the absolutely worst coffee you can get on a train is probably the coffee served from the trolley on board the CISalpino trains…although i probably should qualify that a bit. it’s excellent coffee if (and only if, as us scientists are wont to say) you are in need of a good source of energy: just remember to carry two iron spoons and a bit of wire with you to complete the battery…there have been rumours circulating that on occassion the CIS trolleys were out of coffee after the CIS train manager had to confiscate all supplies to jump start the CISalpino after it got stuck again on the stuttgart–zürich route. however, from a beverages point of view, CISalpino and coffee clearly were never intended to live together in the same sentence. it’s just awful.

german ICE-T train coffee is marginally better: you do get heartburn but the delay between imbibing and the onset of the slightly burning irritation in your esophagus is much longer than with the CISalpino battery juice. also, it at least aspires to be a coffee: it almost tastes like one — and at the very least you get more burn for your buck: it’s a reasonably sized paper cup instead of the espresso sized CISalpino one (though that could be due to a rudimentary, really almost forgotten concern for the health of their passengers…nah, i’ve got to admit that’s highly unlikely, forget it)…unfortunately, it won’t do you any good in case of sudden train breakdowns: not really the stuff batteries are made of.

that leaves us with the german IC train coffee which, i’m surprised and at the same time happy to report is on average quite drinkable and actually tastes like coffee!

other good sources for coffee: valentino’s in zürich mainstation (underground shopping area, opposite the escalators leading directly to the main tracks, reasonably sized cup to go for CHF 2.80), then, not really as much of a last resort as it sounds, mcdonalds’s latte macchiato which tastes quite OK.