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Car and Driver
an hour ago
- Automotive
- Car and Driver
Tested: Best Convertible Car Seats of 2025
If you've ever tried installing a car seat with one hand while wrangling a toddler and balancing a hot Americano, you already know the struggle: Not all car seats are created equal. Some are intuitive and rock-solid, with easy-to-use designs. Others feel like you've been sent to installation purgatory. To help you find the right car seat for you, we dug into the latest and greatest convertible car seats on the market to ensure your child stays safe and you stay sane. Convertible car seats are meant to be used for years, so we tested everything from design and materials to installation and cleanability, so you're as prepared as possible when it comes time to purchase the one that will serve your child from toddlerhood to kid-dom. Key Takeaways: With clean lines, leather accents, and multiple color options, the is our Best Overall pick because it's designed for parents who value aesthetics as much as function; it's not great for small cars, though. is our pick because it's designed for parents who value aesthetics as much as function; it's not great for small cars, though. If you drive a compact or sports car—or your family runs three-wide in the back seat—the is Best for Small Cars . is . Our Best Value pick is the —what a convertible seat should be at its price point. Things to Consider When Buying a Convertible Car Seat Cleanability There's no escaping messes. It doesn't matter how hard you try—there will be spills, there will be blowouts, and there will be crumbs. While all the seats we tested cleaned up relatively well after spills, we (unsurprisingly) found lighter-colored fabrics are more prone to visible staining, so we recommend sticking to darker or more pattern-heavy fabrics. It's also worth noting that the real challenge lies in removing the seat cover for cleaning. Some car-seat designs make this process quick and intuitive, while others require a wrestling match with straps, snaps, and headrests. If deep cleaning is a priority, look for models with easier fabric removal. Ease of Installation Some seats practically click themselves into place. Others make you question your life choices. Be sure the attachment system is easy to use and works well with the various anchor points in your vehicle, such as the standardized Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children (LATCH) system. This can be difficult to judge from product photos, so look through our reviews, other consumers' reviews, and even head to your local Target or Costco and check out some display models to see how they operate. Size and Fit Not every seat fits every car, and that can be a rude surprise if you drive something with a tight back row. The big, cushy models might look great, but if they eat up half of your back-seat area, they may present a host of other problems you'll need to deal with. Always check dimensions, and if you're trying to fit three across, pay extra attention to car-seat width. Adjustability A convertible car seat is a long-haul investment, so you want a seat that grows with your kid. Look for easy-to-move headrests and harnesses you don't have to rethread by hand every few months. The more adjustability you have, the longer you can stretch the seat's usefulness and avoid shelling out for another one (so long as the seat isn't expired, of course). Comfort and Materials Good padding, breathable fabric, and decent head support can go a long way in keeping the peace on long road trips. For bonus points, buy a seat where the cover is easily removable and machine-washable. I speak from experience when I tell you the first spilled-milk incident (or unexpected blowout) will arrive sooner than you think. Weight and Portability If you're moving the seat between cars often (or lugging it through an airport), pay attention to how heavy it is. Some convertible seats are built like tanks, which is great for everyday use but brutal for portability and travel. Lighter doesn't always mean flimsier, and a lighter seat will be easier on your back. Recline and Slide Options You'll want a seat that plays nice with your car's back-seat geometry. Having more varied recline angles and adjustments can help with that, especially if your vehicle has deep seat cushions or tricky slope angles. Most car seats will come with included level bubbles or other means of ensuring it's at the right position for your child's height and weight. If it doesn't, make sure you know how to position the seat for optimal safety. Price vs. Practicality While convertibles are usually pricier than age-specific child car seats, you don't need to max out your credit card to get a safe, solid one. Some budget-friendly models nail the essentials without loading on bells and whistles you'll never use, while some expensive options might prioritize innovative style and design over basic comfort and practicality. What's important to you? Consider the overall value and feature set based on your vehicle and needs. Best Convertible Car Seats, Tested
NDTV
12 hours ago
- General
- NDTV
Cold Brew Vs Americano: Which One Has Stronger Caffeine Kick? Find Out Here
