McDonald’s

‘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!