Viva la Revolution

So I've been anti-Starbucks pretty much from the beginning. I'm not a huge chain guy, nor am I much of a caffeine officianado. I just don't think it's smart to jump into bed with the most addictive, socially acceptable legal drug out there. Regardless, when I do wrangle up a craving for some coffee, I generally check out the friendly neighborhood locally-owned java joint for a low-caf cup o' joe. Lately, what with the full-time student/full-time job racket, I've actually been reverting to the caffeinated variety far too often.

I've also been aware of the recent plethora of stories about how the new McDonalds coffee beats Starbucks in all the taste tests. People's taste buds can clearly pick out the inferiority of the over-brewed, insanely bitter Starbucks coffee. Still, I've never sampled the stuff as black coffee generally isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

Tonight, however, there was a commercial on TV about a free vanilla latte at McDonalds on Mondays. Since our current abode has the advantage of being less than a mile from the local Kastle Kroc (well I suppose there are about 5 billion people on the planet who can say the same thing), we took the opportunity to check it out.

Friends, I have seen the future and it is framed by Golden Arches! We got the small Vanilla latte (retail $2.29). It tasted like real coffee. No bitter aftertaste; just the right amount of sugar. It was the masterful mix of everything good and holy in a tiny recyclable cup. And this wasn't some extremely well-prepared, "best foot forward" kind of sample. The pimply sixteen-year-old behind the counter just pulled it out from under a heat lamp, where it presumably had been sitting for an indeterminant amount of time.

I know McDonald's is a giant, super-rich billion-dollar corporation, the kind that sucks the soul of the planet and brings destruction on all we hold dear. However, they make a kick-ass $1 double cheeseburger and they've got the goods to bring Starbucks down. You may say that I'm going over to the dark side, but perhaps, I've found the light.