I recently had 2 customers complain. shout and leave because we charge £1.60 for a brew. Would you consider that price to be worth bitching about?
Do you consider £1.60 to be expensive for a cup of tea or coffee?
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I recently had 2 customers complain. shout and leave because we charge £1.60 for a brew. Would you consider that price to be worth bitching about?
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Guarantee they’d happily walk into Starbucks and pay 5 quid plus, their loss
I would say that’s standard for a cup of tea or coffee. Fairly sure it’s about that in my favourite cafe, and a few other cafes I like are around that same mark too.
No I wish the cafes near me charged this. It’s £3.33 with 10% discount where I go and that’s the cheapest one.
I’ve been stuck in a bedroom for over 12 years so that sounds very expensive to me LOL I doubt I would be able to afford a coffee now even if I did get out
£3 is standard for a long black or espresso at my locals.
Yes but only because in the 2000’s you could get a pot of tea for that much, I just don’t like inflation
No I do not.
It’s very reasonable. I’ve just come back from holiday, and paid €6.50 for a cuppa. I nearly cried, but paid it because I’m a very English tea addict.
That would be cheap for me. Tbh would expect crap teabags and cheap instant coffee with those prices.
I take it you don’t work in Costa or Starbucks?
I don’t no. I think IKEA charges £1.25. I quit Starbucks and just aeropress from home now. Bag of beans gives me 12 cups to a single cappuccino.
Nah I think you are good. I charge £2 when people come to my house.
That’s cheap unless the coffee or tea is shit quality. Standard price in my town is around 2.75
Ok ok calm down. £1.70.
I say that is very reasonable. £2.50 – £3.00 is the going rate for tea in normal (not posh) tea shops round here.
Only expensive if it tastes shite! £1.60 for a standard brew seems fair!
I’m not happy about silly prices but £1.60 is extremely reasonable. I would be extremely happy with £1.60 for a cuppa.
That’s like half price nowadays ain’t it
If the customer has to bring in their own mugs then, yes, it is expensive- but you have overheads so I think it’s quite reasonable.
No. Are they nuts?
For context, i live in a city and my local coffee shop charges £4.20 for an Americano with a splash of milk. The nearest cafe (old-school cafe, not restaurant in disguise) charges £2.10 for their coffee. Tea tends to be cheaper.
£1.60 is a good price for coffee or tea. I’ve seen some instant tea/coffee machines charge near the same for what is basically flavoured pond water.
Well yes, but actually no
£1.60 for a coffee in the UK in 2025 is suspiciously too cheap!
Lol, no. I work above a coffee shop in Bristol, and a coffee is £4.25
Jesus Christ that’s cheap, I’d consider £3.60 a decent price these days
No, unless it’s some kind of community café, all hot drinks are £1.50 at one I sometimes go to. I think around £3 is pretty standard for most commercial cafés.
That’s ridiculously cheap, in my area (SE England) you’re looking at about 2 quid in a local cafe and 3-4 in a more expensive place.
My partner has a very working class café. customers mostly from the industrial estates. Regular 12oz instant coffee or tea £1.80 up to £3.50 for fancy barista stuff, nobody blinks.
Costa machines charge £3+ now
For a coffee? No. Don’t be ridiculous
For a tea? I get it but that is probably the going rate
No. This is very cheap. Some people are never going to be happy
I wouldn’t pay anything for a cup of tea because it’s never nice outside.
I’d definitely pay £1.60 for a cup of coffee – isn’t it over £3 in Starbucks / Costa?
It depends on how you’re serving it.
Tea is boiling water, a tea bag, and a slosh of milk. Even at retail prices, that’s about 16p to make when you take into account electric, 50ml of milk, and a Yorkshire teabag.
Yes, you have a cup, your time, taxes, and your profit, but does your presentation make the remaining £1.44 seem worth it?
I would feel very different paying £1.60 for a white plastic disposable cup from a van vs. paying £1
60 in a cafe vs. paying £1.60 in a restaurant.
Depends what type of coffee or tea. It feels expensive for cheap instant coffee or unbranded tea bags. About right for filter coffee or standard tea like PG Tips. Cheap for an espresso based drink like Americano.
I mean it’s only hot water, a teabag and a splash of milk. Shouldn’t be more than 50p.
