Dunkin Donuts coffee at home
 

My local Target is now selling DD ground coffee and I picked up a bag. I have tried making it 2 ways, drip coffee pot and melitta single filter. Neither duplicated the made-in-the-restaurant taste. Suggestions?

I put half a pot in the fridge for iced coffee later, so I'm still hopeful.

I have yet to duplicate restaurant taste from ANY coffee I've purchased in the store. However, many of my relatives like to add a pinch of salt to their grounds before they hit the "brew" button - they swear the coffee tastes better that way.

A coffee press is the best tool to replicate restaurant style coffee, at least for me.

Saw it in the supermarket yesterday. Can't help but wonder if it's actually the same coffee. You can get the coffee in the DD stores pretty reliably for 2 pounds for $7-10. I can say that the coffee in the stores is the same.

The only way to reproduce the store-brewed coffee is to go to a restaurant supply dealer and buy a Bunn-O-Matic brew system with the glass pots and have it professionally installed with it's own water supply. Anything short of that is a cheap imitation.

As far as salt, SixAlpha, never heard of that and quite frankly - eeewww! :p My grandfather used to put an eggshell from the previous day's breakfast into his percolator and swore it took the bitterness away but of course back then the salmonella police wouldn't visit your house for doing something like that.

We have a box of Dunkin Donuts 1-pound bags of coffee beans shipped out to us in Seattle each month. We grind as we brew, not in advance, and run it through a good Krups coffee maker, and while it's fine -- better than Starbucks -- it's not as good as the in-store coffee.

I think it's because we can't get the water hot enough at home. COpltASgldPHX is probably right about needing the professional, plumbed equipment.

Rats. It's easier to drive to DD occasionally than buy a bunch of hardware and install it.

I tried making iced coffee and it wasn't any better. Cheap imitation is right! I'm making it as strong as I can and it's still weak. I'm very disappointed.

Hey, somewhere on FT I met a guy whose father was the chief developer of DD coffee back in the 60's. Who was that masked man?

I'd agree that the hot version doesn't come out quite right - even using a close-to-commercial grade Krups machine and grinding the beans about half an hour before turning it on. On the iced front, though, I've had pretty good success with either of two methods: making a batch as normal, letting it cool, then running it through the machine again with the same grounds as the first time, or just increasing the ground coffee measure by about 50% for a one-pass method. I don't add any cream or sugar or crazy stuff to it, so I know it's almost the same as that which is sold in DD locations.

Here in BOS the DD line was out the door for coffee and Starbucks was empty, so nice to see, not a fan of Starbucks anymore.

I drink it black when it's hot, but I like milk and nonsugar in it iced. I'm already using a couple tablespoons per cup. I'll try rerunning the coffee through the old grounds, but doesn't that mean cleaning the maker after every pot?

Maybe all you need to do is use a separate pot or container and pour the coffee thru the grounds - not run the maker again.

I live in DD country, and can not understand what the big attraction is to DD (or for that matter Starbucks). :rolleyes:

When I make coffee in the morning, I use whole beans and grind then when I run the maker! (My maker has a built-in grinder.) Using ground coffee just loses it's flavor. I also have a water distiller, which makes the coffee tastes better (than using tap water). Plus, you can use 25% less beans, saving more money! ^

As mentioned above, really hot water is missing ingredient. However, using a coffee press will get closer - albeit with a different consistency because of no paper filter.

I remember during my previous career in the (US Army) Infantry that adding salt to coffee DID improve the taste but then we took out the old socks before brewing.

In over 30 years of travel I have yet been able to replicate the restaurant flavor of coffee and I tried many variations - more or less beans, burr and blade grinder, more or less water, different coffee pots (should have taken out stock).

FWIW, our current coffee maker makes the HOTTEST coffee of any we've had. My Mom used to put her coffee into the microwave after brewing it, but she doesn't since we gave her one of these (Cuisinart DCC-1200FR Brew Central 12-Cup Coffeemaker). You can also buy the model that grinds & brews.

I've never had DD coffee, but will try some at home soon. I got a free sample in the mail (thanks to the SPAM Forum ^).

Not a fan of Starbucks....stronger than I prefer. Is DD coffee really strong too?

Strong? I'd have to say no. It has an unusual odd flavor, almost naturally sweet. I think the major flavor component is not coffee, but something from a chemical factory in New Jersey.

So, why do I crave it? It's either addiction to the chemicals or nostalgia for a different time. When I drink a cup, I'm 15 years old again, living in New England, eating a dozen donuts and still weighing 120 pounds the following morning. I'm sitting with friends in a booth. We've been smoking wacky tobacky in a parked boxcar on the tracks by the old high school and we're buzzed. We're debating how best to get out of Viet Nam, arguing over whether the Beatles or Doors will be around the longest and annoying the hell out of everyone else in the place except the 16 year old server who comes by to refill our cups every 15 minutes or so. So, I guess it''s kind of a time machine. I have no idea why anyone else drinks the stuff. It's nasty. :D

