It’s now easier than ever to get your free tea or coffee.
For the last few years, you needed to make a purchase to nab the free drink in Waitrose, but in mini scheme revamp, that’s no longer the case.
Here’s what you need to know about getting your free drink.
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How to get a free hot drink at Waitrose
The offer has a handful of conditions. First up you need to be a member of the free My Waitrose scheme. This also offers money off coupons each week and discounts on cheese, meat and fish from the counters. Here’s our full guide to the scheme.
Then when in store you’ll need to bring your own reusable cup. If you don’t have one, you’ll need to buy one. Some locations might be trialling a free recyclable cup.
And for the last few years you’ve also had to make a purchase to get the drink for free. That could be anything, even a 1p loose mushroom (if you could find one!). But that’s now changed.
From 27 January 2025 you don’t need to buy anything to qualify for the drink! So all you need to do is scan your My Waitrose card (you’ll find this in the app) on the coffee machine.
What free drinks can you get?
Don’t expect a fancy barista-made drink. These are all out of a self-service machine, not cafes.
The offer is only for the following drinks:
- Americano
- Latte
- Cappuccino
- Tea
Previously hot chocolate was available, but it’s not listed in the offer terms any more.
The milk is all free-range (as all Waitrose dairy is) and non-dairy alternatives will be available. The beans are Rainforest Alliance certified from the Nero Roasting Company (part of Caffe Nero but different beans – apparently). There’s no detail as yet on the teas on offer.
How often can you get a free drink?
You’re limited to just one free drink per day per membership. But if you go every day, that’s seven free hot drinks.
Technically, if you have someone in your household or a friend who is also member of the scheme but doesn’t drink hot drinks, you could add their membership card to your phone using an app like StoCard, and scan that for a drink too . However terms say the cardholder must be present, so there’s a risk that a member of staff might notice you taking advantage of the offer more than once a day.
Where to get your MyWaitrose hot drink
The offer will be running in most stores, with a few exceptions. You can claim a drink at any Welcome Break Waitrose or most of the ones attached to Shell garages.
There are a handful at Shell locations where you can get a drink if you spend £40 on fuel:
- Bagshot Road,
- Battersea,
- Broxbourne,
- Burgh Heath,
- Burnt Common,
- Ealing,
- Guildford,
- Hazelmere,
- Headington,
- Horley,
- Kensington Gardens,
- Petts Wood,
- Roehampton,
- Tubs Hill
Editor’s pick: 5.1% savings
Easy access ISA from Trading 212 paying 5.1%
How much money could you save?
Back in 2022, Waitrose said the coffees begin at £2.35 and teas at £2.25 (inflation will mean that’s no doubt much higher now).
Let’s assume you are paying a similar amount (£2.30) elsewhere, and buy one once a week and you’re better off by £119.60 over 12 months! Then double that for twice a week and so on.
And if you’re spending more on your coffees right now, then that saving will be even bigger. Perhaps saving another one, two or three quid per drink (though obviously, it won’t be like for like).
So even if you only switch one or two drinks a week, this offer is well worth exploring for any caffeine addict.
How to join My Waitrose
It’s free to get the Waitrose loyalty scheme. You can sign up via the Waitrose website or app. Full details in our guide to My Waitrose.
More Waitrose and Caffe Nero offers
If you connect your My Waitrose and Caffe Nero cards and make a purchase in Nero, you’ll be able to get a few barista coffee in any Caffe Nero. You’ll also get 25% off food.
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Archive: could you get your “free” drink for 1p?
The free drink was also free when it first launched. But that changed in 2017 when a minimum spend was introduced. The article and video I produced in response are the closest went viral!
Here in full is the story of when, for fun, I went hunting for the cheapest item in my local Waitrose.
The 1p trick to get your “free” Waitrose tea or coffee
(Originally published March 2017)
Much to the anger of the general public (OK, people on Twitter), Waitrose has announced it’s stopping the free tea and coffee in its stores.
Now, you’ll only have to go any buy something before getting your complimentary hot beverage. Buy something! In a supermarket? Are they crazy?
I think it’s fair enough, but as social media demonstrated, some people just want to have their free drink.
So when I received the email from Waitrose this morning detailing the plans I dropped everything and ran to my nearest store. And by that I mean I ambled around a little at home before going on a 30-minute stroll in the sunshine (yes, a whole hour there and back just to bring you this article).
My mission: To find the cheapest possible item you can buy in Waitrose in order to get your free tea or coffee.
At first, I thought chocolate could be a winner, though we know a Freddo is no longer the cheap choc it used to be. Perhaps the 5p carrier bag would be enough, but the terms and conditions explicitly state these bags don’t count. Shocking.
But as soon as I entered the store, it was instantly obvious where I was going to find the cheapest stuff. Fruit and veg. Loose fruit and veg to be exact.
First I picked up a loose “essential” white onion. At 75p per kg I hunted for the smallest one I could find. Using the fancy electronic scales I weighed the onion and a little sticker was printed telling me it cost 13p. Now, 13p for a free tea or coffee AND an onion seems pretty good.
But it got better.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw shelf upon shelf of fairtrade bananas. These were slightly cheaper at 72p per kg so all I needed to do was find one of the same weight or less than the onion. And I did! A tiny 8p. Surely that’s the answer for everyone? Buy a banana and get a free drink?
But if you want to go even more extreme in your quest to pay almost nothing to get your caffeine, I found something even smaller. Loose brussels sprouts. Let’s face it, no one wants these at Christmas let alone in the spring, so perhaps this is the way to use up all the surplus stock. Though more expensive in weight at £2 per kg, the fact the sprout was so tiny meant it cost me only 3p.
Job done. No one will find something cheaper than that. EXCEPT I ONLY WENT AND DID JUST THAT.
Still in the veg section, I noticed loose cup mushrooms. At £2.85 per kg they were the most expensive of all the veg I weight, but I found a mushroom so small, and so light the sticker printed out a 1p. Yes. Go to Waitrose and buy yourself one tiny mushroom and you can get your tea or coffee all for just a single penny.
Let’s hope there’s enough stock left. I hope we don’t see a run on the ‘shrooms.
My weekly personalised vouchers give me a free Times newspaper every day so in theory I can scan the newspaper get a coffee, check out with online newspaper coupon and pay nothing for newspaper and coffee that’s what I call value for money.
Out of those options, the banana is the definite winner! Unless you fancy an onion with your coffee LOL.
I find Waitrose are responsive to comments. I expressed my disappointment at the ending of free newspapers and they have allowed me a free one without needing to purchase anything ever since. The two weekend papers are worth £7 and The Times during the week another £12.50. I can’t complain!