In reality anywhere that sells a brew for less than two quid is a bargain.
Well it’s more than the free one I can get from waitrose
Or Nespresso I guess.
But from an actual coffee shop this would be cheap.
I assume they’re old, nothern and haven’t left the house since 1967
Pretty cheap really. A coffee shop or garden centre is going to be double that.
It’s what I’d expect to pay. it’s when you pay that and get a cup of lukewarm brown milky water I feel you have every right to moan.
Paid 3.45 in a hospital yesterday
It depends how they said it:
Coffee costs between £2.80 and £3.80 where I come from.
That’s cheap to me. I paid £3.50 recently for a green tea!
I once farted in a customer’s cup of coffee and I got the sack.
For coffee no. For tea, yes.
It depends. In that situation, you know you’re not really paying for the teabag itself but the service, the comfy seat, etc. if the rest feels skanky and horrible, people might feel ripped off? Or they might just be moody nutters who fancied kicking off at someone and their kids/spouse weren’t around?
Very reasonable
It’s super cheap.
Depends… it’s pricey if you’ve invited friends round your house then whacked them with a £1.60 charge for a cuppa.
If it’s customers at a cafe then it’s standard
Thats less than wetherspoons
1.60 seems pretty reasonable but I’d ask what tea you use first.
If i was out in a walk i wouldn’t even question it really, I’ve paid 2 quid for tea before.
I guess this is the long way of saying £1.60 is a decent price.
Also the next time someone complains ask them where they’re getting cheap tea.
£1.60 is decent, we’re they old? I once saw an old bloke go absolutely ballistic shouting and swearing over the chip shop putting the price of a portion of chips up to £1.30 instead of £1.20
People look at the tea bag being the only cost so cannot fathom margins
In London that’s cheap.
In Norwich I’m hoping for a pot but happy with a cup.
In Lincoln I’m happy.
In Leeds it’s maybe a bit pricey.
In a layby it’s too expensive because I hate styrofoam.
In Ludlow it’s cheap enough and I’m pretty happy with it.
In Liverpool I have no idea what was just said to me so I pay by card and hope it’s not more than £3. Sorry, lovely city.
In my lounge I’m wondering why I’m being charged for my own cuppa.
No. It’s half the price of costa
Absolutely not it’s very cheap.
I’d be preetty content with £2 a tea and £2.50 a coffee.
In an ideal world, it shouldn’t be more than a pound. But realistically and relatively when compared to prices everywhere else it’s a very good price
No I think that’s really cheap
Depends where you are. Skegness, yes, London, no.
£4 for flat whites, it won’t seem like value for money even in 10 years… I dunno what to do.
I still remember paying GBK £8 for a posh burger in late 00s and this still seems extortionate, and it’s gone higher now lol
It’s definitely more expensive than £1.50
This is very very reasonable. I used to regularly buy a pot of tea in the local cafe for £1.20 and thought it great value, back in about 1996
On the cheaper side, bought a coffee out a couple of days ago £3.75.
If it’s a real coffee from grounds, it’s cheap
If it’s a teabag or instant coffee it’s expensive
That’s a bloody bargain!
Honestly, that’s pretty bloody reasonable. There are plenty of places where that’s super cheap
Did they tell you they can make a cup of tea at home for lass than a quarter of that? Idiots. Be glad you got rid of them.
I’d actively choose to go somewhere that charges 1.60 for a brew
Most places I end up going to, through no choice of my own, its 3.5 minimum.
Yes 3.5 not £3.50, too fucking miserable to put a £ sign on the menu. So £1.60 is a bargain and more important, grammatically correct.
£4+ at Starbucks.
That’s cheap these days.
Oh, I had this working in a coffee place, said they used to pay 50p for a cup of coffee, and I thought,well, not anymore.
You don’t need customers that grumble at £1.60 for a cuppa. That’s a decent price
Where? In Laandaan that’s a steal, guvnah, in Sunderland it’s a bloody outrage
If you’re selling refreshments at some kind of event then it’s fair, if catering is your main business then it’s very cheap.
No, that’s cheap.
I’d consider that very good value compared to what Costa charges!
I paid £3.50 at my local in Bristol because it was the cheapest in the neighbourhood.
