honestly, I loved this! this was such an insightful little read for someone whose dream is to open a coffee shop but has absolutely no idea where to start. i have been a barista and cafe manager for years before, so there were some things i did have prior knowledge of, but overall, i feel like this definitely helped get everything in order!

"The Instant Coffee Shop" is such an eye-grabbing title for all the coffee lovers out there and aspiring cafe business owners (me, it's me!) It's a really fascinating book for anyone who's interested in setting-up their own coffee shop or is interested in learning about the behind-the-scenes of starting a coffee shop. The author shares this comprehensive guide that recounts the history of coffee and all the inner workings of running a coffee shop - from creating customer relationships, to building shop atmosphere, to selecting coffee and menu items, to creating a team culture, to managing finances and profit, to marketing and managing social media. This book is great and informative and would definitely recommend to anyone interested in coffee and coffee shops!

Let's say you have a dream to open your very own coffee shop with all the coffees that will wake up the whole town, with all the pastries that will make all mouths water, and modern design that will attract the fanciest and most famous influencers and hipsters in the country to make a photo of latte art on their coffee and background - logo on the window of your cafe. This book will crush this image just like tax filing and paying after getting revenue, but it will also help you a bunch in making this happen and getting closer to this image making, it slightly more realistic.

It's a well-curated and well-balanced personal story offering suggestions and best practices for opening the coffee shop with an unfiltered reality of what you may run into during the setup of the shop and managing its employees. Won't mention a lot, but who knew the water supply could be that much of an issue and make-or-break situation to make your cafe function? And I'm sure Darcy Millar saved us from seeing some other pain points that would make one rethink the sensibility of an idea to open a cafe. But not to scare you too much, the author simplifies and explains a lot that will help to open the business, sometimes even providing an actual checklist!

This book woke up my old dream of opening a cafe and making it sound not easy but possible.
But let's be fair, still 4 stars, yet fully deserved. A bit watery at times, but you shouldn't mind it much while and after drinking it up.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A great read for anyone who loves coffee, and/or has ever wondered what it would be like to open their own coffee shop!

Thank you Netgalley and Ad Lib Publishers, Palazzo Editions for the ARC!

I want to personally thank Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read this early for a free review.

This book was such a cozy read! I had the pleasure of reading this gem right as the weather was starting to cool and the leaves were changing colors. As a fellow bookworm, one of my dreams has always been to open a coffee shop, but I never knew where to start. This author did such an amazing job creating a warm and inviting atmosphere while always delivering solid information. It truly felt as if I were out to coffee with a friend who had all of the experience and knowledge. The author didn't just included a a "how to", but also the history of coffee, and how each bean plays it's part. it was really neat. I loved this book, and will be buying a hard copy of it once it comes out.

This is a comprehensive guide to all aspects of running a coffee shop drawing on the author's experience.

The first section tells his story highlighting the positive points and pitfalls he encountered whilst opening a coffee shop in Denmark. The real benefit of this book is to outline all the aspects of running a business that need to be considered with practical solutions.

I think that the title of the book detracts from its usefulness.

Very informative and a great asset for anyone considering opening a coffee shop.
It's not written above peoples heads and I liked how it mentioned the coffee culture of Australia.
It's useful in the planning stages and will be something I;ll refer back to when I make the decision to take the leap.
I received a copy via NetGalley and all opinions are my own.

[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and Ad Lib Publishers for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
The Instant Coffee Shop releases September 11, 2023


Am I planning on opening a coffee shop? No.
Do I love coffee, work in the restaurant industry, and love entrepreneurship? Yes.

This was a really interesting read that covers a wide range of topics from the origins of coffee, to design spaces, your products, appeasing the customers, building a name for yourself, and much more.

I loved the added illustrations throughout and I think this book will appeal to many individuals!

The Instant Coffee Shop is a quick read for anyone wondering about the inner workings of these small pieces of joy that keep popping up in all cities. After situating himself within the coffee world and the history of coffee and its rise in popularity Miller then talks about things like staff, atmosphere, and social media. This would be a great read for anyone with any business or who is curious about the behind-the-scenes!

As an Marketing student, this book has become some sort of fountain of good content that I can use as work case because it shows the step by step from owning a coffee shop, starting from the concept and going 'til financial analysis of its viability and how to build relantionship with customers. It also contains a quick historical research about Coffee industry and development of its employments. I have found everything I expected to read when I saw the title. Definitely worth the reading.

I love coffee. My Insta handle is @coffeeuntil. I immediately wanted to read this book when I saw the title. What a fascinating read. The author included a lot about the history of coffee, the spots in which people would gather to have a cup, and more. I liked that this info was included in addition to the steps about getting a coffee shop up and running in a short amount of time. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

The Instant Coffee Shop by Darcy Millar combines personal story and advice on the topic of starting and running a coffee shop. The subtitle of "how to open a cafe in a week" is misleading, because the seven days only covers the physical preparation of the space once keys are in hand and does not include the time to do other preparation such as filing paperwork or buying furniture, equipment, and materials.

This book was interesting to read but missed the mark for me as a practical guide. Some sections did a good job giving structured guidance, but most of the content read more like a longwinded brain dump from one person's experience. Much of the advice is not bad per se, and as a list of topics for a potential cafe owner to think about, the book provides good insight. But, it's unclear how widely applicable the author's recommendations are, and some of them are clearly subjective (such as the list of desirable character attributes in staff members).

Overall, this book feels similar to "What I Know About Running Coffee Shops" by Colin Harmon, which this book even cites as a reference. Reading it feels like you've sat down with the author in a coffee shop for several hours and listened to him tell his story, then talk about everything he could think of regarding coffee shops and how he runs his in particular. Which, could certainly be an enjoyable experience if that's what you're looking for, but the title does lead the reader to expect a more "how to" vs. "what I did" in the content.