[For the Love of ‘Fee] To go: McDonald’s McCafe Coffee

‘For the Love of ‘Fee’ is one coffee-lover’s attempt to machete through the tangle of coffee beans and brews to find an awesome cup of coffee. Juan Valdez follows ME! 🙂

Raunchy Ronnie’s, McDohNo’s, Starchy Archies…however you like to call McDonald’s, it’s hard to beat the plastic food rap.

I was a frequent flyer at McDo’s growing up, but an awareness of healthy eating and a necessity to save my pennies over the years put a serious damper on that. Truth be told, I have not eaten at McDonald’s since 2003, around the time they came out with those breakfast sandwiches with the syrup-infused french toast (blech). I also recall their coffee as being an afterthought, and pretty watered down. Really, I would expect a place the caters more to children to care more about what goes into a Happy Meal than what goes into their coffee. If the food doesn’t agree, and the coffee tastes bad, I really have no reason to go to McDonlad’s, right?

The hubs and I were talking take-out coffee recently. He said these days his coworkers swear by McDonald’s coffee, preferring it over Tim Hortons coffee (which, to anyone not Canadian, is the number 1 take out coffee shop in Canada). The opposite is true were I work. Having a Tim Hortons, Timothy’s coffee (no relation to Tim Hortons), three other coffee take-outs and most recently a Starbucks right on our college campus, there is no lack of coffee joints, but the favourite seems to be Tim Hortons. I don’t have a dog in this fight in case you are wondering…I’ll take my coffee cheap and tasty, please. I don’t care where it comes from! But, I pass by several McDonald’s and never think about going in.

It was our recent trip to North Bay, and lack of caffeine that made us want to try something different. We made a stop at a McDonald’s in Sturgeon Falls to try this so-called great coffee. Gone are the days of Higgins and Burke coffee (what McD’s served way back in the day), replacing it with its own brand and brew called McCafe. The hubs and I ordered two large coffees with milk, and paid just over $3 for both.

Well, bad coffee at McDonald’s is a thing of the past, folks! The votes are in and I am now a convert! The coffee was aromatic the instant I flipped open the lid. Although the cup had a “Caution Hot” warning, the temperature of the coffee was not a usual “nuclear hot” so I was able to take a slow sip immediately.

The coffee tasted great, almost like I would have made at home; bold with a smooth aftertaste. I felt comforted by its aroma to the extent it made me sad to see the bottom of my cup. Seriously, I was surprised this came from McDonald’s!

MCafe cupface

So, if you are wondering what happens to be safe to consume at Mickey Dee’s these days, rest assured the coffee is pretty damn good.

8.5/10

70 comments

  3. Enjoyed the ‘to go’ title modification Sarca – as I enjoy their ‘fee too!
    Perhaps McD’s greatest accomplishment is that they’ve been as successful as they have been with such a creepy mascot.
    I’d be keen to read about more ‘to go’ coffee choices!

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  4. Had McPukers coffee yesterday and it’s a good coffee I like your description of the breakfast sandwiches as well! My daughter had one yesterday and you described what she ate to a T! Ha! McDonalds Premium or whatever they call it and Hortons Darkroast are pretty even in my book!

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    1. I dooooon’t understand whyyyyy my wife insists on Tim’s only. Especially when we’re at McDonald’s and we have to do a Tim’s stop on the way home.

      Personally, I am looking forward to all-day breakfast. McMuffins! I’ll finally get to try the Mc10:35 sandwich!

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      2. Yeah, people love their Timmies. Like I said, I don’t care where we stop, as long as the coffee is decent and cheap. She should try it.
        My mom had an addiction to Tim Hortons for years – on a three-per-day bender. She said she thinks it was the cream they put in the coffee that makes the coffee so good. She has since dropped her addiction. I don’t think it is the same cream any more either.

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  5. Agree, McDonalds is pretty good. I think they realized the zillions of $ they were missing out on in the booming coffee crowd. Thanks to their frequent free coffee promotions it would be hard not to try it, and they brought the goods to keep people coming back! The Kuerig/Tassimo pods are good too, but are pricey and never on sale.
    Sorry you had to break that crazy 15 year anti McDs run, but if its only the coffee, maybe it doesnt count and the the streak goes on!

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  6. I agree, McCafe coffee is pretty good stuff. I find it a little acidic, but it’s much better than it was when they first launched it. I still hate their lids, though!

    You can buy it bagged at McDonald’s as well and that stuff brews up pretty nicely.

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  8. McCafe is definitely better than Chez Hortons! I always appreciate these ‘fee posts since I am addicted to the stuff myself and always on the lookout for other roasts to try. I am currently enjoying Timothy’s breakfast blend at the cottage.

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  9. I’ll toss my vote in for a McDo’s over a Tim’s, anytime. It’s cheaper and tastes better. I drink my coffee black and there’s a noticeable difference.

    This was all discovered when my lovely wife (who commutes two hours every day and therefore often gets a road coffee) tried McDo instead and came away in favour of it. We got the kids ice cream cones at McDo one time and I got a coffee and there ya go.

    I remember hearing a conspiracy theory that when Tommy’s changed their beans to whatever the hell it is they serve now, McDo’s bought their old recipe or whatever and that’s why it’s better. I have no idea if there’s any truth to that rumour.