No that is quite cheap
If you can’t afford £1.60 for a tea you should be drinking it in the house.
I think that’s fair. Everything is over £4 in London- rip off
Does it come with free biscuits
I just paid £4.85 for a small latte in Birmingham New Street station like a chump. £1.60 is good!
I went to Bath yesterday and 2 coffees, one milkshake and a can of coke cost me almost £20. I went to the Salvation army before we left to grab a Brew (and use the loo) and 2 cups of tea and 2 apple juices set me back a fiver. They even chucked in a free biscuits.
I live in one of the most expensive towns in the Home Counties. A cup of coffee is typically about a fiver in a coffee shop, a little less (for a smaller size) from a restaurant – but I’m not sure any restaurants let you sit down just for coffee. If I want cheap, I make it at home or buy an Arctic Coffee from the supermarket.
No idea about tea.
£1.60 is…actually, I’m struggling to think of anything I could buy here for £1.60. Couldn’t buy a single bus ticket. Couldn’t park a car. Couldn’t buy a cake or a sandwich. Bag of crisps? If I found somewhere to get coffee for £1.60 I’d be in there all day. My hospital vending machine charges more than £1.60 for coffee.
I normally expect to pay around £3-something for coffee and £2-something for tea.
All comes down to location tbh but 1.60 is absolutely cheap enough to me! I mean tea is hot water and a bag but you’re paying for the leckie/mug/that mug to be washed/a seat etc
No not nowadays. I cant see how its possible to make a cupt of tea cheaper to be honest in todays world, if it takes you three minutes to brew it and serve it properly, you’re employing someone do do it, paying business rates, national insurance, VAT, corporation tax or income tax, paying your overheads of gas, electric, water, and a whole suite of insurances as well as your stock (teabags/tea, milk). No. I dont think its that expensive. Wheres the cut off? Is £1.10 ok? 90p? £1.30?
I’d pay it. For a coffee I’d think its a good price.
It’s a fair price, not all customers are good customers.
£1.60
Lets have a look.
27p VAT
47p labour (35%)
That leaves 86p to contribute towards
Rent, rates, electricity, gas, insurance, maintenance, phones, website, repairs, and everything else.
Oh and out of that 86p we need a teabag.
No wonder places are struggling.
No offence, the same people who will drink min 2.50 drinks from machines???? Put a sign out with the price thats it dont lower the price.
I paid £4 for a cappuccino in a small Kent village the other day so no I think that’s very reasonable.
I would happily pay £1.60 for a tea or a coffee.
There is no need to complain at that price. Most places are likely twice that price, certainly for coffee.
Yes, but you’re not just paying for the drink, you’re paying for the convenience of having someone make the drink for you.
£2.75/3.15 for a cup of hot water and a teabag😪😪
Just paid £3.40 for a Costa express. Although I’d never buy a tea out, £1.60 is a steal.
Depends on what you are selling. Shitty instant – it’s overpriced. Highly crafted speciality pour over? Underpriced.
It’s very inexpensive, it’s £3/£4++ where i live. But what are prices like around where you are though
I live in London, so I’ve paid more than that for a babyccino. I don’t think that’s too much at all.
£1.60 for a coffee is unbelievably cheap
About the only time I’ll pay to have tea away from home, is if I’m having a full English breakfast.
Yes, that probably is a bit tight of me!
Sounds ridiculously cheap to me
Where are you and were the clients old?
For essentially a cup of hot water and a tea bag? Yeah but prices are what they are.
People forget when buying a coffee or other hot drink that the cost includes more than just the actual ingredients, (how many times I’ve heard people say, I could buy a box of teabags for this price) forgetting they have to pay for the staff costs, premises, stock, utilities, rates. etc.
Depends on what, but sounds decent enough.
Was it an elderly couple who haven’t left the house since 1997?
I’d consider £1.60 to be fairly reasonable these days.
That actually seems very reasonably priced for these days. Not that Im the type to grab a coffee/tea when im out tbh.
People seem out of touch these days.
£1.60 is cheap. If you can’t fathom spending such a fortune, ask for water.
1.60 is a good decent price an i live in Yorkshire,my kids go to Costa an it’s a fiver a drink
Good price for freshly ground cup of coffee. Way too much for 3 hour old filter.
