Worst Coffee Cups To Go in Western New York

These cups look fine at first, and then you have coffee everywhere.

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There are lots of ways to ruin a good cup of coffee.  They could make it wrong...You ask for cream and sugar and you get a cup of black.  You could go to take that first piping hot sip and be super disappointed when the coffee is barely lukewarm.  Or, they could give you the wrong kind of brew completely.

Whatever ruins it for you, there is one way to ruin every single cup of coffee and it absolutely could be avoided.  The sad part? This keeps happening here in Western New York.

Different Kinds of Coffee

Now, before I get too deep into this, let me explain that I grew up as a kid in Connecticut.  When I first got into drinking coffee, there were no fancy little coffee shops. I know: you probably think Connecticut is fancy and rich. It's not. There was no Starbucks near me and there was most definitely not a Tim Hortons.

In Connecticut, when it comes to coffee, Dunkin' Donuts (Or Dunkin' as it's now called) is King. There are spots in Massachusetts where you will find Dunkin's on opposite sides of a busy street, so you don't have to make a U-Turn to get your coffee. So while I know for most people here Tim's is king (and that's cool), Dunkin' is what I grew up with and is still part of my daily morning routine on the way to the station. Even though I've lived in Buffalo for a LONG time now.

The Little Change Dunkin' Made

Lately, there is something that Dunkin' has done, across all of their stores here in Western New York, that is giving me enough pause to consider jumping ship.

About a year ago they made what was a subtle change.  They went from the excellent lids with the flip-top hat they had been using for decades on their cups of hot coffee, to these new slightly smaller, environmentally-conscious (and cheaper IMO) lids.  Don't get me wrong, I am 100% on board for doing our part to save our planet, and if it's not about that and they want to save a buck then fine. However, the little bit of plastic they saved on each one is not worth the mess it causes with my daily cup.

The Problem with the Coffee Cup Lids

The lids are faulty on so many levels.

First, they just don't fit the cups right.  If you go to pick up your cup and apply just a little too much pressure, the lids come flying off leading to a burned hand, and a messy pair of jeans.

Second, even when the lid stays on the cup, it doesn't form a good seal around the edge, causing leaks and drips.

Third, God forbid you hit a pothole while driving with one of these in your cupholder, because the lack of a flip-top, means an open hole where the coffee comes shooting out as if it was old faithful.

If you have been to a Dunkin recently anywhere in Western New York, from Buffalo to Rochester, you feel my pain.  I was in Vegas recently and they had the old school lids.  I was never so grateful for a GOOD lid on my coffee in all my life.

I actually went to Dunkin in downtown Buffalo every day last week. I decided to take a picture of my coffee each day.

As you can see, the new lids flat out suck.  I actually walked into the station yesterday, with my dripping Dunkin' in my hand, and the woman I was riding with in the elevator said to me "That Coffee looks kind of dangerous."  I said, "well it happens every day." She said, "Is it even worth it?"

I'm starting to think it's not.  Do better Dunkin,' Do better. Go back to the old lids.