So true. SO true. For me it's post-midnight study breaks in the dead of a New England winter... skidding across the pack ice and into an all-night DD with the hum of the flourescent lighting in your ears, the smell of coffee and fried shortening and cleaning agents in your nostrils, garish orange-and-purple Formica all around, and a disheveled roly-poly counter lady with a pink uniform dress and a Baaahstin accent filling large cups to go... 25 below zero outside, warm and secure and happy inside, condensation on the plate glass windows making the taillights in the parking lot streaky and faint... our whole lives in front of us, four hours to sunrise, nothing spoiled yet... I get that back when I have DD coffee. A la recherche du temps perdu, BamaVol. :-:

As a proud NJ resident, I have to correct this misunderstanding. As point of fact, our chemical factories are exclusive suppliers to Folgers. ^

Actually, I think I read in Fast Food Nation that NJ chemical factories supplied most of the flavors for McDonalds food, but I don't recall that coffee was mentioned. No offense to your home state, but McDonalds coffee tastes of cigarettes to me and I cannot stomach the stuff.

I still prefer Krispy's over Dunkin's. ;)

Coffee or donuts? I don't believe I've ever tasted KK coffee - or is it koffee?

My grandparents swear by the salt too!

P&G manufacturers both Folgers and the Dunkin' Donuts coffee sold in grocery stores. Maybe P&G shares amongst its brands?

:p

I think the trick is the very hot water, I have yet to find a home coffeemaker that comes close to restarant grade machines.

I'd try it with boiling water and a Melita filter, but I need a finer grind. I wonder if Target has a coffee grinder?

They give you a choice at Krispy Kreme on how dark or light you want your roast to be. So it's a big improvement over whatever they make at Dunkin Donuts.

For those who do want to make DD at home (although I agree it is not exactly the same taste as when brewed at a DD store), be aware that the bags now being sold in supermarkets and drugstores are only 12 oz. They are selling in my area for $6.99, sometimes $5.99 on special. The bagged coffee from the DD store is still 16 oz for $7.99, and 2-3 times a year it is on special, 2 pounds for $10-$12.

I had a feeling. However, a special trip to DD for me is about 65 miles each way at $2.54 a gallon and 25 mpg.

From the FAQ at http://www.dunkinathome.com/faq.html

The Dunkin' Donuts packaged coffee sold in supermarkets is specially roasted to use less coffee per cup than the packaged coffee sold in Dunkin' Donuts shops. And it delivers the same great Dunkin' Donuts taste!

So apparently neither tastes like that brewed in the store. :D

Orininally Posted by italy98
I remember during my previous career in the (US Army) Infantry that adding salt to coffee DID improve the taste but then we took out the old socks before brewing.

Originally Posted by BamaVol
When I drink a cup, I'm 15 years old again, living in New England, eating a dozen donuts and still weighing 120 pounds the following morning. I'm sitting with friends in a booth... We're debating how best to get out of Viet Nam, arguing over whether the Beatles or Doors will be around the longest and annoying the hell out of everyone else in the place except the 16 year old server who comes by to refill our cups every 15 minutes or so. So, I guess it''s kind of a time machine....

Originally posted by Bear X220
So true. SO true. For me it's post-midnight study breaks in the dead of a New England winter... skidding across the pack ice and into an all-night DD with the hum of the flourescent lighting in your ears, the smell of coffee and fried shortening and cleaning agents in your nostrils, garish orange-and-purple Formica all around, and a disheveled roly-poly counter lady with a pink uniform dress and a Baaahstin accent filling large cups to go... 25 below zero outside, warm and secure and happy inside, condensation on the plate glass windows making the taillights in the parking lot streaky and faint... our whole lives in front of us, four hours to sunrise, nothing spoiled yet... I get that back when I have DD coffee.

Wow, three flashbacks out of one thread... I've just bought a few bags of the DD coffee out in Omaha. Way too far for a road trip to pick up, but always try for a few cups when working out east.

When a cook in the army (23 yrs ago now...) when in the field, we would boil 15 gal water, add a 3 lb. can of coffee grounds, Stir, let sit for 10 minutes, add 3 cans of cold water to "settle the grounds" and dip the stuff out into huge thermos bottles. Yum, but the last few cups were always full of coffee mud.

I really miss the time machine aspect of BamaVol's comment.... Wish I wasn't so cynical now.

I can smell/see the setting Bearx220. Wish I could walk up to that window and swipe it with my finger making the condensation drips run down to the floor.

I hear you. ^

Gotta make sure you have half-n-half and sugar on hand to make your coffee regular.

Incidentally, half-n-half must be a New England thing. When I moved to Texas, I stopped at a Shipley's Donuts craving a coffee. I got the local coffee service brew and non-dairy creamer. How pathetic is that?

Luckily I live near one of the few Dunkie's in Houston (apparently the owner went to WPI). I'm sure I've said this in another post but I always run into people from New England there.

Back on topic...my mom buys DD coffee for their house. It's good but something about the way they do it makes it taste awesome. Must be the big stainless steel bowl of sugar.

I spotted a cardboard display of DD coffee at my local Winn-DIxie yesterday. Apparently they're rolling it out everywhere.

It is now carried at Fry's in Phoenix. I'm hooked.