Absolute bargain compared to where I live.
1.60 for a cup of tea is expensive. For a coffee machine coffee it’s good.
For a cup of batista made coffee that’s very reasonable, for a builders brew? No.
I would say £1.60 is a pretty cheap price for a cup of tea or coffee
Thats very cheap but honestly Id expect it to be a mediocre coffee.
I charge £2.50, never had a complaint, your customers must be skin flints
No.I sell coffee for £2.20 in a hospital canteen.
Lots of factors. Quality of beverage, surroundings and location (plus a few others) all impact the price people are willing to pay for a hot drink.
I’m assuming you are somewhere in the middle of all which would make your pricing seem cheap.
“AIBU??” lol
No, of course it isn’t expensive in 2025
if it’s instant coffee or filter coffee then £1.60 isn’t the cheapest going (pret) but very reasonable. if it’s a latte or other barista made drink then wow that’s the bargain of the decade
Bargain.
They’re not customers you want. If they can’t afford your very reasonable prices, you don’t want them cluttering your cafe.
Focus your efforts on people who will be happy to pay for your service.
Less than £2 a cup is very good value! Youre providing more thsn the tea: ambience, a table, chair, mug, warmth, service to make the tea, the rent to make it conveniently available etc etc
Expensive.
In 1970.
Prob OAPs ?
It’s because they don’t understand that they aren’t just paying for tea. They are paying for labour, rent and utilities too. If they want a cheap cup of tea, they can go home and make their own. If they want a cup of tea made by a business, they need to know that they are paying for business overheads too.
£2.50 is the base line for me buts it’s rare to find tea cheaper than this.
Your problem for those people is that you’re selling a product which is very makeable at home. Regardless of how you make it, a cup of tea at home is a few pence of tea bag, a few pence of heated water and a few pence of milk and if you’re feeling adventurous a few pence of sugar. I’d say… 50p is a generous estimation of how much a home tea would cost.
They’re not thinking about the various taxes businesses pay and also the fact that they’re not the ones making it.
These customers complaining have never encountered Starbucks…
Fairly cheap. Even Greggs charge £2.75 for a large latte in my area. Think a tea is £2 and a hot chocolate £3. A black coffee is around £2 too.
£1.60 seems ridiculously cheap.
I met a friend in m&s a few weeks ago and she paid £5 for a pot of tea.
Where are you? I’ll send my husband for nice and cheap coffee!
That’s pretty much the price of a coffee in McDonalds, but then that’s like half the price of a coffee in Costa so I’d say it’s very reasonably priced.
Nope always get a Costa with an extra shot it’s £4.80 where I live… Closest thing to crack 😂
Could be at least £1.50 but other than that decent price.
Big difference between if it’s tea or coffee. Personally I never buy tea out because its rarely anything you couldn’t get in a supermarket. £1.60 is too rich for my blood.
Coffee is a different matter and £1.60 seems very reasonable.
I’d say it’s very cheap for coffee, but too much for tea.
No. That’s cheap.
No. It’s had to cover the other costs of the business not just the milk, water and tea bag.
Lol where do you work, a soup kitchen? That’s super cheap these days for a freshly ground coffee, and about standard or below average for an instant coffee/tea depending on where you live.
No, that’s actually OK for today’s standards.
I’d be expecting to pay over £2.50 for a cuppa anywhere these days.
For a simple tea? Yes. Depends on the coffee but sounds about right
I’d consider that pretty cheap nowadays
I think that’s quite cheap nowadays
I pay 1.50 for a cup of Reg coffee, the shop round the corner 3.50.
That’s a genuinely decent price in this day and age. If people are going to whine about it then they are probably the kind of people you don’t want in your cafe as they’ll be a bloody pain about everything.
It depends where it is. The threshold is a lot lower where I live in the North West than than when I visit the South East
What type of coffee, £1.60 id expect a cup of instant coffee and I wouldn’t complain
No! That’s cheap! And I say that as an old woman!
depends where, what kind, and how its made.
a cheapo teabag with water from an urn and sachets of sugar, along with those dumb little milk containers in a location like Hull (where stuff is generally lots cheaper than london prices) and its a little expensive for tea.
but proper Yorkshire tea, with fresh whole milk, and a bowl of sugar, made and brought to you on a tray, with a small metal teapot for a refill, then no its perfectly reasonable price (very cheap imho).
specific kinds of Tea, with maybe non-cow milk, would make it more expensive typically.
same with coffee, if i pay £1.60 for a cup of coffee and its a cup of nescafe instant in a builders mug with UHT milk, then thats expensive.
but £1.60 for a good cappucino, made with freshly ground higher quality beans and fresh cream, then £1.60 is a bargain.
