Dunkin Donuts vs. Starbucks and your coffee habits

I have noticed that there is a coffee divide between DnD and SB’s coffee, I am wondering if that divide has anything to do with how one likes their coffee.

So:
1 - Starbucks or Dunkin?
2- Type of coffee (‘standard’, decalf, vanella, etc)
3 - What do you add to it (cream, milk, 1/2&1/2, sugar, splenda, flavorings (list type), ect

For me
1 - Dunkin
2 - Standard brew
3 - Extra Cream

(for the starbuck’s terms challenged, please refrain from terms like halfcalf unless you define it)

There’s no Dunkin Donuts around here, but if there were, I’d choose it over Starbucks. I like Starbucks, but Dunkin wins for sentimental reasons (good coffee, too).

  1. Dunkin
  2. Standard coffee
  3. Milk, no sugar (that’s the other reason I prefer Dunkin: they’ll put the milk in when I order. Starbucks just has the self-serve containers that are always empty).
  1. It depends on where I am. I like both, but prefer Dunkin’ Donuts. If Starbucks is serving their Goldcoast blend, I’ll get that.
  2. Regular, almost never decaf, unless it’s really late.
  3. Fake sugar, real cream. In other words, Sweet & Low or Splenda, and Half & Half.

It’s not what the OP is asking, but I had to share.
Down the road from me, Krispy Kreme opened a big new store, with their “factory” making assembly-line donuts, and the red neon “hot donuts” sign, and all. Practically next door to the Dunkin Donuts that’s been here for 25 years or more.

Within a year, the Krispy Kreme had closed. Now it’s an empty building with a black bar across the name.

I rarely buy coffee in single servings, but which I would choose would depend on whether I planned to sit in the cafe and drink it, or have it to go. I’ve repeatedly heard that Dunkin Donuts’ coffee is very good, but I’m otherwise not real big on donut shops. So if I were getting it to go I might buy it from Dunkin Donuts. Starbucks, OTOH, has a sort of atmosphere. It may be a boilerplate, manufactured faux hip atmosphere, but I’d rather have that than nothing. So if I’m going to sit there and drink the coffee, then I’ll choose Starbucks.

I used to go to this great little Dunkin Donuts in Ft.Myers, FL (on Tamiami trail by the executive airport) that made the best cup o’ coffee but I think I found out their secret. When you asked for cream and sugar they added CREAM and SUGAR.
It was overly sweet but I guess I like my coffee that way.
Other Dunkin Donuts I’ve been too don’t match up.
Now in Minneapolis I cycle between Starbucks, Dunn Bros., and Caribou on a daily basis.

Dunkin Donuts, extra large, regular coffee, light with three sugars.

It’s no contest for me. If I want a frappucino, I go to Starbucks. But for straight-up coffee? Dunkin Donuts every time.

CalMeacham, Saugus or Medford? I used to stop at the Saugus one for donuts (if the sign was lit) and then stop at the Dunkin Donuts *right next to it * for coffee.

1 - Starbucks or Dunkin? Starbucks
2- Type of coffee (‘standard’, decalf, vanella, etc) Bold
3 - What do you add to it? Nothing

My husband both tried Dunkin’ Donuts coffee twice. We never even finished the cup. I don’t know what that swill is they’re selling, but it sure as hell ain’t coffee. Not that Starbucks is much better, mind you, but at least they load it up with sweet, sweet caffeine.

1 - Starbucks or Dunkin?

Dunkin. Never, never, Starbucks, not even if they paid me.

2- Type of coffee (‘standard’, decalf, vanella, etc)

Large Standard French Vanilla.

3 - What do you add to it (cream, milk, 1/2&1/2, sugar, splenda, flavorings (list type), ect

Extra light extra sweet. That’s right, I like a little coffee with my cream. And the vanilla is a flavor shot, mm-mm. And the other things is, I want my coffee made for me. Does Starbucks make it for you, or dump it in a cup and you add your own cream & sugar? I can’t remember right now.

Hmmph.

  1. TIM HORTONS. Unfortunately Dunkin Donuts has taken hold of NE Ohio, so it’s very unlikely that I’ll see one around here. Arabica is a nice local chain that I patronize when possible. Since I have to choose, Dunkin over Staryucks.

  2. Just plain coffee.

  3. No more than two sugars.

  1. Dunkin. I refuse to patronize Starbuck’s.*
  2. Regular coffee
  3. Black

Sorry. Forget the *. I was going to add something but then decided not to because it was stupid.