Whether you're a coffee enthusiast or just someone who needs a caffeine fix to survive a 9 AM meeting, you've probably come across two popular options on cafe menus: Cold Brew and Americano. Both look similar in colour, are smooth and unsweetened and are known for their bold flavour. But when it comes to strength, many are often confused about which one to rely on for a caffeine kick. Do you often find yourself in a similar dilemma? Not anymore! Below, we'll discover which one is actually stronger. But first, let's understand what cold brew and Americano are individually. Also Read: From Black Ivory To Kopi Luwak: 6 Of The Most Expensive Coffees In The World What Is A Cold Brew? Cold Brew is made by steeping coarse coffee grounds in cold water for 12 to 24 hours. It's then filtered and served chilled, often over ice. What Is An Americano? Americano is made by pouring hot water over one or two shots of espresso. This dilutes the espresso but retains its deep, roasted notes. It's typically served hot, but iced Americanos are also common. Caffeine Showdown: Cold Brew vs Americano So, does cold brew have more caffeine than an Americano? Let's break it down. According to the U.S. Department Of Agriculture (USDA), a 16-oz cold brew typically contains around 200-250 mg of caffeine, with levels varying depending on the concentrate's strength. In contrast, a 16-oz Americano made with two espresso shots and hot water has about 150-170 mg of caffeine. Clearly, cold brew takes the lead in terms of caffeine content. Cold brew generally outdoes Americano in caffeine per serving, especially with strong concentrates or longer steeping times, though caffeine levels can vary across cafes due to different preparation methods. Whether you're brewing it yourself at home or having it delivered to your doorstep via an online food delivery app, both cold brew and Americano are sure to hit the spot and satisfy your coffee cravings. Which Coffee Has More Flavour Intensity? Cold Brew or Americano? When it comes to flavour intensity, the game changes. Espresso-based drinks like the Americano boast a bold and rich taste due to the high-pressure extraction process. Even with hot water added, that sharp, roasted flavour persists. Cold brew, on the other hand, is smoother, with lower acidity and bitterness thanks to its cold-water brewing and long steeping time. It often tastes mellow, with hints of chocolate or nuts depending on the beans. Which Coffee Is Best For Acidity? Among cold brew and Americano, cold brew has lower acidity, making it easier on sensitive stomachs and teeth. Americanos retain the acidity of espresso, although less so than straight espresso shots. If you have a sensitive stomach and love coffee but want to avoid acid reflux, cold brew is the gentler option. The Verdict: Which One's Stronger? If you're talking caffeine content, the crown usually goes to cold brew. If you're referring to flavour intensity, Americano delivers a stronger and punchier taste. And if you're looking for the smoothest ride, cold brew wins for being easy on both the palate and the stomach. Both drinks are staples in the caffeine world, and your choice might come down to personal preference. The best part is that you can easily make both at home or order them from your favourite cafe using an online food delivery platform. Pretty convenient, right? Also Read: Move Over Cold Coffee, Coffee Milk Is The Chill You Need To Try
Daily Mirror
14 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Tourist taken aback by cost of hidden cafe at Buckingham Palace
Callum Ryan, 24, paid £35 for a general admission ticket to walk around the Buckingham Palace gardens on July 22, 2025, and was surprised to find a cafe at the Palace A tourist was left gobsmacked after discovering a "secret" café at Buckingham Palace and being charged an "extreme" £11 for a slice of cake and a bottle of water. Callum Ryan, 24, had shelled out £35 for a general admission ticket to explore the Palace gardens on July 22, 2025. To his surprise, he stumbled upon a café nestled behind the Royal residence, open for a limited 10-week period during the summer months until the end of September. Despite being taken aback by the price list, which included an afternoon tea box for two priced at £50, Callum decided to treat himself to a slice of carrot cake and a bottle of water. The content creator from Wandsworth, London, found the Palace's pricing "reasonable" given the regal surroundings and expressed his desire to return with his girlfriend. Have you been shocked by the price of something on holiday? Email webtravel@ He shared: "It wasn't rammed in the café, and wasn't as busy as I thought it would be, which was nice, and the atmosphere wasn't too bad either. I would pay money for this again, and I would love to take my family and girlfriend here because I think this is a really good experience." After spotting an advertisement online, Callum booked his visit to the Buckingham Palace gardens on July 22, 2025. Upon paying £35 for a general admission ticket, he discovered the café situated on Buckingham Palace's West Terrace, just beyond the exit from the State Rooms. Callum added: "You see a lot of Buckingham Palace behind the scenes, and you get to see things that you never see before. There were things that have been there since the palace first opened, and I even got to see the spot where all the Kings and Queens take their royal pictures. "It was actually a really cool