slo’s MONDAY poll - Starbucks vs Dunkin Donuts vs McDonalds vs Gas Station Coffee

[Micca]

From those choices it would be Starbucks for me, but the situation would be very rare. For us, most our out of town trips are to WDW and we brew our own coffee in the villa.

 

[Disneylover99]

Out of town in Canada - Tim Horton’s
Out of town, meaning somewhere in the States? - Anywhere I can get one!

 

[tvguy]

My wife won't drink Starbucks.
Dunkin Donuts we've only had at airports, not so good, but that could be because it was an airport vacation.
Never had gas station coffee.
That leaves McDonalds by default.

 

[Kitty 34]

If power goes out at home we head to McDonald's for our morning coffee.

 

[easyas123]

Dunkin or Wawa if I want real coffee, and if I have a hankering for fru-fru coffee I'll hit up a Starbucks.

(is my beloved Wawa being reduced to the label of 'gas station' )

 

[Dan Murphy]

McD's or Starbucks.

 

[leebee]

I've found McD's to have the most consistent coffee. New England resident here (Mass and Maine) and I gotta say... Dunks is getting really bad. ALL the coffee tastes old, iced coffee even older, all too strong, burned. Breaks my Boston heart, but it's true.

My favorite place to get coffee is at Circle K, which is the convenience store at Irving gas stations. Their coffeemakers stock BEANS and the machines grind the beans to make your coffee! YES!! Freshly ground coffee at the gas station! IT'S EXTRAORDINARY!!

 

[NannyBeBe]

For me it would be Starbucks or McDonald's. I tried Dunkin once and literally had to spit it back into the cup; most vile coffee I have ever tasted.

 

[Minnesota!]

I only drink coffee from Caribou Coffee, it is a chain out of Minneapolis that also exists in WI, IL, IA and CO as far as I know. I will just go without if it's not from there.

This! Caribou is far better than Starbucks..

I have found that I love the coffee at Holiday and the sugar free cappuccino at Kwik Trip is great for a sweets craving!

 

[lovin'fl]

At home we prefer to brew Dunkin. But if getting coffee out, it depends on who is with me. DH still prefers Dunkin or gas station and DDs prefer Starbucks or McDonalds. Myself, don't know. I drink coffee but am not super into it so don't tend to get it out. I do really enjoy lattes and cappuccinos (fancy coffees....really like pressed pot coffee with shot of baileys) but those are not great for the diet and if I am going to splurge on calories/fat/carbs then a coffee drink would not be my pick unless on vacay when I go hog wild with everything.

 

[Meriweather]

Don't did I coffee, but it traveling, Starbucks for tea.
I have abou t$150 in vouchers. I only go and use them on vacations.

 

[PollyannaMom]

My SIL was a barista at Starbucks and would stop a McD’s to get her coffee on the way to work.

That's hilarious! We're also Starbucks-avoiders here. DH says it tastes like burnt wood.

Now that we have a Keurig, we almost always make our coffee at home, but since we're in "Dunkin's on every corner" land, that's where (of the choices) we get it in a pinch.

 

[TippyThomas]

That's hilarious! We're also Starbucks-avoiders here. DH says it tastes like burnt wood.

Now that we have a Keurig, we almost always make out coffee at home, but since we're in "Dunkin's on every corner" land, that's where (of the choices) we get it in a pinch.

That's how I drink mine. Love the Keurig!

 

[neverlandsky]

Other: Trader Joe's Vanilla Almond Spiced Chai. Use 1/2 bottle and then add 1/2 unsweetened almond milk. Heat or over ice. This way I get 2 servings from one bottle.

 

[bcla]

I only drink coffee from Caribou Coffee, it is a chain out of Minneapolis that also exists in WI, IL, IA and CO as far as I know. I will just go without if it's not from there.

They're owned by a conglomerate. That's actually quite common in the coffee industry. JAB Holding Company bought a bunch of coffee sellers.

https://www.jabholco.com

I believe Starbucks bought Seattle's Best. There was a San Francisco based coffee company called Pasqua that got bought out by Starbucks. Nestle own a majority stake in Blue Bottle and markets Starbucks sold at retail stores. I believe Starbucks generally makes the coffee, but they work with Nestle on new products, and how to market them.

https://www.nestle.com/media/pressr...-consumer-packaged-goods-foodservice-products

 

[bcla]

It really depends on where I am. If I'm staying at a hotel that had in-room coffee, I'll usually try that first and maybe toss it if undrinkable. Once I was staying at the Grand Hyatt in Manhattan and they had no coffee in-room. One morning I lined up for maybe 20 minutes to get a $4 large cup of coffee in the lobby, although most of the people in line were high school aged and getting breakfast. The next morning I actually spent less at Starbucks even if it's not my first choice. There was no line.

I like good coffee but I'm not a coffee snob. As someone else noted, McDonald's is remarkably consistent.

Gas station coffee isn't some monolith. There's just way too much variability in supplier, equipment, etc. I've been to a few gas stations where it was really some sort of super auto machine making espresso. So it was really making an Americano if one selected a larger cup of coffee.

 

[Jen414]

Dunks iced coffee---whether it's 90 degrees out or 0 degrees out. I live outside of Boston in a town of less than 40,000 people. We have 7 Dunkins' and 2 Starbucks and some other little local places too.

 

[mikehn]

I was pretty shocked to see McDs kcups being sold in stores. Never realized people actually like McDs coffee enough to pay for it.

 

[Gino USMC]

East coast gas stations have the best coffee. Mainly WaWa and Sheetz.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

If I'm out of town I'm usually still in the WaWa zone, thank God.

If there was no WaWa around, I'd probably go to Dunkin'. My Mom used to work the night shift at our local Dunkin' Donuts, so I knew how often they brewed fresh coffee and when. I haven't had their coffee in a long time, and I've heard that it's not as good. I have had Starbuck's on occasion, but I don't think it's that special, just tastes like coffee.