John, No doubt you've noticed the push into specialty coffee at US McDonald's. That started in Oz 8-10 years ago with McCafe's in Australia. The Germans and then the rest of Europe picked it up some years later. I'm not sure it was in the German airport or Glasgow when you were thru there. As a stockholder and former employee, I'd encourage you not to give up on McD's. They are trying hard and it's beginning to hurt Starbucks. Tastes may differ, but I don't think it was ever about the coffee in Starbucks. It was about the HYPE- barristas, special orders, comfy chairs, atmosphere, pricey status symbols. Regards, Bob S.
On Wed, Dec 9, 2009 at 4:34 PM, John Sessoms <[email protected]> wrote: > From: Scott Loveless >> >> On Wed, Dec 2, 2009 at 8:56 PM, Brian Walters <[email protected]> >> wrote: >>> >>> > I like it - but, what's a 'single-shot Americano?' >>> > >>> > (sounds a bit like the aftermath of a shoot-out in and old western >>> > movie...) >> >> Americano is the expensive way to serve up a regular coffee. Espresso >> bars love them because they can charge more. Cheapskates like me will >> have coffee at home before paying for that. HOWEVER, a good barrista >> can do wonderful things with espresso and hot water. And if you're >> ever in Europe and want plain old American coffee, this is probably >> what you'll get. > > Especially 3:00am at the McDonald's in Frankfurt am Main International > Airport. My first experience. > > Tried again at Glasgow Queen Street Rail ... same result. My LAST experience > with an Americano. > > Funny thing is, all the Bed 'n Breakfast places, all the hotels I stayed at > in Scotland had regular Bunn-o-matic drip coffee makers in the dining room, > but none of the coffee shops I saw offered regular coffee. > > Even the McDonald's in Sterling had only vending machine style instant. But > they did have a U.S. style Quarter-Pounder w/cheese & large fries. By the > time I got there, it had been 11 months since I'd seen a real burger and > fries. > > The PX at Anaconda [Balad East AFB, Iraq - aka mortaritaville] had a Subway > and what was supposed to be a Burger King, as did the PX at Doha Kuwait, but > Burger King ain't McDonald's ... and the menu at those Burger Kings was > nothing like what I'm used to here in the states anyway. > > There might be a McDonald's in Glasgow, but I didn't think to look for it. > Wasn't on my mind when I got to Scotland. > > I rode the train up to Sterling because I wanted a photo of a castle up on a > hill & the tourist office suggested I try there. At the station, they > pointed me in "that direction" and I headed off walking, chanced on the > McDonald's and for a few minutes it was almost as good as being home again. > > If they'd just had drinkable coffee. > > Got my photo of the castle, but it was like going all the way around > anti-clockwise from 6:00 to 9:00. But I wouldn't have seen the McDonald's if > they'd sent me off in the right direction to begin with. > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and > follow the directions. > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.