experience, and there is a strict no pictures protocol, which I thought was good." Callum nipped in for a bite to eat and reckons the priciest thing on the menu was an afternoon tea box - costing £50 but feeding two people. Though he reckons coffee is fairly priced, with a hot chocolate and a cappuccino setting you back around £3 to £4 each. Callum opted to keep things simple and grabbed a carrot cake and a bottle of water, which set him back £11. He said: "It was banging. The cake was really good, and as the bottle of water was reusable, it was nice to take it home. The atmosphere in the café was nice and everyone in there was loving it." List of items on the menu: Afternoon Tea Box - £50 Americano - £3.80 Tea - £3.60Flat white - £4.50 Americano - £4.80 Hot Chocolate - £4.60 Cappuccino - £4.40 Reusable water bottles - £4.50 Strawberry and cream - £5.50
Daily Mirror
19 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
'There's a secret cafe at Buckingham Palace but the prices are extreme'
Callum paid £35 to get into the gardens at Buckingham Palace and was surprised to find there's a cafe A tourist visited a "secret" Buckingham Palace café - and was "taken back" at the price of a bottle of water and cake. Callum Ryan, 24, paid £35 for a general admission ticket to walk around the Palace gardens on July 22, 2025. While he was there, he was surprised to see there was a café. The café - situated behind Buckingham Palace - is open for 10 weeks throughout the summer until the end of September. Callum headed in but was "taken back" at the price list. He says an afternoon tea box for two was priced at £50, so he opted for a slice of carrot cake and a bottle of water - for an "extreme" £11. Callum thought the Palace's price was "reasonable" - considering the royal setting - and wants to return with his girlfriend. Callum, a content creator, from Wandsworth, London, said: "It wasn't rammed in the café, and wasn't as busy as I thought it would be, which was nice, and the atmosphere wasn't too bad either. "I would pay money for this again, and I would love to take my family and girlfriend here because I think this is a really good experience." After seeing it advertised online, Callum booked a visit to the Buckingham Palace gardens on July 22, 2025. He paid £35 for a general admission ticket, and while he was there noticed they had a café on Buckingham Palace's West Terrace, just beyond the exit from the State Rooms. Callum said: "You see a lot of Buckingham Palace behind the scenes, and you get to see things that you never see before. There were things that have been there since the palace first opened, and I even got to see the spot where all the Kings and Queens take their royal pictures. "It was actually a really cool experience, and there is a strict no pictures protocol, which I thought was good." Callum popped in for something to eat and says the most expensive item on the menu was an afternoon tea box - which costs £50 but serves two people. However, he says coffee is reasonably priced, with a hot chocolate and a cappuccino costing around £3 to £4 each. Callum decided to play it safe and bought a carrot cake and a bottle of water, which he says cost him £11. Callum said: "It was banging. The cake was really good, and as the bottle of water was reusable, it was nice to take it home. "The atmosphere in the café was nice and everyone in there was loving it." List of items on the menu: Afternoon Tea Box - £50 Americano - £3.80 Tea - £3.60 Flat white - £4.50 Americano - £4.80 Hot Chocolate - £4.60 Cappuccino - £4.40 Reusable water bottles - £4.50 Strawberry and cream - £5.50
Euronews
2 days ago
- Business
- Euronews
Bean vs. cup: Where is the most expensive takeaway coffee in Europe?
For many of us, a cup of coffee — or maybe a few — is an essential ritual that powers us through the working day. In 2023-24, approximately 10.62 billion kilograms of coffee were consumed worldwide, a slight increase from about 10.38bn kg in the previous year, according to Statista. While for some, a cheap cup of instant coffee made in the work kitchenette will suffice, others have developed a taste for 'a posh coffee' — often made by a hipster in a work apron. But how much is a cup of this sweet nectar costing us, are we being ripped off, and how does pricing vary across Europe? How much coffee is Europe buying? Of the 27 EU countries and the UK, surveyed in Pressat's workplace coffee survey between January and March 2025, workers in the UK are buying the most takeaway coffees, at an average of 1.96 cups per day. This was closely followed by Belgium (1.79 cups), Poland (1.77 cups), France (1.76 cups) and Romania (1.68 cups). At the other end of the scale, the most frugal with their coffee buying are workers in Luxembourg, buying an average of 0.82 cups per day. Also controlling their takeaway coffee expenditure are workers in Hungary (0.83 cups), the Czech Republic (0.84 cups) and Sweden (0.9 cups). It then may be surprising to discover that as the fourth biggest buyer of takeaway coffees in Europe, France is paying the most per cup, at an average price of €3.42. Stereotypes usually lead us to believe that the French like their coffee short, dark and strong. However, of the workers surveyed, just 8.94% of them were buying an espresso to take away. In fact, the most popular takeaway coffee choice was a caffe