Joe on the rocks

Now that summer is almost here, a couple of days away (official summer beings this Sunday) and temperatures swerving between 70’s and 90’s, I am tuning my ears to listen to complains from folks of getting really hot, muggy, humid, and sweating like a pig. With the start of summer and school closings for summer vacation, two topics can be seen blogged to ones hearts content; One being about coffee and coffee makers like Starbucks, McDonald's, to name a few and the other being rising fuel prices. I will take this opportunity and blog away about coffee and coffee drinkers and leave the fuel story for later.


Coffee does its magic on most of us from the time we wake on any given day to keep us awake and going. Many, including me, cannot start a day without a cup of coffee, only to be followed by many cups during the course of the day. But with dog days of summer fast approaching (oh, it is called dog days because of dog star – Sirius, which is a binary star in the constellation Canis Major), many want to drink cool drinks to keep their cool, that includes having iced coffee. Many would be seeing long lines in Starbucks ordering their fancy coffee drinks. But with the way our economy is right now and job loss being close to 10%, many are avoiding going to Starbucks. Why not? Average drink there costs about $4.00 loaded with Cholesterol and fat as well.


In addition to Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts, the major coffee shops, McDonald's and 7-Eleven has joined the coffee band wagon by introducing their own coffee drinks, McCafe’ and iced coffee respectively. The golden arches has put in nearly $100 million behind its coffee push for this summer, but with all its others products will it be able to sustain longer? It certainly has taken over Dunkin' Donuts in coffee drinks sale. Starbucks, the once leader in coffee drinks and a hot topic for many bloggers, is seeing a steady decline in their customers. It is making an effort to win back its customers by grinding coffee before a pot is to be brewed versus its usual, grinding all its coffee in the beginning of the day and also slashing its prices on its drink. To the people who go to Starbucks (I don’t); they are selling its iced coffee at $1.95 for a 16-ounce through June. This summer, to promote new mocha drinks, McDonald’s will give out samples of iced or hot mocha every Monday from July 13 through Aug. 3.


Even 7-Eleven, who has mostly males as their customers, is introducing iced coffee in its stores for this summer to draw females and teen customers, since iced coffee is hip amongst females and teens because of its fewer calories. I think, just iced coffee is better than any other coffee drinks that is loaded with calories and you get your caffeine along with keeping your cool. When McDonald's and 7-Eleven is offering these coffee drinks at a lesser cost, then why would anyone bother to make a visit to Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts to shell out their wallet in this weak economic environment? Will Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts be able to maintain their positions or better it, while competing against McDonald's and 7-Eleven? We will just have to wait this summer and see.