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Amherst Buffalo Cheektowaga Clarence Coffee Donuts Williamsville
"The highest price for a drink was McDonald's McCafe at $2.29 for a small mocha, while the lowest was Wilson Farms at $0.89 for any beverage of any size using Coffee Cash."
As a rule, Western New Yorkers love cheap coffee, a fact that has driven the local growth of low-end coffee and donut shops such as Tim Hortons and Dunkin' Donuts during years when Starbucks was rapidly expanding elsewhere. But which large chain actually makes the best hot cup of coffee? Cappuccino? We wanted to answer this question definitively, so we conducted a direct comparison between four of the most popular chains: Dunkin' Donuts, McDonald's, Tim Hortons, and Wilson Farms.
Our methodology was simple. We visited each chain on the same day, sampling three hot coffees from each shop right after they were purchased. Each cup of coffee was ordered in the chain's "small" size, and kept as close to the others in characteristics as possible. We also grabbed one donut per shop where available, just for the sake of doing so, and tried it only after sampling the coffees. The price of each drink and donut was recorded, along with our impressions, and we also made note of any benefits or oddities at the locations we visited. You can read the results in the individual reviews linked above. Note that a Starbucks "tall" - its smallest size in the U.S. - is a 12-ounce drink; two of the places we visited offered less liquid in their "small" cups.
In summary, though you can get a better-made, more deluxe cup of coffee at Starbucks or Spot Coffee - places we would certainly recommend first to connoisseurs - the drinks we had at these four widely available chains range from "pretty good" to "will do in a pinch" to "terrible." And they're all inexpensive. We spent no more than $6 total for three drinks, and in some cases significantly less. The highest price for a drink was McDonald's McCafe at $2.29 for a small mocha, while the lowest was Wilson Farms at $0.89 for any beverage of any size when purchased using the chain's Coffee Cash system. But there were significant differences in quality, and even how much coffee a small cup actually contained.
In order, the best to worst rankings for a plain coffee were Dunkin' Donuts, McDonald's, Wilson Farms, and finally, Tim Hortons. For a cappuccino, the rankings were the same: Dunkin' Donuts was on top, followed by McDonald's, Wilson Farms, and again, Tim Hortons. Mochas were dominated by McDonald's and Wilson Farms, with Dunkin' Donuts and Tim Hortons further behind. The only category in which Tim Hortons did okay was donuts: we'd still take anything from Dunkin' Donuts first, but Tim's selection beat out both Wilson Farms and McDonald's, and depending on the type of donut you pick, the taste might be better, too.
Read on for our full findings. We hope that they save you a little money or help you improve the quality of your daily coffee experience.
Our New Cheap Chain Comparison Reviews: Dunkin' Donuts, McDonald's, Tim Hortons, and Wilson Farms.
Additional Reviews of Dedicated Coffee Shops: Clarence Center Coffee Company & Cafe, Spot Coffee, Starbucks
