My coffee journey started in large coffee chains such as Starbucks, Costa Coffee etc, enhanced further by business trips in Italy, France & India. We had a few abortive attempts at espresso on our home machine (Morphy Richards) and only started to get this to work after learning enough on TMC and fresh beans from Hasbean. Now we have a second hand commercial machine (Rancilio S26) and a decent grinder which has upped the stakes again.
Unfortunately this has really damaged my enjoyment of coffee on business trips or in the large coffee chains. Now I am desperate to get home to get a decent cup.
I have been pleasantly surprised by this trip to India
Although initially dissapointed by the coffee in the 4* hotel restaurant, I went out to one of the big coffee chains in India and was amazed that the coffee there was really as good as I remembered 
There are two main chains - "Barista" and "Coffee Day". I have only revisited one of the "Barista" so far, but it was great in comparison to any of the big european chains - definately something that will keep me going on my frequent trips to India.
I sat & watched the guys pulling the shots over my series of 2 double espressos.... Beans ground every 2 or 3 pulls (never enough in doser to be visible through the plastic sides), careful tamping, water run through the head when the PF was removed to remove any grinds on the showerhead, then more water run through the head just before putting the PF in to drain the excessively hot water, and finally a pull of about 20-25 secs. In addition, every cappucino gets served with latte art on top too! About the only negative I saw was the milk frothing jug used several times in succession without being cleaned. And then throw in the fact that a double espresso is only 22 rs (approx 30 pence!)
Why can't the chains in Europe be this good?
The coffee culture here is taking hold in a big way.... apparently "Barista" is opening a new cafe every 10 days or so. This scene is driven by the newly rich youth culture - There are alot of 20-30 year old graduates working in the burgeoning IT / Outsourcing industry who are extremely well off by India standards and are using these venues as social gathering places to hang out. This is the only social group that can afford these "expensive" places (22Rs will buy a decent meal elsewhere).
One final piece of enjoyment I had in the cafe - They were selling coffee mugs with various logos & phrases on them. These were my favourites:
- Enjoy coffee, sleep when you're dead!
- I don't need a raise, I want 6 coffee breaks!
- I'm very efficient at work - I haven't missed a coffee break in 6 years.
...Jim
