I just returned from a long and uneventful trip to Virginia to see my son get married. I’m referring to the trip itself as being uneventful. Not the stay at our son’s home.
Since you really find you do not have the time to search for a great cup of coffee when traveling, we decided that it would be either McDonald’s Premium Coffee or Burger King’s ‘JOE’ Coffee. The coffee isn’t bad either. But there are some distinct differences in the two.
McDonald’s Premium Coffee: Generally fresh all the time and especially when traveling a busy highway. Always available since they rule the fast food industry and you can find one on every corner.
The coffee (since changing over to their premium blend) is rich and damned if you can almost taste a hint of fresh ground beans! Some of the time anyway. We carry a thermos which holds two of their pot size coffees. I have discovered they really do not want to fill that monster up though and charge you less than an arm and leg. But! I also found if you really butter them up with compliments, they will do it for the price of two large cups $2.88 wow! Not bad, huh? Don’t forget to ask for the cups. They owe them to you. LMBO!
Burger King’s ‘Joe’ Coffee: Hmmm….. well, first off it is difficult most of the time to find a Burger King available at all times. In major cities, sure, they are there but not plentiful. Small cities, yeah, there too but you may have to go searching for it. You won’t see one from the highway.
When you do find one, beware of the age of the coffee! It could be old. If you have stopped by one on a busy interstate, most likely it will be fine though. They charge more than McDonald’s for a huge thermos, over $6 bucks.
The coffee is really good if fresh. Not as striking as Micky Dee’s but worthy of a mention for fast food coffee. It is rich but not as rich as the competition. People are not as friendly either. All in all, I find I can NOT have it my way. *winks*
My recommendation for traveling: Folks, if you can not find a Starbucks or the like, pick McDonalds. They are always there, and generally always open (on major interstates). The coffee is fresh and if it is not, they will make it for you. It passes the test for drinkable rich taste and doesn’t cost much. Be sure to pass out the nice words and you may get a deal too. Burger King…. one thumb down and one up for you. Well, one half way up.
Always amazes me the new coffee blogs I find, what a nice treat to find this today! While I do appreciate that McDonald’s is taking a renewed interest in the humble cup of coffee, I personally find it too little too late.
At least for the non-interstate travel, but when driving you really don’t have a lot of options, so in that regard, its nice to see that we at least have a few options that we can tolerate drinking.
I wonder what good portable boiling options are out there that could make the French Press a more viable option on the road…
You might check out Nio’s Anti-Spam image if you have not already. I had some problems with SK catching too much. Here is the Link – http://nio.infor96.com/archives/369
Very nice site BTW.
ahh.. thanks so much for the compliments! I visited your site and really enjoyed myself. I added you to my off-site coffee links. Nice job on the design. I love it!
For the record…. McDonalds coffee is a have to sort of thing. Not a regular happening for me.
I’ll have to check into portable options. Honestly, I had not considered it but maybe I should.
Audrey
Well, yeah, but there’s also a good chance you’ll find a Starbucks around since they are spreading by the second to a corner near you! 😛
And you just can’t help but love Starbucks. I know I do! 🙂
I see your Spam problem’s gone! (at least I don’t see any evidence of it) I’m very glad!
Take care and thanks for the tips.
Yep… I did manage to find one within reach on our trip. It was a treat for me too!
Brotherhood of the Bean: Check out this portable option!
Liquid Planet’s French press travel mug
Audrey
Well, we must really have a different sense of taste … or maybe I am jaded by drinking a 10% Kona mix everyday.
After I read the comments I was excited to stop by McDs yesterday to try the coffee – what a disappointment. The coffee McDonald’s sells here on Kauai is listed as Kona Coffee. I asked if that is a Hawaii McDonald’s thing or if it is the same coffee they sell nationwide. The counter person said it is the same Kona coffee nationwide.
Hrrumph. I’ll take BK Joe over the McD brew any day.
It would be interesting if a few people would confirm that McD is selling Kona Coffee in your mainland locations. Perhaps it is just a local nod to Hawaii products.
I read where Buger King wants to see their coffee beans in grocery stores. I look forward to buying some but suspect it will be awaile. BTW, I read that BK Joe is made with arabica beans and so I trekked off in search of some coffee made from those. I discovered at COSTCO and my local grocery store that those beans must not be all that unique since apparently most (or all?) the beans grown in Hawaii are arabica.
Anyone have a source for some of those BK beans?
Burger King coffee is made from a liquid concentrate supplied by Sara Lee / Douwe Egberts . They have a special brewer for the liquid/(oil)? concentrate.
I’m a big fan of the BK coffee. I didn’t think fast food coffee would be this good, but it is.
Joe is pretty tasty. And if you catch McDonalds on a good day, their’s is too. lol… I have to update my bad comments on what I think of Maxwell House. They finally switched from Robusto beans to Arabica beans. It isn’t half bad now.