All Coffee Is Not Created Equally

If you don’t appreciate the flavors of coffee, this post may not interest you at all. But like most people, especially us tired moms, coffee is one of my go to pick me ups. Honestly, it doesn’t do a whole lot for me most days as far as energy goes, but I do fully enjoy the flavors of coffee. I wasn’t really a coffee drinker until the last maybe 5 years or so. I have tried many different kinds, from black to 100% “froo-froo” type coffee. Not only have I tried the different type of ways to drink coffee; hot, cold, latte, expresso, french press, and the like, but I have also tried several different places to get these drinks from. In my opinion, I can never make it as good at home as a coffee place does.

There are so many chain coffee places near me and even the exact same item, made at each one, is NOT created equally. My go to coffee drink is an iced or blended vanilla latte, sometimes mocha. Pretty simple and “generic” in my opinion. I decided to order the same item at 4 different places to compare and decide which one makes it better. I chose to go to Starbucks, Scooters, Panera, and Dunkin.

Now I know that everytime you go to a place, it could be a different person making it each time. So in order to really choose who makes it best, I did this over the course of a year.

When I first made the decision to do this, I had primarily been drinking Panera coffee. I was part of their coffee program where you pay like 1.99 a month and get all the coffee you want. It was sufficient for awhile. Not as sweet as I tend to like and sometimes seemed too watery, but still enjoyable. On a scale of 0 to 10, 10 being the best I would rate it a 5.

Then more Scooters and Starbucks locations started to pop up nearby and I opted out of Panera’s coffee program. I don’t know what it is about Starbucks, but for some reason their lattes just don’t seem to come out right for me. I do enjoy the “pink drink” very much though and get that whenever Starbucks is where we are at. For the scale though, I will grade them based on my go to drink, I would rate Starbucks a 3.

Scooters, probably deemed the lower end of the chains as more people seem to prefer Starbucks around here. They get my drink right, every single time. No matter who is working, I have never been disappointed. Literally never. I have no complaints and would rate them a 10.

Lastly, we have Dunkin. People have always raved about Dunkin. It’s a name I have known since I was younger and figured they must be doing something right. I will tell you I have been to Dunkin at least 8 times in the last year and not one time did I get something that tasted good. It is either way too bitter, like they forgot to add the “froo-froo” flavors to it or it tastes like straight milk. I gave them 2 more chances, just to be kind and still left disappointed. I no longer go to Dunkin. For me they would be rated a 0 in coffee.

With that experiment, I stick with what I know will be worth the money, and just go to Scooters. Do you have a go to coffee? Do you prefer making it yourself or do you feel like coffee places make it better? Which coffee place is your go to #1 stop? Let me know all about it!

☕️ jenn