I fell for it…the marketing blitz and the rave reviews for Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee. Being a coffee lover, I typically stick to one kind (Tully’s Coffee - in my opinion the BEST, far better than even Starbucks Coffee) and Dunkin Donuts Coffee reminds me why. Even, my brother-in-laws have been raving on how great Dunkin’s coffee is and you see all the commercials so I thought hey, I’ll give it a try.
Now, I’m not a coffee guzzling machine but I do enjoy a cup or two a day. I gave up coffee when I got pregnant and for about 9 months after my son was born due to terrible headaches and breastfeeding. After some experimenting, I found that if I buy a bag of caffeinated coffee and a bag of decaf coffee and mix them together, it cuts down on the caffeine and I can enjoy two cups throughout the day instead of only one with no headaches, no crazy caffeine buzz and doesn’t seem to have any effect on my breastmilk. Now, I know it sounds crazy, but it works for me. So, I purchased Dunkin’s coffee on sale at the local grocery market and paid $6.99 for one pound bag…it’s a $1.50 less than Tully’s and Starbucks, when on sale, so I I though, if this works out, I’ll be saving a $1.50 a bag. Not bad.
I took it home and when I opened them up to do the mix. I was really disappointed with the appearance of the coffee grounds and aroma. Dunkin’ Donuts Original Blend Coffee states it’s made of “100% Arabica beans” well, let me just say this, the appearance of the grounds were light brown, almost orangish in color, looked like Sanka, the instant decaf coffee my grandmother used to make for herself. The aroma of the original blend wasn’t “knock your socks off” great either, it just smelled of packaged coffee. Then I opened the Dunkin’ Decaf, the grounds were really dark but they actually smelled better then original blend.
Next was the taste test…at best I would say the taste is equivalent to a “premium” coffee freshly brewed at a convenience store like, AM/PM or fast food restaurant like, Jack in the Box. It’s just okay, nothing to write home about and certainly not something I plan to buy again. I don’t know about you, but I like to enjoy my cup of coffee. It’s like wine in some ways, I like to smell it, enjoy the different tastes and certainly the little party it has in my mouth before it goes down smoothly. It’s one of my little pleasures each morning and sometimes in the early afternoons. Yes, I know what you are going to say, “you mixed the Dunkin Donuts Original Blend with the Dunkin Donuts Decaf Blend” but it really doesn’t matter and let me tell you why. I do this all the time with Tully’s House Blend and Tully’s Decaf House Blend which comes out PERFECT. It’s fabulous, just as they indicate on the package “Smooth, Inviting and Buttery.” Yum! And like I said before, prior to moving to Tully’s 3 years ago, I would mix the Starbucks House Blend and Starbucks Decaf House Blend and the taste was never “off” there either.
So if you are wavering on whether or not to try Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee, save your money or at least try it first at your friend’s house that keeps raving about it or just plum don’t get sucked into the marketing hype, because I’ll bet dollars to donuts, you’ll like the coffee you were drinking much better before and then, like me, you’ll have a full bag of Dunkin’s coffee to finish. Or if your lucky, you can pass your bag along like I will, by giving the rest to my brother-in-laws, and going back to Tully’s.
Great site. A lot of useful information here. I’m sending it to some friends!