Saturday, January 9, 2021

A Tale Of Two Cups Of Dunkin' Coffee

 For over 20 years prior to Dunkin' dropping the "Donuts", I have been buying Dunkin' (Donuts) Original Blend, Medium Roast, WHOLE BEAN coffee in 1 lb. bags, and drinking freshly ground drip-brewed coffee.  I might note that I don't like Dunkin' coffee as served at the Dunkin' stores, only when brewed from freshly ground beans.  For the last few years the local Dunkin' stores have offered special pricing of "3 lb. for $18" making these beans a great value.

A surprise this week, the shelf with the usual bags of coffee had bags with new graphics making it difficult to find the critical "WHOLE BEAN" label.  


In fact, there were no bags of whole-bean coffee at all.  I asked the manager if they had any whole-bean coffee and was chagrinned to hear "we no longer carry whole bean."  I grabbed a single bag of ground product wondering if I would actually be able to tell the not-fresh-ground difference.

In the store's defense, if an item is not selling well enough to cover carrying it, I understand that it makes good business sense to drop it.   I don't know how many "have to have WHOLE BEAN" folks live in my sleepy neighborhood.  Considering the popularity of single-cup convenience with Keurig these days, I had been expecting that ground coffee might become a thing of the past someday, probably for a future generation.

When I opened the bag of Dunkin' Ground Coffee, my probable mistake jumped to my nose.  There is a special aroma of beans that this bag of ground coffee had replaced with a hint of a stale, chemical odor.  Still the real test would be in the cup.  After all, we are talking the same Dunkin' Original Blend, 100% "high quality Arabica coffee beans grown in Central and South America. [Blended and roasted] to the unique specifications that have given Dunkin' coffee its signature taste sine 1950."  

In the cup, my mistake was unmistakable!  The coffee smelled and tasted "flat", like something missing to give it life.  Case closed, all the years I heard people say they can't tell the difference and wondering if I was fooling myself buying a special grinder, tolerating its assault on my ears, cleaning the escaping coffee dust, and thinking it was making a better cup.  In fact, not only can I tell the difference, if it isn't from fresh ground whole beans, I don't like it.  Period.

To hold me over till I can canvass other franchises,  I paid $8 for only 3/4 lb of (not-expired) "Dunkin' Donuts" labeled whole-bean coffee.  It has the same taste I love, albeit at a 78% premium on the price.  Have to start calling before this tiny bag has delivered its last bean.