Battle of The Dishes: McCafe versus QuikTrip Cappuccino
Forget fancy coffee. This here is a roll-down-window and clear-out-the-trash-from-the-cup-holder kind of throwdown, pitting the cappuccino at McDonalds (part of the new McCafe line) against a similar offering from QuikTrip.
QuikTrip’s Web site offers up an idea of what’s in store:
For decades, cappuccino was sipped by high-brow types in outdoor cafes in Italian resorts along the Mediterranean. Not any more, QuikTrip discovered the secret of cappucino and made it available to the real people of the world.
While I had hoped to compare like drink to like drink, I had to make compromises. McDonald’s doesn’t offer a slushy to compete with the frozen offerings from QuikTrip — which, in truth, seem closer to the Freezonis (QT’s Slurpee equivalent) than actual coffee.
Likewise, QuikTrip doesn’t have iced coffee or a non-flavored cappuccino. In fact, they encourage you to make bad choices via a flavor center that dispenses a stunning range of syrups and non-dairy creamers (french vanilla, butter pecan, chocolate, Irish cream, cinnamon hazelnut and amaretto). So, I asked the clerk what was the most popular flavor. Surprisingly, she said mocha. (Really? Not chai latte? Shocker.) So a mocha cappuccino is what I got.
Thus, today’s is a battle of quick-serve cappuccinos. The McDonald’s cappuccino comes in at $2.29 for a 12 oz. cup. The 16 oz. QuikTrip mocha cappuccino was a paltry $1.09. So QuikTrip wins the first round. Beyond that, I’m judging these drinks on appearance, smell and taste — first cup to claim two categories wins the battle.
