you feel more strongly about good quality coffee than I do.

Cheers.

I'm not alone in travelling with a french press; in fact someone started yet another thread on the subject just this week.

I think that what you say is true; many seem content to drink mediocre coffee, and it may be familiar to them. They may not find the taste of the chains I listed palatable, and hence I often read about the 'bad' coffee in Italy, etc.

Others prefer higher quality coffee which has a very different taste, and to us the other type tastes like a brown crayon dipped into warm water.

There are hundreds of examples of different tastes and preferences on FT, and this is just more of them.

There are lots of people who do things I wouldn't do. For instance, traveling with a pet. Just because there a lot of people that do this, doesn't change my mind on the subject.

That's the wonderful thing about tastes. What you consider to be fantastic coffee, I might think tastes like dirty dishwater, and vice versa.

Nothing from any chain, and particularly nothing from Starbucks. A "safe bet" would depend on which country you are visiting. For example, a safe bet in France or Italy would be anywhere that sells coffee (with the exception of chains as mentioned above), same goes for Australia which has a fantastic coffee culture.

Starbucks tried their infestation tactic in my own country, where they open stores on every street corner to try to choke out the oppositions. It was a tactic that failed miserably, and those dreadful places are now few and far between.

It's not a matter of taste, it's a matter of quality. The worst coffee on the planet is that coloured water that US diners sell; the stuff that lurks on hotplates waiting for servers to find a new victim to inflict it on. In these places, when I see a sign that says "bottomless coffee", I regard it not as a promise but as a threat.

As with wine there are standards that coffee can be judged by. I've stopped visiting the US for now, but I ceased drinking coffee when I used to go there, it wasn't worth the disappointment.

That's part of the problem. Not every "non chain" coffee shop in the US has good coffee. Starbucks is consistent. They are everywhere, and you know what you're going to get. Thus, I agree, it's a "safe bet".