I like McD's coffee in a pinch but prefer the local joint. Something about supporting a small business makes it taste better for me.

I actually like McDonalds's coffee, given the option of being able to order a breakfast and grab a coffee to go. It's not as good as Starbucks or Peet's but it's good enough to fill my caffeine needs.
One improvement they've implemented when ordering in drive thru, is the option of having sugar and cream put in your coffee, vs. having you do it. Now I don't have to pull over and fill my cream + sugar, it's all in there.

Since when do coffee snobs go to Starbucks? :confused:

I have not been back to the States in over a year but a couple
of weeks ago I was in Bangkok and tried their cafe at the McCafe,
it wasn't bad. I felt the Starbucks offering was better and
available in larger sizes and was served in a ceramic mug not
cardboard containers. I also tried the Bangkok DunkinDonuts
coffee, I read everyone in the States finds this the best, but
I was not impressed. But then again, back in the States it
might be different.

When in the States (which seems to be most of the year!) I don't mind drinking McD coffee, it's better than most of the wishy washy watery stuff available.

But I still can't fathom why you guys put cream in it? What's wrong with milk?! Because of that, I usually hunt down Starbucks etc. for an Americano with milk!

It tastes even better when you get the SENIOR discount!

Heh, I fall in that category. Is that at McDonald, McCafe or Starbucks?
Also, can I please then ask a quick coffee question for you pros? My wife,
who is Japanese, insists that Cafe Americano is regular coffee, weakened or extended with hot water. Wikipedia says it's espresso with water. I tasted it from her cup at a local ( Tokyo ) Starbucks. It sure tasted weak. It's what all the woman drink here, because it supposedly does not have too much coffein. Who is right?

My understanding is in agreement with what wikipedia thinks. The reasoning is that it's the Italian name of "diluted" coffee for those unable to drink the real stuff (i.e. Americans).
However, any real coffee enthusiast wouldn't care much about either variety so I guess it's not exactly a hot topic ;)

You beat me to that. :D

Now I have a better understanding. Thanks for clearing this up and thanks for letting me be off topic in this thread for one post. Let's get back now to what this thread was all about.

All coffee is yucky, but a McD Egg McMuffin (sans ham) is very tasty once in a blue moon. Alas no breakfast at the McDonald's here... which is for the best, I suppose, since I don't eat eggs outside of the US.

I've had friends rave about McD's coffee in recent times, though, so I think the OP is not alone in his assessment. :)

It is palatable but is not good coffee. If I am not in a rush I will get my sausage mcMuffins and then go on to get my coffee elsewhere.

Consumer Reports did a comparison of (drip) coffee at a variety of places and McDonald's beat Starbucks and lots of other places, at a much lower price. Rumor is they are going to introduce espresso machines. Given that Starbucks now uses automated machines that require little human intervention (it's the pull of the coffee, not the steaming of milk, that takes skill and judgment) McD's may give them a run for their money. My hope is that it goads Starbucks to improve their product enough to justify my going there. Combined with the change to ATT as their wireless provider and it will become a pretty good place to get a bit of work done.

This is true. Several markets have already renovated and added the new products, the rest of the country is in process with the expectation that the entire US is complete sometime mid/late 2009 at which point national advertising can begin.

McDonald's coffee CAN be good.. but their policy of "we'll add the cream and sugar" hasn't worked out for me yet. I've switched back to Dunkin' Donuts and Starbucks since McD can't ever seem to handle my order!