One shot or two shots? Or?

Caffè Nero has always been on the two-shot bandwagon; you might even credit them with introducing it to the rest of us.

Starbucks overhauled their menu when they realised their coffee was too weak, and now they offer two shots. Costa ensures that the milk at least gets to look at a shot of coffee before it's served. Nobody's really interested in Coffee Republic anymore, and Pret make sandwiches.

It's the independents who really tap into the one- or two-shot market. It's another angle we can use to showcase our superiority over the chains.

Flexibility on shot quantities is just another string to the indie retailer's bow, as we already beat them hands down when it comes to individuality, coffee knowledge, and payments to HMRC.

Some independents even use shot quantity to differentiate between their sizes. We don't - we do regular or large, and we always use two shots, unless you tell us otherwise.

You can add as many shots as you like - we'll obviously charge you for each - and you can even have half a shot, which is affectionately known in the industry as the "why bother".

Basically, for as long as you're frequenting us independents, you may have whatever you like. Go to a chain, though, and when it comes to your specific requirements, nobody will give a shot.