All the coffee shops on BU’s campus rated on the things that really matter

Because everyone needs their morning pick-me-up before a long day of lectures


You can never have too much coffee, especially with the variety of coffee shops available at Bournemouth University. Over the past week, I visited and compared all of the coffee shops on Talbot campus. I ranked each one on multiple aspects such as taste, barista, waiting time, options and price. Mainly focusing on the options given, the time it took and the price of drink. Based on my obvious “professional opinion” both the Starbucks aren’t very student friendly in terms of price, even though they had the most options given.

I personally refuse to consider the self-service drink machines, as I am very lazy and prefer my drinks served. Which then leaves the coffee shop in Fusion building and the Library but both didn’t have many options to choose from. In the end in came down to the waiting time and because of that, I rate Café Nero in the Library as the best coffee shop at Bournemouth University. Either way, I rated each coffee shop out of five so that you can decide for yourself which coffee shop at the university is truly the best when you’re in a hurry.

Fusion Building – Costa

Taste: 5/5

Baristas: 5/5 – Super sweet lovely ladies

Waiting time: 3/5 – Usually only one to two baristas work behind the counter versus the many students who sit and eat at fusion

Options: 2/5 – Honestly, not many options to choose from with a very limited range of drinks

Price: 4/5 – Definitely worth the price of the drinks, can’t say the same for the snacks

Poole House – Starbucks café

Taste: 4/5

Barista: 5/5 – Very nice staff

Waiting time: 2/5 – Since it’s the first coffee shop near the entrance, it always has the longest queues

Options: 4/5 – Way more options compared to Fusion

Price: 2/5 – One of the most expensive coffee shops on this list

Student Shop – Costa machine

Taste: 2/5

Barista: -5/5 – Self-service, which I hate

Waiting time: 2/5 – Have to wait for the machine to go through each step

Options: 3/5 – Not that many to choose from

Price: 3/5 – About the same price as the Costa in Fusion so I might as well just go to Fusion and have someone else make my drink because I’m lazy

Library – Café Nero

Taste: 5/5

Barista: 5/5 – Very sweet and sociable lady

Waiting time: 5/5 – Recently opened so not many people know about it, hidden near the entrance of the library making it a hidden gem

Options: 3/5 – Unfortunately, not many options

Price: 4/5 – Reasonable prices for the options given

Library – Nescafe Azera

Taste: 4/5 – Pretty good for a self-service drink

Barista: -5/5 – Again, self-service which I’m not a big fan of

Waiting time: 2/5 – Have to wait for the machine to go through each step

Options: 3/5 – More options than the Costa self-service at the Student shop

Price: 3/5 – The same prices for the options given as other served coffee shops

SUBU building – Starbucks

Taste: 4/5

Barista: 5/5 – Bubbly, nice and very sociable baristas

Waiting time: 1/5 – Always has the longest queues and I feel bad for the two baristas working behind the counter

Options: 5/5 – Has the most options to choose from in comparison to all the other coffee shops

Price: 2/5 – Also expensive, like the other Starbucks in Poole House,  Starbucks isn’t very student friendly

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