1 - Starbucks or Dunkin? – Dunkin’ for the donuts. Coffee? What’s that?
2- Type of coffee (‘standard’, decalf, vanella, etc) – What’s this “coffee” you talk about?
3 - What do you add to it? – I’m still confused. Dunkin’ Donuts sells donuts. Starbucks have a mediocre selection of pastries. What else do they sell?

i’ve never been to either, so I logged on to their websites to see which appealed to me more. My statement before entering the sites were that Starbucks had a fancier name.

  1. https://www.dunkindonuts.com/ :

*Rotating coffee cups on the main page. Weird.
*Advertisement that says “Skip the tie?”. I love ties, man.
*Selection has five different coffee brands. One of them is called Dunkin’ Decaf. Decaffeinated coffee is a silly idea and Dunkin’ Decaf is a silly name. I guess the logos are okay though. They do make me think of coffee.
*Over-all feeling: it seems friendly, but it’s not exactly sucking me in. I guess we could bond sometime, over say… coffee?
http://www.starbucks.com :

*First reaction: ew! These comes are rally trying to come across as awesome and universal.
*Quote: “Mmmmocha. The word itself is music to your mouth. But how does it taste, you ask? In a word… Magnificent. (And we’re not just saying that.)” Yes you are! Don’t put your opinions in my mouth, man.
*Huge display of different coffee types and options. It screams capitalism in an uncomfortable way.
Dunkin’ Donuts wins. And I’ll have a regular coffee, no things added. Except for caffeine.

1 - Starbucks or Dunkin?

Starbucks for straight-up coffee, Dunkin for our weekend treat - I get a mocha coolatta and a blueberry muffin and my wife gets a glazed and some hideous almond thing.

2- Type of coffee (‘standard’, decalf, vanella, etc) Starbucks - whatever the coffee of the day is. It’s usually pretty good. Dunkin - mocha coolatta.

3 - What do you add to it (cream, milk, 1/2&1/2, sugar, splenda, flavorings (list type), ect

Starbucks - half-n-half or whole milk; Dunkin - whipped cream and chocolate sauce.

Neither. No Dunkin Donuts around here - perhaps we Canadians can substitute Tim Hortons?

Starbucks: I’d like to go there all the time because they (a) treat their employees much better than the other posh coffee chains, Second Cup and Timothy’s, and (b) because they support organic/fair trade/shade grown coffee much more than the other two. However, because I don’t like dark roast I go to Second Cup or Timothy’s when I want a nice cuppa.

(Full disclosure: I do go to Tim Hortons a lot because it’s cheap and close to my office.)

So, if I could take the liberty of reducing your question to its essence, which eliminates all my considerations above: do you prefer coffee from upscale places that (ostensibly) prioritize quality over price (eg Starbucks), or the other way around (eg Dunkin)?

I choose the former. I don’t mind paying more for a good coffee. I drink a standard brew, black no sugar.

Mmm. Coffee. Lately this forum has really encouraged my coffee addiction.

  1. Dunkin Donuts for coffee (actual coffee that I need to wake up with) and Starbucks for espresso drinks (I consider these a treat, like dessert). I will not drink Starbucks coffee or Dunkin Donuts lattes and espresso drinks - it just feels wrong!

  2. & 3. I like my coffee with cream and two sweet & low. My Starbucks is a light mocha without whip cream and foam. Occasionally I’ll add a sweet & low to it

1- Dunkin
2- plain ol’ brewed coffee
3- half-n-half and sugar

If someone arranges a meet at a Starbucks I’m okay with that, I just get some frou-frou drink with a bunch of stuff in it so I don’t taste their coffee.

Dunkin’s my favorite coffee, after my own, most every road trip starts out with the biggest coffee they make in my cupholder and a bottle of water in the reserve cupholder.

Given the choice, I’d drink Dunkin Donuts (or Wawa) coffee every single day. But there are none around here. I’ll have a Starbucks like once a month or so, usually whatever seasonal special they’re advertising.

I drink my coffee at work since it’s free, it’s from a local company, Wolf Coffee, that’s not bad at all, but definitely no DD or Wawa.

  1. Dunkin’ Donuts
  2. Standard Coffee (Although a Coffee Coolatta always hit the spot on a hot summer morning driving down the shore.)
  3. Light and sweet

Dunkin, regular, cream and sugar.

Starbucks tastes ‘burnt’ to me. And their ‘mellow’ blend, or whatever the hell, is just overpaying for Dunkin Donuts coffee.

Man, if a Krispy Kreme opened next to a Dunkin’ Donuts around me, within a year, Krispy Kreme would stop selling coffee and Dunkin’ Donuts would stop selling doughnuts.

Then if a Popeye’s opened there, and an Arby’s jamocha shake stand, I’d be dead within a year of obesity/cholesterol/caffeine stress on my heart.

But I’d die happy.