People who want a great cup of coffee commonly go to their local coffee shop. Folks in places in Manhattan, San Francisco, or Seattle may go to their local “third wave” coffee shot where they know the precise location where their coffee was grown down to the coffee farm. If you go to a Starbucks you are going to be deluged with choices. If you go to a “third wave” coffee shop you may end up paying an exorbitant price for a unique coffee that is not more enjoyable or satisfying that you could brew at home. Many folks find that they can get a reliably excellent cup of coffee where they pick up their donuts, namely at Dunkin Donuts. How good is Dunkin Donuts coffee?
A Good Cup of Coffee or Just Showing Off?
Years ago this author came to a decision regarding the purchase of a bottle of wine. The prices involved will indicate how many years ago it was and the economic circumstances of the writer at the time. My basic price for a bottle of wine was $5 but sometimes I would splurge on a $10 bottle because I could tell the difference between the two and felt that the extra price was worth it. However, when I tried a $20 bottle of wine I discovered that I did not appreciate a similar increase I quality as I doubled the purchase price. In other words, the move up to better grapes for a $10 bottle of wine was worth the price. The move up to a $20 bottle of wine was just showing off for my friends and dinner guests.
My point is that the same reasoning can be applied to a reliably good cup of coffee at a good price. Starbucks generally has great coffee and your local “third wave” coffee shop may have even better coffee. But is the uptick in quality worth the uptick in price and the fuss and bother of choosing from hundreds or even thousands of options? If you want to get a reliably good cup of coffee at a good price, consider getting your coffee at the same place that you pick up a donut or a dozen, Dunkin Donuts.
Dunkin Donuts Coffee
Dunkin Donuts serves high quality Arabica coffee. It does not serve just black coffee. It also does not have thousands of options. Think of their coffee menu as a trimmed down list of traditional coffee shop options. An advantage of this approach is that their staff is not overwhelmed by requests for endless variations of flavored coffees. Another is that they can focus on making basic and great coffee every time. Part of this approach comes from the fact that they are not a chain of coffee shops but rather sell donuts, bagels, muffins, breakfast sandwiches, wraps and snacks. By limiting their coffee menu they can focus on the food that they sell and use their good coffee as simply an additional selling point.