I have a simple relationship with coffee. I typically only drink it on the weekends. I enjoy the taste of coffee, but I’ve worked hard to not develop a dependency on caffeine. On Sunday mornings, my wife and I had a simple routine after Mass. We would get Dunkin’ iced coffees before going to my parents’ house for brunch. But then one day I saw a new sign pup up a quarter mile down the road from our usual Dunkin’. It said “Acushnet Cafe,” and I was intrigued.
The Local Coffee Shop Dichotomy
I love going to local coffee shops. I had a couple go to shops that I used to go to when I lived up in Dover, NH (shout out Adele’s). Local coffee shops can be divided into two broad categories. First there’s the boutique coffee shop that serves expensive brews with extras called things like “nitro shots.” I assume these types of extra make you supercharged like the snail turned race car in Turbo. The second type still sells good quality coffee, but at a reasonable price. The reason that I liked Adele’s so much is that it is this second type. And after visiting Acushnet Cafe, I was happy to see that it is also the second type. I immediately compared the price with Dunkin’. A medium iced coffee at the Acushnet Cafe is only 20 cents more than its Dunkin’ counterpart. With that, I had reached an inflection point in my recreational coffee life.
A Word About Everyday Coffee Drinking
Caffeine is by far America’s favorite drug and most people take their daily dose through coffee. Unfortunately for their wallets, many people do so by purchasing coffee every day. It certainly costs a lot more than making a hot pot of Folger’s in the morning. Even using the fancier beans from the store will be cheaper than buying coffee every day. Back when we were in college, my wife had a daily Dunkin’ iced coffee habit. One day, I asked if she realized how much she was spending on iced coffee every year. She responded by telling me not to ruin her daily Dunkin’ run, but I showed her the math anyway. It turned out that her $2.85 Dunkin’ habit was costing her about $1000 a year. Ever since, she started making her own daily coffee, while still enjoying the occasional Dunkin’ iced coffee as a treat.
The Dunkin vs Acushnet Cafe Experiment
I needed to know where the best value on coffee could be found in Acushnet. I enjoyed Acushnet Cafe’s more, and I like supporting local businesses, but did the economics work out? So, as a scientist, I did an experiment. I bought two medium iced coffees, one from Dunkin and one from Acushnet Cafe. Then I drained the coffee out and measured how much coffee I actually received. The results are below for proof, but I received roughly 70 mL more coffee at Acushnet Cafe. This is a ~15% difference in coffee. Acushnet Cafe’s coffee is only ~4% more expensive than Dunkin’. Coupled with the higher quality of Acushnet Cafe’s coffee, it’s a clear value win for the little guys.
Final Thoughts
Ever since they opened, Acushnet Cafe has become an integral part of my Sunday morning routine. Yes, I actually have to get out of the gas powered, air conditioned wheelchair that we call a car. The lack of drive thru gives me the opportunity to talk face to face with the employees. It’s a much more pleasant experience than shouting at them through a menu board. The girls who typically work the Sunday morning shift already know the coffee order that my wife and I drink. It’s a great spot. And when friends from New Hampshire came down for a weekend visit, I took them to the cafe. It got a seal of approval from even the biggest coffee snobs of the group. So take a look at your local coffee shops and do the math. See if the value and taste of the coffee compares with the chains. You might be surprised to see that the little guys are the place to be. And if you are in Acushnet, New Bedford, or anywhere in South Eastern Massachusetts, give Acushnet Cafe a try. And tell them that Frugal Jon sent you.