Please pardon any typos in today’s post.
My fingers are flying over the keyboard. My brain is in overdrive. And my heart is racing.
This morning I set out to single-handedly settle the Starbucks-McDonald’s coffee war.
And now, two hot mochas, two hot lattes, two iced mochas and two iced lattes later, I have an opinion….and a bad case of the shakes.
Most folks who read my blog (or read, past tense, my articles in The San Diego Union-Tribune) know that I’m passionate about coffee and savvy enough to know that Seattle’s Caffe Umbria and Italy’s Illy coffee are the standard bearers. But I’m also pragmatic and I do appreciate Starbucks consistency and ubiquitousness (though I’m not crazy about the bitter, over-roasted taste of its coffee).
Like most journalists, I also love, every so often, to act the iconoclast and shake up readers with unexpected opinions.
That’s why when I walked into my local McDonald’s McCafe this morning – face to face with Miss California and “The Donald” on a huge hanging TV screen – I was actually kinda rooting for McJo.
Didn’t happen.
I sipped all the hot coffee drinks side by side, while very hot, and later at room temperature (which is when a coffee’s flavor is actually more pronounced).
Starbucks’ latte had a significantly deeper, more layered flavor than the McDonald’s latte which tasted mostly “dark” and slightly burnt. I felt that the Starbucks coffee had a livelier flavor that “sang” good morning to me, whereas, in comparison, the McDonald’s just half-heartedly nudged me into the day.
Moreover, I was disappointed in the McDonald’s one-size fits all approach. The large signs proclaiming “Made To Order” are lying. The chain uses a press-here machine similar to those used in many airports and convenience stores. You want a medium latte, you get it the way the machine wants to make it. Want only one shot of espresso in that instead of two?? Want heavy foam or no foam at all?? Don’t waste your breath.
In addition, the chocolate syrup in the McD mocha is more about sugar than about cocoa flavor and the McDonald’s mocha drink is, indeed, a lot sweeter than the Starbucks version. The whipped cream on the Mickey D comes from a ReddiWip can; Starbucks uses real whipping cream in a canister. Not only can you taste the difference right away, but after a couple minutes the real stuff is still there and the Reddi Wip is but a slimy memory.
The iced versions of latte and mocha were more of the same. Flat flavor and too much sugar in the McDonald’s drinks, decent coffee and chocolate flavor in the Starbucks.
Lastly, a note about value. To all those folks out there thinking that they’ll hit the Golden Arches to save money: Think again. A medium McD latte was $2.89; a medium (grande) Starbucks latte was $3.25. There’s even less difference in the prices of iced drinks.
Bottom line: If you’re cruising through the backroads of America, you’ll find the new McDonald’s coffee drinks a lot better than what was there before. But, dollar for dollar,, in an area where you have a choice, Starbucks is the place to satisfy that caffeine craving.
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