Battle Of The Beans

Note: Rating is 1-5

So, here it is ladies and gentlemen. The story you have all been waiting for! Who makes the best iced coffee? We have searched high and low, waited in drive-thru lines, and dug for coupons, all in determination to find… the best iced coffee around!

Did I mention yet, my infatuation with the cold, smooth, bold, taste of CHEAP iced coffee? It all started a few years back when Starbucks came out with their oh-so-addicting, blended Frappicino. Since then, so many mockeries have been made of that cool, blended, flavored coffee drink. Now, that the options are so limitless, we have set out to find where you get this delicious, mouth-watering, irreplaceable, and most important economically savvy, cold coffee treat!

Day 1: McDonalds… Austin and I arrived at the counter with a McDonald’s coupon reading “receive 2 coffees for $2.” With this coupon, we decided the best idea would be to “Supersize it!” We wanted to get more bang for our buck! And that we did, alright. Two caramel iced coffees, and two hours later, we were still shaking from the caffeine boost! Was it a bad idea to come to work already a cup and a half down, and proceed to Micky Dees for another supersized iced coffee?? Yes! Indeed. It sure was.

Day 2: Jack n the Box… This time, a little more aware of what too much coffee can do to one in the morning, I went through the drive-thru on the way to work, without having brewed at home first. I thought this was going to be the ticket, learning from the previous day, what not to do. But from one extreme to the other, I was shocked! The Vanilla flavored iced down coffee I had chosen was utterly awful! I had tasted them before; they must have had a bad day. To my dismay, that initial sip would be the first, and last savor of coffee for me that day! I nearly fell asleep at my desk!

Day 3: Starbucks… Yup, I said it, good ol’ Starbucks. And of course I didn’t think to leave my apartment twenty minutes early, for that would be the length of time it would take to get through the line! That place is always a mad house! I should have known better. So after ordering and receiving my iced vanilla latte, I also got a nice little surprise… on the bottom of my receipt, there was a stamp that read that if I come back after 2:00PM, I would be given an even larger iced coffee drink for $2.00 flat, and no tax charge. Did I go back? What do you think? It’s a no brainer… 3:15 rolls around, and there I was with another coffee in hand, back to where I started… bouncing off the walls, yet again.

Day 4: Del Taco… Back in the fast food drive-thru again. Now, to my knowledge, this is the newest innovation of not only iced coffee distributers, but also the newest great craze for Del Taco. If you know Del Taco, you know that their food is rather decent, so I wasn’t really worried about not being stoked on their new coffee beverage. To my astonishment, no one was in line at 7:30 in the morning?! And boy, were they missing out! The initial taste of delight just made the rest of my day! Some might say that it is a little on the sweet side, but who doesn’t like the delectable sweet taste of vanilla bean in the morning? Exactly!

Day 5: Javatini’s Espresso Bar…Now, Javatini’s is your typical, local, corner coffee shop, where the menu is written on a chalkboard. It has a very warm, homey feel to it. The couches you sit on, and the art that you admire on the walls, helps to give it that feel. The difference about this place is that they have a really cool martini style coffee drink. They specialize in a signature “javatini” - 2 shots of espresso over ice, shaken with vanilla and a dash of cream.

Day 6: Monster Java… To go out with a bang, I decided I had to change it up a bit. No more coffee shops or drive-thus. This time I was going to the local market and I was going to buy an energy-drink style coffee. This is another innovation that has recently launched. To my knowledge, Monster is the first of the energy-drink genre to have thought of it thus far. Same effect you ask? Yup.  About a three hour buzz, followed by a nice little crash.  Tasty and savvy, but dangerous… very dangerous.

SO… all in all, there has been a LOT of coffee intake for me. These days, I am more focused on drinking water. What I did learn though, is the diversity of iced coffee. There is a vast amount of options. Almost everywhere you go, you can find some sort of energy drink or boost. Coffee dates back to the eleventh century, and promises to be around for a long time to come. Meanwhile, there is no shortage of opportunities to dive into the world of “joe”.

-Megan “Bean”

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