Anyway, between now and December 8, 2009 YOU could win a free $50 gift card from DD. Just use your twitter account and tell Dunkin Donuts how they keep you going though the holidays. Tweet @DunkinDonuts AND include the hashtag #HoliDDay to be included in this promotion.

They are giving away a card a day. Maybe you will be lucky. $50 in coffee gift cards would keep ya caffeinated for…oh….. ten days or so?

If you have a twitter account an you are always on there anyway, Tweet DD and see how it goes. Free coffee is free coffee. Gotta love it!

Good luck!

image: SXC

Post from: Kettle and Cup

Well, move on from Bride Wars to Coffee Wars.  Starbucks, Panera, McDonalds, and Dunkin Donuts seem to be in a hand to throat battle over your coffee dollar.  Don’t you feel important?

It should seriously be a simple thing.  You should go where you like.  But it isn’t that easy, largely because we have become a brand motivated society.  We live in a society where a woman will call 911 to report that McDonald’s ran out of chicken nuggets.  Do you think maybe we are taking ourselves a little too seriously? Maybe we have lost sight of reality?

The honest to God truth is that most commercially brewed coffee is only marginally different and most people will buy coffee where ever it is convenient. If there is more than one choice then most people will go with brand unless they have had a bad experience.  And then they will go with comfort.

Most people will not worry about social issues, fair trade, Rain Forest Alliance, or even taste.  And yet the purveyors of coffee will try everything in the Politician”s Guide to Dirty Tricks to woo coffee drinkers to their side.

Basically it should be pretty simple.  We live in an over-extended economy.  Most coffee drinking should probably be done at home.  If you are going to grab a coffee out you need to consider the local mom and pop place (if there is one) as priority if possible.  Why? Because keeping things local, supporting the local economy is important.  Small businesses create quality products.  The bigger your business the more likely the product will suffer.  To me an ethical small business will know when to stop increasing in size.  They will be happy with enough and not require more.

Do you realize the mark up on coffee?  One pound of coffee beans will make about 30 cups of coffee.  Let’s say a pound of coffee retail costs 8.99, just for a base figure.  That works out to just under 30 cents a cup.  Thirty cents.   Now, what are you paying for a cup of coffee?  1.50?  that is a five hundred percent mark up.  Five hundred percent! Now, you need to figure in overhead and expenses but still..you are looking at a huge mark up.

So, coffee wars? Be aware of what is happening and decide for your self if you want to play. Watch your back though.

image:sxc

Post from: Kettle and Cup

Dunkin Donuts is promoting Iced Coffee Day. On Tuesday, April 21, 2009 Dunkin Donuts will be selling iced coffees for 50 cents and every sale of those coffees means the Dunkin Donuts will contribute to Homes for Our Troops.  They will be giving 10 percent and a miniumum of 100,000.00

Homes for Our Troops is an amazing organization.  They remodel homes for troops that have been severely injured and adapt the homes for wheelchairs or other special needs, at no cost to the soldier, airman, marine, or sailor…how cool is that?

This is something that is near and dear to my heart.  Marc and I are both veterans, the children of veterans, and our son is currently somewhere.  Last we heard, in January he was in Bagdhad.  It is an eerie feeling to know that your kid is somewhere and not know where, or how he is.  How people who have kids in the military and do not know the Lord do this I can’t imagine.

Anyway… the other reason it is near and dear to me is that Marc is a disabled vet, and a friend of ours has MS and is in a motorized chair.  I have seen first hand how difficult simple things can be and how expensive adaptation is.

All you have to do is show up at your local Dunkin Donuts on 4/21 and order an iced coffee.  Fifty cents.  You can pour it out if you don’t like it, or hand it to the homeless guy outside.  But you will be giving something to some pretty important people.  And it is a great way to wish me a happy birthday.

image:Dunkin Donuts

Post from: Kettle and Cup

I finally found some Dunkin Donuts whole bean coffee and decided to try it. I had heard both good and bad things about it and you know, it is important to make up your own mind.

So…I found it at Target last night during the bi-weekly emptying of my checking account..

Just an aside…food is outrageous! We feed 12 people here. 4 adults, 2 teen boys, 1 almost teen girl, and 5 under the age of 10. My grocery budget has doubled. Some of this is because I use a lot of organics and fair trade items, but that should be offset by the fact that I have free eggs and milk…I could not believe the expense. Thank God my garden has 18 small tomatoes (so far) the corn is up and the green beans are about to explode.

Anyway. Dunkin Donuts coffee….

The aroma when the bag was opened was pretty strong and coffee like. It was not particularly rich but you could definitely smell it.

The beans are small, very small, and light colored even for a regular roast. There was no oil apparent on the beans at all.

The lighter ones are the Dunkin Donuts. There were a lot of broken coffee beans and pieces in the bag. The darker coffee is Kroger’s premium store brand, to give you an idea.

We ground it and measured our usual way.

The aroma of the coffee brewing was average. I felt like I was back in my mom’s kitchen watching the pot on the stove percolate.

It tastes like ground maxwell house. I don’t care for it. It has the classic bitterness of grocery store coffee. You could probably get a cup that tasted this way at your local fast food place, or an old school diner.

I will not buy it again. The coffee in this particular bag will probably be used for something like brewing up for watering tomatoes.

I do have a suggestion for Dunkin’ Donuts, though……

Stick with what you know.

Images:MaryeAudet 

Post from: Kettle and Cup

When I was growing up on the East Coast, Dunkin Donuts was a weekly ritual for my dad and I…one of many. Back then you went to Dunkin Donuts for some awesome fried dough, and the coffee was incidental.

When we moved to Texas in 1971 Dunkin Donuts was not even a rumor. There was Winchells Donuts, and even Lone Star Donuts…but Dunkin? Nope. Have a chicken fried steak, y’all…and a bowl of grits.

Apparently in the past 30 some odd years SOMEONE at Dunkin Donuts learned how to make coffee because lately I have been hearing a lot about their coffee. I have even seen bags of it in the store. I have not gotten it because it is always ground, and I prefer whole bean. ::::::Flashing lights, sirens::::wheep….wheep….Warning Will Robinson, warning! Coffee Snob! Warning!!::::::::::::::

However…over at Thrifty Mommy you will find recipes for the Dunkin Donuts coffee drinks. Sadly, you will have to check out Baking Delights for the donuts to go with them.

Image:Marye Audet

Post from: Kettle and Cup