mcdonalds vs starbucks : a sad story about the economy

for the last four years or so, i've been pretty much a regular starbucks drinker.

i was drinking a medium white chocolate mocha several times a week when i was stressed out at work, etc. the taste was the equivalent of a melted candy bar. justina and luke agrees with my comparison. :) after going to thailand, i changed my drink to iced vanilla lattes cause 1. the larger was cheaper than the medium white chocolate mocha 2. i didn't get migranes after several days without the coffees... which means it was probably less sugar and espresso shots... but i could be wrong.

lately, however, the economy is going down the tubes and so along with that, a bunch of the fast food discount places have decided to take this opportunity to do a one up on starbucks. cheap iced coffee drinks!

so i decided to try out mcdonald's iced vanilla coffees.

one thing that i found annoying with starbucks is that they have different names for small, medium, and large. one time i was in a rush and i went through a starbucks drive thru and said, "can i have a large iced vanilla latte." and the intercom lady said "you mean a venti?" and i was like "ummm, lady. i want a large, whatever you guys call it. a large iced vanilla latte." and she sorta went quiet. i apologized when i finally reached the window.

immediately, i knew that mcdonalds was also equally an asshole about drink sizes. i initially ordered a small iced hazelhut coffee. this is what i got from the intercom:

mcdonalds: we don't have small. we only have medium and large.
me: (pause) ummm, you can't have a medium without a small or a large.
mcdonalds: we don't have small. we only have medium and large.
me: give me a medium then.

weird right? how can you have a medium without a small? mediums only exist if there are two that flank it. mcdonalds, don't be a starbucks with your coffee names. you're mcdonalds, not pink berry's.

so after the hazelnut, i've been drinking more large iced vanilla coffees. scary things about it... the large cup sizes at mcdonalds DON'T fit in my normal car cup holders. I have one that pulls out for jumbo sizes and it fits there. ridic!

the good thing is that i rarely ever finish it and it's only $2.37 instead of starbucks's $3.85.

after many many many coffees... i highly recommend customizing your coffees... because unlike starbucks... each iced vanilla coffee tastes different. sometimes it's super watery, sometimes it's okay, and rarely, it's awesome.

soooo here's what you do.

order a large iced vanilla coffee with 8 creams. 6 creams is normal and will guarantee that it will taste slightly watery. they don't charge (as of now) for adding two more creams.

i would actually recommend 9 creams, but i may be asking for trouble with whatever that cream stuff is really made of!