Why you should avoid coffee in the UK – and tea in Italy

‘Here in Italy, just €1.20 (if not less) gets you a delicious, flavoursome espresso and only a few cents more buys you a cappuccino.’ Photograph: Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images

Why does your article (The £5 coffee is coming – but should we swallow it?, 30 April) not mention the elephant in the coffee shop? Coffee in the UK is at best mediocre and at worst gag-worthy.

I live in Milan, but often travel to the UK to visit family, and I am inevitably disappointed by the cost and quality of the coffee there. Coffee shops also always seem to have sticky tables, sticky floors and shabby furniture – which is fine, but not if you’re paying £4 or more for one drink.