Coffee in Ireland

I find most Hotel coffee terrible, unless they have an espresso machine, but for your coffee fix just head out to a coffee shop, they have plenty, maybe only an issue in smaller towns.

Costa and Coffeangel are chains that come to mind, and Starbucks is of course in Ireland, but there are many other independent shops. Certainly not the same coffee culture as Italy or Paris, but good stuff available.

The Irish are a nation of tea drinkers so no guarantee you'll always get great coffee. Though I think it says more about your friend's choice of hotels than the lack of decent coffee.

Though you could start your day with an Irish Coffee….

Never had instant coffee when we were there last summer..... Had some great cups all around Ireland.

"All they had was instant coffee in the hotels they stayed at."

I haven't been to Ireland and I don't drink coffee. But I bolded the part above for an important reason. The coffee in hotels is not necessarily representative of the coffee in other places in a country. Italian hotel buffet breakfasts are notorious for having brewed coffee in an urn that is, by all accounts, often retched, while anywhere else in Italy the coffee is, by all accounts, great.

Diana,
I just asked my husband (because he is the coffee drinker, not me). At home, he uses Starbucks (freshly ground...and I have to grind it "just so"....each time I buy a bag) French Dark Roast coffee, sometimes Starbucks Italian Roast. Drinks it black. I'd classify him as a pickier coffee drinker. When we have received other brands/types over the years as gifts, etc., they have been donated.

He does not remember having any bad coffee in Ireland. He found his morning coffee perfectly acceptable to rather good!

As with any overnight stay, it might depend on WHERE your friend stayed. There are lots of hotels with bad/instant coffee in the US.

Coffee is obviously important to you. You could email your hotels/b&b and very kindly ask what type coffee would be available, or you could pack a small bag to take with you (just in case).

We stayed at:
The Old Presbytery Inn, Kinsale
Dromoland Castle, County Clare
SeaView B&B, Doolin
Ashford Castle, Cong
Eden Villa B&B, Tubbercurry
Bunratty Castle Hotel, Bunratty (this was not a castle, just a plain economical hotel the night before we flew home)

I also just Googled Starbucks Ireland, and there are quite a few in and about Dublin and fewer locations to the west in case you just gotta find a really good cup!!

Happy travels. You will LOVE Ireland.

Thank you Margaret & everyone else who responded. I'm sure it will be just fine & if all else fails, I can always get an Irish coffee or a small bottle of Bailey's.

These are the hotels we are scheduled to stay in during our time in Ireland -

Clayton Hotel Cardiff Lane, Dublin (2 nights)
Dooley's Hotel, Waterford
International Hotel, Kerry (2 nights)
Ardilaun Hotel, Galway
Everglades Hotel, Derry
Croke Park Hotel, Dublin
Jury's Inn Christchurch, Dubin

All but the last one are part of our CIE Tour.

emma, thank you, I might just try that. I'm not much of a tea drinker here at home though.

Ahhhhh.....you are on a tour. I'd suggest calling the tour company and asking about the coffee. If they are a reasonably customer-oriented tour company, they should be able to make a reasonable arrangement for you, if they can't assure you the coffee is decent.

Did your friend who told you the coffee was bad, and mostly just instant, travel with the same tour company? If so, you might need a Plan B.

Yes, the coffee hotels provide in the room to use with the in room coffee maker (water heater pot actually) is instant and it can be very bad. But this is not the coffee you find in restaurants or coffee shops or even served by the hotel with breakfast. I found plenty of good coffee in Ireland when I went there. They even have Starbucks if you consider that good coffee.

As stated, tea is the big thing. Almost all rooms have kettles. With kettles comes instant coffee. But that's just the room. Everywhere else the coffee was fine.

I've stayed at the Jury's Inn Christchurch. It's the only hotel I stayed in in Ireland that didn't have Irish Tea in the rooms. It was Ethiopian.

One of the reasons the British find U.S. tea "grim" is due to the blend. Most tea in hotels and restaurants is Orange Pekoe which is better with lemon than milk. It is far from a "british" blend which I believe is Assam.

Couldn't you just take along the Starbucks Via packets? I know it's still instant, but it's not Nescafe.

The closest tea blend in Ireland to English Breakfast Tea is .... Irish Breakfast Tea. The big Irish tea blends all do one, Twinings does as well - how it differs from their English I don't know but I believe it is even stronger. I see Tesco UK has Punjana Irish Breakfast Tea Bags on sale at the moment; might give them a try.

It is only in recent years that average coffee in the USA has become more decent; I have bad memories of encountering a weak brown liquid with an odd burnt smell much too often. If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee as Lincoln is reported as saying.

Thanks for all the responses. I will definitely try some Irish breakfast tea & maybe even take a few of those Starbucks packets for our room. I'm glad to hear that the coffee served with breakfast will likely not be an instant coffee. Looking forward to our trip in late April.

In Ireland I found many restaurants and B&B breakfasts served coffee in a French Press so you can control the strength and it is fresh. In hotel rooms you will find instant packets offered and while it isn't great it is OK. I'm not a fan of instant, but I did bring Starbucks Via to use if needed which wasn't too often. I like strong coffee and really wanted to drink the local coffee (not Starbucks) so one of the coffee shop owners suggested I order Cafe Americano which worked for me. Also, I enjoy tea and found the tea in Ireland excellent especially with scones!
Barbara

Starbucks Via packets are a great backup option, but I didn't find coffee to be universally terrible in Ireland, so hopefully you'll find some good cups while you're there!

I didn't have a problem with the coffee in Ireland, either. I just suggested Starbucks Via as a better alternative to whatever instant they provide in the rooms.

I bought a pack of Starbucks Via packets in the Columbia flavor and tried one this morning.. It was just ok. I wouldn't buy them again so I may or may not take any with me. Thanks again everyone.

I found the coffee in our Dublin hotel restaurant to be absolutely undrinkable. Very strong, no cream available - only milk. I think I may have done myself a disservice by not trying some of the local coffee shops. However, I did find the tea to be stronger than what we have here in the US and it bolstered me during the rest of the trip (that and Guinness). Brought some authentic Irish tea home with me and it disappeared all too soon. Give the local coffee shops a try or have a go with Irish tea. Good luck.

Diana,

It's possible to get instant coffee in other countries besides Ireland, so the problem is not unique. Even in Italy which has a stellar reputation for good coffee, I think one of my favourite hotels there serves instant. I detest instant coffee but I'm willing to overlook that as there are so many other things I like about that hotel.

On my last trip in September, I found that the Swiss seemed to have found an efficient method for providing fresh coffee with minimal staff effort (no surprise there, as it's Switzerland). They use an automated machine which offers a choice of different types of coffee at the push of a button, with each cup prepared fresh using water at the correct temperature and using freshly ground beans.

Our hotel in Venice had that same coffee machine. It was so good. I guess I will survive bad coffee. Just as long as they have good wine & beer, I think we'll be ok. LOL