Current Weight: 162.2 lbs.
Inspired by my friends at the Fish and Spaghetti blog, the "TBG (Quickly) Eats" feature will cover food and drink that might not merit 1,200 words -- with a focus on convenience stores, side orders, and other inconsequential empty calories.
Given a choice between highly-commercialized coffees, I'll take Dunkin' Donuts Dark Roast strictly on taste and Starbucks Pike Place for its smooth octane. Coffee snobs may scoff, but I don't want nuance at eight in the morning. I want hot black coffee (usually two commuter-sized cups) and something solidly edible so that I might buffer the inevitable peptic ulcers.
7-Eleven has been serving America's non-nuanced needs since 1927. And, there just so happens to be one just a stone's throw from my employer. Since the parking lot of the closest Starbucks is inexplicably worse than the drop-off at my seven-year-old son's school (and since the closest Dunkin' Donuts is in Arizona*) I made the one-mile drive over to 7-Eleven on a recent Friday morning.**
* -- Yes, I have a coffee maker at home. But, that's a weekend treat. My weekday mornings are spent dragging Jalen out of bed, ensuring he drinks his orange juice, inspecting his just-brushed teeth and lecturing him on yet another lost jacket. My son is an absolute blessing in the AM.
** -- Yes, I could've walked. It was a lovely morning. In my defense, I'm a Californian and it was the week BEFORE Earth Day.
I bypassed 7-Eleven's assortment of flavored coffees and went straight for something called "Brazilian Bold". (I did, however, stop to take a picture of this. The food and drink masochist in me still wishes I threw down a small steaming cup atop my taste buds.) And, since I've long been a fan of the chain's "Dreammm" line of donuts, I picked up a package of six donut holes. An extra large coffee and breakfast for $2.84.
The Brazilian Bold coffee was surprisingly solid -- maybe a tick or two behind the "bold" that the marketing department was hoping for, but the strong roasted notes are pleasant without being overly bitter. It's not the smoothest coffee you'll ever find, but it holds its own with a consistent taste from beginning to end and it's served at an appropriately scalding temperature. The regular glazed donut holes were light and airy with the right amount of sticky-sweet coating. The sugar content may not have been the perfect pairing with black coffee, but the flavors of the two never interfered with each other.
I wouldn't walk to 7-Eleven for more coffee and donuts...but, I'm pretty sure I'd drive.
Grade (Brazilian Bold Coffee): 3.5 (out of 5)
Grade (Dreammm Donut Holes): 3.5 Calories: 440, Fat: 20g
Good job - find a nitch and fill it.
ReplyDeleteProbably not many folks blogging about 7-11. Maybe they will hire you as a marketing guy. Then you could use your college education and stop doing that secret arms dealer stuff ;)
Is it odd that you were the first person I thought of when I heard that Dunkin Donuts is launching K-cups (including their dark roast) this summer?
ReplyDeleteIf the Cam Fam does not have a Keurig, looks like Mrs. Bootleg has herself a Fathers' Day idea.
I am fairly certain I keep Dunkin' Donuts west coast sales afloat with my irrational addiction to their dark roast.
ReplyDeleteThe wife and boy can attest to the damage I've done to the pantry when I can't find the new bag on a Saturday morning. Where is it?
A Keurig WOULD be a deserved Father's Day reward for taking the family on Spring Training vacations and exploiting them for lightly-read blog fodder!
Due to a 30 percent increase 4 days ago in the price of coffee at 7-Eleven I am here by boycotting 7-11 coffee!! However I have been for the past year, a staunch devotee of the Brazilian Bold variety...and when it sold for 99 cents a cup it was a real bargain, unfortunately with the recent 30 percent increase in price I am now inclined to say NAY!!!!!
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