Dunkin Donuts Coffee - or is it?

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No. I haven't done a side-by-side and don't intend to. Taste is not the issue.

I see, (I think). You're just upset about the labeling and/or the allowing of this type of thing to be done at all.

Again, I agree.

I once took a merchandising course and was astounded by the amount of effort that is put into packaging products. A *huge* amount of gross product-income is spent by manufacturers to make the products more appealing to the customers by using hundreds of *gimmicks* for packaging.

Material types, colors, shapes, object representations, dimensions, textures and especially wording and how those words appear...all have bearing on sales.

People who have a product to sell will use anything with which to sell it. In most cases, it has little to do with what the package contains.

Isn't that a shame? It's nothing more than a con-game.
 
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If you were given a blind taste test, do you think you would be able to pick out DD's coffee from others?

I'm not a big coffee drinker, so I doubt that I could pick DD's out of a lineup, but there are definite differences with coffee. At home If I am going to make a cup of coffee, I will use Folger's Colombian, to me this has a lot of the same qualities as DD's in store brewed coffee. I don't get this same flavor with Maxwell House or regular Folgers. I think that the roast or blend of DD and Folger's Colombian are smooth and take well to cream and sugar.
 
I could pick DD's out of a lineup. As long as I can still breathe through my nose, I could probably smell the difference. I can almost taste it now.
Now, as a disclaimer, the local DD was the last store I know of to still use a paper cup. Everyone else had gone to styrofoam. And just like some plumbers will tell you they can tell the taste of water through copper or PVC, which isn't allowed to be used here anymore for potable water, I'm pretty sure having the paper cup was part of the taste difference.
Set a dunkin' donut and a double chocolate next to the cup and I'll REALLY be able to tell the difference, lol.
 
You do see. Thank you.

Yes, I do see. At first, I couldn't tell if it was the con-game packaging thing or the flavor that had you upset.

I've always been a very logical thinker. Math, logic, facts...those are the things that make me and most of what I do and think.

The "artsy" side is missing in me. When I used to design databases, the art side of the applications I made were always farmed out to someone who was good at that sort of thing. If I tried to do it, it turned into something that looked like a very young child had drawn.

Tables, categories, sorting, arranging information....that's what I'm good at.

I'm pretty much the same way with food. My dishes aren't pretty, but they usually taste great. Pretty food or packaging doesn't do anything for me. Taste is my concern. I'll try it and if it tastes good, I'll continue to buy it.

What they write on the box is probably lies anyway. Lies designed for people who would believe them.

I'm not a big coffee drinker, so I doubt that I could pick DD's out of a lineup, but there are definite differences with coffee. At home If I am going to make a cup of coffee, I will use Folger's Colombian, to me this has a lot of the same qualities as DD's in store brewed coffee. I don't get this same flavor with Maxwell House or regular Folgers. I think that the roast or blend of DD and Folger's Colombian are smooth and take well to cream and sugar.

Interesting. I have tasted some coffees that had a bitter after-taste or more oils that ended up floating on top. Even some that had a powdery feeling left after swallowing. Most of those were the less expensive brands of coffee and I've always equated it with them buying lesser quality beans to make thier profit. The *coffee-taste* always seems the same to me, regardless of brand.
 
breakfast blend of folgers is my cup of choice. i can certainly taste the difference between brands. i don't buy d.d. or starbucks. i think they are just a choice for people that want to be "up scale"
 
I have a subscription to Gevalia. We got a free coffee maker and mugs, etc. We don't drink much coffee, but get their Kenyan once every six months. I usually give it away as part of a gift package to friends.

DD didn't do much for me when DH's dad gave us a huge bag several years ago. Just tasted like coffee.

I understand where Andy is coming from. Truth in advertising doesn't exist.
 
DD at one time had the best coffee and the one place you could expect consistency no matter which DD you happen to be at. Today it is hit or miss with DD. I have been to some DDs where I threw the coffee away or asked for my money back because it was burned or seriously diluted. DD at one time dumped their brewed coffee every thirty minutes. From some of the coffee I have bought at DD I don't believe they do this anymore. Even the donuts got smaller and the price went up.