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    1. I also heard about this rumour. I don’t know if it’s true either. It might have been around the same time Tim’s turned to the dark side and outsourced the manufacturing of their donuts, etc.

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        1. We were at some Tim Hortons in Aurora I think, that only had ONE toilet and ZERO urinals. The line-up for the men’s was long! Meanwhile, the ladies had 4 stalls! FTW!

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            1. Yeah, and of course all the dudes are doing the pee pee poo dance in line. Didn’t smell too good walking past it to the ladies taj mahal outfit they had going on lol

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  10. I still try to avoid the food at McDo, though. I ate a hamburger there around 1999 and I think I’m still digesting a small (seemingly) indestructible kernel of it to this day. But the coffee’s OK by me.

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    1. Around 2004, I read Fast Food Nation, which totally repulsed me from McD’s. Besides that, I was trying to identify a beef allergy and found out their fries were deep-fried in beef tallow. I don’t know if this is still the case, but it gave me more reasons not to eat their food. I still get a craving for their McChicken from time to time, but I never act on it. It’s like the lingering cravings of KFC…that smell…of addiction lol

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      1. Oh Fast Food Nation (and Super-Size Me). I can think of (I believe) twice since 1999 that I ate at McDo’s, and both were because the kids love the jungle gym and it was suppertime anyway. One time I got an onion something or other burger. It was OK, I guess, but 3 times in 16 years ain’t making me a regular.

        If I was gonna get a fast food burger, I’d get Harvey’s. But even that ain’t very often.

        My lovely wife craves McDo’s french fries when she’s feeling sick to her stomach. She says it’s the salt she wants, but I think if the first thing you want when yer gonna barf is their food, that says a whole helluva lot right there.

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            1. I’ve never tried it. When I’m nauseous all I can consume is plain water. But, apparently salt can help. It effects your receptors apparently.

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            3. No, it was different for each child. I can’t remember which was which, I’ll have to ask her when she gets home.

              I remember one night she was about 8 months pregnant with our boy, and she was ravenous. I took her to the chinese buffet and she made four trips to the food, full dinner plates each time! Usually, she can’t even do justice to one plate (we don’t do buffet much ‘cos she sees it as not getting money’s worth). And knowing what we know now, it all makes sense. Our boy is now 6 and eats constantly. It’s unreal. I’m afraid of what he’ll be like when he’s 16, if he eats like this now!

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        2. I have an allergy to beef, so hamburgers per se are out. I make a wicked turkey burger, though! For fast food, I’d have to say Pita Pit. Falafels! Mmmm

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          3. Oh man, I would go back to living there TOMORROW. I love that town. I’ve said that for over ten years, so I think my family has stopped listening to me, but it makes it no less true!

            Let me know when you’re going. I can recommend all sorts of stuff, and a great (cheap, clean, comfy) hotel or B&B that’ walkable to tons and right at the metro (subway) for everything else. 🙂

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            1. I’d appreciate that!
              We almost went to Halifax this year, and I was looking at the different transportation methods…the train looks interesting…we didn’t wind up going.

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          4. We went to Halifax for th emajority of our honeymoon and, well, we didn’t see a lot of it. Hurricane Juan hit on our first night in town and knocked out power for four days, so everything was closed. But we can attest to the heartiness and willingness-to-help of the fine people of the city of Halifax, though! They seemed good-naturedly resigned to shitty weather, actually. Go figure, given where they’re situated!

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    1. This is Northern Ontario, yo! Things are slow to change. K even commented on the phone booths we found peppered along the highway. I think that’s good. Not everyone has a cell, and not every one has a data plan. But, mostly blame Ma Bell for the lack of phone booths. They don’t want to maintain them any more, so they pull them up instead of fixing them.

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  12. McDonald’s offers free coffee for a week every so often here. I usually get every day that week. It got me hooked on the coffee. I like it as much as Tim’s and it is cheaper.

    My daughter, like most teens however, has to go to Starbucks for the $6 drinks. The last time I had a $6 drink, it had a lot of booze in it. If I have to listen to pretentious people wasting their money on sugary half calf, fizzio, frappucino, grande, mocha, evolution fresh, espresso, blonde, misto, smoothies, I think I’ll pass.

    “Can I have a large coffee?”

    “Ok, so a Grande Café Misto”

    “No a large coffee. Not a grande, a large. Not an ad man’s jingle title for beans and water, a coffee. To go.”

    “That will be $5”

    “No thanks. I’ll go to McDonald’s thanks.”

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    1. Ha oh man, we were in the Calgary Airport and the only thing in our zone was a Starbuck and the guy ahead of me spent $9 on one drink. I couldn’t believe it. Ah well, a fool and their money.

      If you’ll forgive the graphic description here, to me Starbucks coffee tastes like I would imagine if you combined a marathon runner’s ass at the end of a 26 mile marathon with nasty past their sell-by coffee beans. Ha, there’s their new marketing ploy – Tastes like you just ran a marathon and we wiped our beans in it!

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  14. I don’t drink coffee so I get to observe my colleagues and their allegiances – some prefer starbucks but the tim’s is closer, so that wins out with people who walk, and those who drive go the extra distance. McDonald’s is quite close as well, but they only seem to go for that on the days when they’re giving it away for free.

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