latte (17.02%), followed by a caffe macchiato (16.17%). The second most expensive takeaway coffees can be found in Lithuania, where the average cup price is €3.39 and the most popular style of drink is split between a cappuccino and a cortado (both are preferred by 14.87% of respondents). The cheapest cup can be found, perhaps surprisingly, in Denmark, with an average price of €1.89. The Danes have a medium coffee addiction, with average workers buying 1.32 cups of takeaway coffee per day — and preferring to sip an Americano. In fact, Denmark was the only country where the average cup price was under €2, with their closest competitors being Slovakia (€2.08) and Cyprus (€2.09). Cappuccino index A slightly different picture emerges from data on the average price of a cappuccino in Europe's capital cities, collected by It turns out that the highest price in Europe for the milky coffee is paid in Copenhagen. In the Danish capital, a cappuccino costs an average of €5.81 — considerably higher than the average price of an unspecified type of coffee in Denmark. Only in two other countries does a cappuccino cost more than €5: that's Iceland, with a price of €5.33 per cup, and Switzerland with a price of €5.27. More than €4 per cappuccino is paid in Scandinavia, the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Austria. At the other end of the scale are the countries of Eastern Europe, the Balkan Peninsula and Italy. In its homeland, a cup of cappuccino costs only €1.53 — but the cheapest cup can be found in Kosovo (€1.27) and Ukraine (€1.36). Poles, who often complain about the high prices of coffee in cafes, are somewhere in the middle of the European scale, with a cup of cappuccino in Warsaw sold for €3.64. This does not mean, however, that Polish grievances are completely unjustified. Apart from Germany, all of Poland's neighbouring countries have lower coffee prices. 'A cappuccino in Warsaw costs 18 zlotys (€4.24), while in Bari it costs €1.50. We can see that Warsaw prices, which have spread across the country, are definitely higher than elsewhere. And it doesn't have to be that way at all,' Janusz Piechocinski, an economist and former Polish economy minister, told Euronews. 'Poland is the fifth largest producer and exporter of coffee in Europe. Polish companies import more than 200,000 tons of beans, roast and then export also in the modern e-commerce channel. So we have an efficient production chain created, and yet prices for the customer are high. Why? It may come from higher real estate prices and taxes than elsewhere, which raise the cost of maintaining restaurants and cafes.' Are we overpaying for our coffee? It takes around 7 to 9g of coffee to make a single espresso which equates to €0.00009 worth of coffee at current arabica bean trading prices (for a 9g serving). That seems like a huge markup, but of course, that would be a huge oversimplification. Coffee shops also need to factor in the cost of staffing, as well as, takeaway cups, energy to power the venue, and coffee additions like milks, syrups and chocolate. Though it's hard to compare exactly how much businesses are paying for their energy, the average cost of electricity for non-household, medium-sized consumers in the EU is €155.80/MWh. That's according to Eurostat data from 2024. The data showed that Ireland paid the most for electricity in the EU, at €254.30/MWh. Only three other countries tipped over the €200 mark: Croatia (€216.90), Hungary (€205.50) and Luxembourg (€204.10). Among the EU's big four economies, the prices varied dramatically: France (€163.90), Spain, (€121.70), Italy (€151.50) and Germany (€197.60). The cheapest energy in the EU could be found in Norway (€79.10) Do coffee prices in Europe align with incomes? If we take a look at takeaway coffee pricing versus salaries across the continent, who is getting the best value for money? France, which has the highest cup price, had an average take-home pay for a single person without children just above the EU average, with French singles taking home €32,354 per year, according to Eurostat 2024 data. This means the average coffee is about 0.0106% of take-home pay. Meanwhile in Denmark, where net pay is €43,913, coffee is proportionately even cheaper, at just 0.004% of a salary. And home to the second-most-expensive coffee in Europe, consumers in Lithuania are getting particularly bad value. Citizens' average net salary is €15,909, meaning a cup of coffee costs around 0.021% of their annual take-home pay. The higher-earning countries appear to be getting better value for money. Workers in Luxembourg on average take home €50,410 per year and pay around €3 per coffee. That's just 0.005% of their salary. Cappuccino index by salary Using the data on the average monthly salary after taxes in European cities, we can take a closer look at how many cups of cappuccino the residents can buy. In terms of cappuccino affordability, Italy ranked highest. In Rome, the average monthly salary can buy 1,399 cups of this type of coffee, while Switzerland's Bern (1378 cups) and Luxembourg (1347 cups) fared marginally worse. The cappuccino index also clearly divides the continent in half. In Western European countries (with the exception of Portugal), a salary is enough for at least 750 cups of cappuccino, while in Eastern Europe, takeaway coffee is more unaffordable.
