Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts, which do you prefer???

pete · 09-27-2009, 05:24 PM

I got this in a Spam Email and they promised me free coffee if I filled out their survey. I know better and I pay for my coffee at Dunkin Donuts. I tried it on a photography forum, it was lots of fun and I think will be more appropriate here. So vote and let us know...
Pete

Mike · 09-27-2009, 10:30 PM

We prefer Starbucks for the wifi access which comes with our Starbucks loyalty card.
It's rechargeable in Canada or the US, and works wherever there's a Starbucks (duh!

).
Data roaming costs a fortune, and when we want to check email, or run Mapquest while in
the US, it's the easiest and most frugal method we've found for mobile internet access.
And, their coffee usually gives us a decent caffeine hit too, although it's pricier than T/A
or Flying J.

VernM · 09-27-2009, 10:44 PM

My favorite is Red Rose tea, imported from the Maritimes, and a bagel!

renrut · 09-27-2009, 11:00 PM

I like Tim Horton's (Timmies). I can't afford Starbucks. I don't feel like taking out a second mortgage so I can afford coffee. Though I must admit, I've never had a Starbuck coffee. I was going to try it a few years ago but I asked for a "coffee". They needed to know what flavor, type or other stuff like that. All I wanted was a regular coffee. I just walked away and never went back.

As far as coffee I don't like; the coffee at work is really bad. There is one guy who can never get his coffee strong enough. He put so much coffee grounds in the coffee maker, the filter overflowed because the water couldn't get through the grounds fast enough. If I want a coffee at work, I make a fresh pot and take from it.

mamello · 09-28-2009, 08:59 AM

My favorite is a herbal chai latte with a cinnamon twist!

No Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts where I live! When we travel though, we like Tim Hortons and we go to Starbucks for the same reason Mike does...wifi access!

pete · 09-28-2009, 02:27 PM

Thank you all for the interest.
I actually prefer Panera Bread for the free internet access but the survey came to me with just two choices and I added the other and none. We have Wawa (Native American word for wild goose) markets and their coffee is good but I think DD is the best. I tried Timmie''s when I was in New England and would probably frequent there if they had one close to me. I really liked their cherry danish.
Pete

Mike · 09-28-2009, 03:22 PM

Timmies has better pricing than SB's on almost everything, and they are EVERYWHERE in Canada
as far as I can tell, except maybe the west coast where Starbucks has a presence. We spent 10
days out east back in August and there are (and this is a guess by the Halifax location) maybe 3
Starbucks in all of Atlantic Canada. One is in Halifax and they thought there might be one in Moncton
and possibly another in Charlottetown. So out east Tim's rules the coffee waves.

I'm not sure whether Tim's has any further expansion plans in the US beyond the areas you mentioned.
I believe Wendy's was the force behind their original foray, and they found they couldn't compete with
DD in the States. I do believe they might have triggered the coffee war with McD's when they started
to add significant food to their menu of coffee, donuts, and muffins a few years back. McD's had to
counter them with their McJava or McCoffee or whatever they call it.

Davydd · 09-28-2009, 04:22 PM

In the West Dunkin Donuts is extremely rare. Starbucks is more available. If you have an iPhone you get free Wifi access at a Starbucks. No loyalty required. However, for convenience, you also get free Wifi access at a McDonalds. Their coffee is much improved and cheaper and they are EVERYWHERE on the road.

pete · 09-28-2009, 08:18 PM

I agree that McDonalds has greatly improved their coffee, A few years ago it was awful but they changed it. I think they have the best of the fast food breakfasts.
Pete

Mike · 09-29-2009, 01:58 PM

Hi Pete,
We don't mind the McCoffee, although (call us crazy) we prefer the "mud" from the truck stops.
It is much better now than the stuff they served before they decided to take on the donut shops selling
sandwiches and soup. And, we agree with you, they have the best breakfast options on the road.

As Davydd has mentioned, if you have an account at your home with AT&T, I think it has to be a home
internet account, or a wireless data plan, like he has with his iPhone, you get to use the wifi at places
like McD's or Starbucks without the loyalty card, because AT&T is (usually) the hotspot ISP at their locations.
Since we're Canadian (eh, Mamello?

) and can't have a regular business relationship with AT&T in the US,
we have to use the loyalty card approach to get wifi access at McD's and SB's. The cards are good up here too,
and they just want you to use it once a month, anywhere, to keep it active for the wifi. So that's what we do.

Mike · 08-31-2010, 01:30 PM

Had a Dunkin' Donuts coffee in Herkimer NY on a recent trip through NYS to the US northeast,
and Gaspe in Quebec.
"coffee-flavoured dishwater" doesn't begin to describe it. Why do some coffee shops seem
to make thin, weak, horrible, coffee-flavoured hot water, and sell it as coffee?
Don't they realize, by watering down the coffee to save a few pennies in overhead, they'll lose
potential return business and customers?
We'll never try DD again for coffee.

VernM · 08-31-2010, 01:44 PM

Want me to send you a sample of your National Drink; Canadian Red Rose black tea? It'll get you straightened out and then you can decicde if that donut is really important. C(;<)>.

Mike · 09-01-2010, 12:10 AM

Red Rose Tea? I had no idea it was our national drink, but then I didn't know they made ice hockey
our second official national sport in 1994, in addition to lacrosse, which I thought was
our (little known) one and only national sport since the mid-1800s.
Frankly, I thought coffee and beer were our national drinks.
BTW, Tim's makes a pretty good brewed tea (not sure what brand), so I'm told.
Give it a try next time you're lurking around Sarnia.
Might be a revelation.

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