I think the answer depends on what kind of coffee it is. Espresso filter or instant?
These days that’s not that expensive. I’d raise an eyebrow for one cup of tea, especially if it wasn’t that good
These days that’s not that expensive. I’d raise an eyebrow for one cup of tea, especially if it wasn’t that good
Not particularly. Kinda cheap in this economy.
I pay £4.50 at the gym
If it’s a catering teabag (or sticky plastic spoonful of dubious instant) feebly sweating the wrong temperature water in a paper cup, with a dash of UHT from those plastic pods, £1.60 feels like a lot.
If it’s served in a reusable vessel of any kind, and/or I have a seat, it’s a good price.
If it comes in a pot, it’s a bargain.
It’s a decent price but they could always by a jar and make their own for a lot less.
No. Not at a cafe.
At Sunday kids football, yes
£1.60 was the price I saw being charged at Cafe Polski from a Harry Enfield skit released in the 90’s.
So I doubt it!
It’s gonna depend on location and quality. For a city centre cafe that’s cheap. For a greasy spoon frequented by pensioners it’s at its money if your using just normal tea bags and instant.
U should offer two types of plain white coffee
A decent one
And one made from the cheapest nastiest stuff available lol
That’s a reasonable price imo
No, that sounds completely normal
Looking forward to when I get an electric car and have a coffee machine in it 🙂
I’m in rural Scotland and wouldn’t hesitate to pay that, you’ve got overheads for feck sake… these are customers you never wanted anyway
My workplace is £1.70 for tea or coffee
It used to be basically free. This feels like a bargain nowadays.
Depends on the location and clientele right? If it’s a rundown place that only attracts OAPs and it’s literally a mug of tea… No wait even then that’s a fair price. 😂
Not at all.
It does make me think that these are old dears that are used to a cuppa for £1 at the village hall though
Two happy customers for £2.20-2.50 or two miserable customers for £3.20, is it good tea? A happy customer is more inclined to purchase other stuffs than an unhappy one. I just found out the cafe near me charges £5.50 for a bacon and sausage sarnie, two of bacon and sausage, add your £1.60 tea to that and its over £7, for a tea and sandwich!
I know I wouldnt pay it.
Rip off Britian in my eyes, all for profit and thats all that counts.
Starbucks is usually £3+. £1.60 is insanely cheap. If they want it cheap they should just stay home and make their own. Going to a cafe is about the atmosphere as well as the drink.
Less than £5 is cheap if a person is serving you.
I’ve come to the conclusion that most people are dickheads. If you think about how stupid the average person is and then realise half of them are stupider than then it begins to make sense.
If you’re in a bricks & mortar cafe, then the price of a brew is more than just the tea bag, hot water & milk. Maybe consider reducing the price to 50p, but put it all in a ziplock bag for them and tell them to drink it outside?
I charge more than that to visitors to my house.
Coffee, no. Tea, a little
In Romania I paid about equal to 30p for some of the best coffee I’ve had at some random bakery so yeah, probably considering it’s likely coming from a knock off Nescafe brand.
Really it shouldn’t exceed more than 1 pound in the UK.
That’s cheap. Coffee is getting to £3 and beyond. Tea at £1.60 is a bargain
Yes, but not unusually so.
£3.50 in Lincoln these days. £1.60 is a bargain
I would tell them to fuck off. I was pleasantly shocked to get a coffee for only £2.80 the other day
I paid £3 for a small Americano this morning so I’d be quite happy with £1.60
What tea bag are you using?
In London that’s an absolute steal.
If it was a hundred quid a cup I wouldn’t be shouting about it showing myself up. Just leave and buy elsewhere.
No that’s very cheap depending on the type of establishment. The thing about pricing is the cost of manufacture is only part of the picture. Hate it when people moan about prices of discretionary purchase with clearly marked prices