If I am out I try to find an Atlanta Bread or Panera's.
 
You do see. Thank you.

So do I Andy. I heard about this practice more than a year ago. I forget which store, but I saw DD in the bag and there was only 11 ounces. Not the full pound you get when you buy it at DD. Always check the weight.

In Everett there are six DDs and all owned by the same man. He has two on Route 16 right across the street from each other. He gets you coming and going. And there are always lines. He was smart though. They have a drive-thru window and a coffee only window. Plus a parking lot so you can go in and get your coffee. On both sides of Route 16.

Would you be surprised if I told you he hasn't been in this country too long? A hard worker. :)
 
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So do I Andy. I heard about this practice more than a year ago. I forget which store, but I saw DD in the bag and there was only 11 ounces. Not the full pound you get when you buy it at DD. Always check the weight.

In Everett there are six DDs and all owned by the same man. He has two on Route 16 right across the street from each other. He gets you coming and going. And there are always lines. He was smart though. They have a drive-thru window and a coffee only window. Plus a parking lot so you can go in and get your coffee. On both sides of Route 16.

Would you be surprised if I told you he hasn't been in this country too long? A hard worker. :)

The Boston area seems to be Dunkin' Donuts central. When visiting a friend in Weymouth, we drove past 5 on her way to work, and she was only 4 miles from work. I also noticed some had the "coffee only" drive through line, always busy!

Here in Raleigh NC ( a pretty decent sized town), for the longest time there was a lone DD near downtown! About 8-10 years ago they started popping up more, now we have 8-10 I think.

This is Krispy Kreme territory, but there are very few shops, one downtown and the rest of their sales come from pre boxed items in the grocery store. KK is primarily raised yeast donuts, I love cake donuts, but KK doesn't know how to make them properly, they are awful like Little Debbie Dunkin' Sticks. I don't like their coffee in the few times I have been to a shop.

I think that coffee and coffee drinks are now the lifeblood of Dunkin' Donuts, they are extremely profitable and most people go for that. The DD in this area make consistently good coffee.
 
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Dunkin Donuts started in Massachusetts. They started in Randolph and now are headquartered in Canton. When they started selling franchises, one of the first was here in Eastie. There were several individual coffee shops here and slowly DD drove them out of business. Other than McDonald's and BK, they are the only coffee shops in town. The one down in Central Square is in trouble. Every morning the police go in and clear the place out of the homeless, druggies and other undesirables. Slowly they are getting the message. The one up in the Heights area has the coffee brigade. All the old folks go there and sit discussing what is wrong wih the world. They do a brisk businiess as it is just a few feet from the beach. In the summer they sell a lot of ice drinks. Neither one has a drive through wiindow.

All my kids know, "Don't come to see me unless you have a large DD in your hands." It is my life's blood. :)
 
DD and other brands

I've also drank DD coffee at their stores and again, taste no difference between that and the Maxwell House at home after brewing.

If you were given a blind taste test, do you think you would be able to pick out DD's coffee from others?

I can certainly taste the differences in coffee. I've been drinking different brands long enough to without question, tell a difference.

DD has a unique flavor that I like and find consistent in taste even as the coffee begins to cool. What I don't understand is... I can buy the whole bean coffee from the store, bring it home, grind it and make coffee but that unique flavor I cannot duplicate at home. I have only bought one (1) pound of coffee from DD so I was thinking the bag was old. I did buy it from a discounted basket at the DD store. It was like $1 off a normal bag. I looked at the date and it said "best if used by 10/7/12" and I bought it in July at the store. The coffee wasn't bad, it just didn't have that DD signature flavor that I have grown to love when buying cups of coffee at the stores.

Do you think it was the close "use by" date? I mean, they had them in the discount basket for a reason I would think.
 
If you visit the DD website, the FAQ section describes why your home brewed coffee won't taste the same.
 
Ahhh... yet another disclaimer. That defeats the purpose for buying their coffee for home brewing. I will just continue to buy cups in the store. I did call Dunkin' about the taste issue and they never told me the coffee wouldn't taste the same at home but they were apologetic and sent me a gift card in the mail.
 

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