Blind Assessment

This particular sample of Original Blend exhibited an almost academically thorough anthology of coffee taints and shadow defects. Some cups were flat and musty, others seemed additionally green and astringent, and some were rich with a rather pleasant apricot-toned sweet ferment (perhaps what nominating reader Des Cabigan cited as "a sniff of oranges"). But not a single cup appeared on the table without some taint or other. Presumably the several nominating readers based their emails on a better iteration of the Original Blend than this one, something closer to the version to which I gave an 87 rating in 2002.

Notes

Dunkin' Donuts claims to be the world's largest coffee and baked food chain. The Dunkin' Donuts Original Blend has distinguished itself by carrying the torch for the classic medium-roasted American breakfast cup against the darker-roasted onslaught of Starbucks (one side presumably hurling donuts and the other croissants). Two years ago I reviewed the Original Blend and found it a "genuinely classic profile, acidy but full, cleanly floral and fruity." If this sample is any indication, the Original Blend has slipped in quality every bit as badly as have Starbucks main-menu blends. This sample of the Original Blend was, at best, discouraging. Visit www.dunkindonuts.com for more information.

Who Should Drink It

Lovers of traditional medium-roasted American breakfast coffees who can't turn up something better.

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