Welcome to Love It/Hate It, where two opinionated P-Mag writers mouth off to each other about pop culture.
Today, Moretta and I square off about Dunkin’ Donuts. We’ll each put forth an argument explaining our position, which the other will then rebut. We’ll leave you to decide who’s right.
PoM: Dunkin’ Donuts coffee tastes like it was filtered through dirty underwear that someone then put a cigarette out in. For all that people complain that Starbucks’ coffee tastes burned, Dunkin’ coffee always tastes and smells like it’s been sitting on the burner since 1957. You walk into a DD, and you walk out smelling like DD until you can properly decontaminate. Where I live, there’s a DD almost every mile. There are 21 Dunkin’ Donuts in my town. It’s ubiquitous, it tastes terrible, and I’d rather drink instant coffee, and that’s saying a lot.
Moretta: There’s a reason why Dunkin’ Donuts are ubiquitous ““ they are America’s donut shop, and the folks at Dunkin’ Donuts test kitchens have done everything they can to optimize the experience. Like Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts coffee is not meant to go it alone: its flavor is calibrated to partner with something comforting and sweet. In fact, in parts of New England, where DD originated, asking for a “regular” coffee gets you a cup generously filled with cream and sugar. [Yup. True story. ~PoM in NE] There is no better example of this pairing, though, than the marriage of donut and coffee: when dunked into a cup or black coffee, the ever-so-slightly-doughy glazed donut becomes more than just a sum of its parts.
PoM: I’ll give you that the donuts aren’t terrible. I just feel like you shouldn’t need pastry to make your coffee palatable. Since my main beef with DD is their coffee, I think we’re at a stalemate. Get it? Stale. Like their coffee.
7 replies on “Love It/Hate It: Dunkin’ Donuts”
I don’t really care for DD. Too sugary and nearly no taste. Of course, I’m spoiled by my local donut place of deliciousness.
http://www.donutbank.com/menu/menu.html
YUM.
I have to disagree. I like D&D coffee and dislike their donuts. :P I’m not a big sweets person, so I don’t love any donuts. But D&D does flavored coffee, and I fell in love with their Blueberry and Pumpkin flavors. :P
I’m a place of no Dunkin’ Donuts and I don’t drink coffee (don’t drink donuts, hello Freckle) so I’m going to be Switzerland here. I do want several donuts right now though.
I think the donuts ARE terrible. They leave that waxy film on the roof of your mouth. Yuck. What is that crap?
Cosign! The donuts are awful.
I’m not lucky enough to have a Starbucks on every corner, so DD it is if I want drive-through coffee. I guess I’m just used to it. Although, I do have an awesome coffee maker in my kitchen and several travel mugs, so lately I’ve been making better use of that. Right now, I have some kind of Afternoon Kona blend and some Coffeemate Sweetcreme creamer and I’ve been drinking entirely too much during the day.
Even those of us with Starbucks on every corner can often find better coffee/ pastries. I love the local shops that make something special out of all the calories and sugar we ingest, to make me think, “yeah that is why I am eating this.”