By Kendra Ludwick/reporter
Those hooked on their morning, afternoon or anytime cup of java now have several choices of where to buy their latest fix.
Starbucks and other coffee shops offer places to sit down, relax and drink a favorite coffee beverage, but some of these places could put a hole in a student’s pocket.
With so many competitive coffee places, the customer can choose who gives the best cup for the buck.
QuikTrip
QuikTrip offers coffee starting at 99 cents for a 16-ounce cup, but the customer can pick any coffee, add any amount of flavored syrups, creamer or milk—all for a small price.
QuikTrip also sells a 22-ounce frozen coffee for 99 cents. Customers can refill their cups for 10 cents less than the original price.
Seekers
Seekers Coffee House and Café, a coffee shop close to NE Campus, opened its doors a few weeks ago. The inside has a Starbucks feel, but the prices are a little cheaper than Starbucks.
One regular latte is $2.49, and one regular gourmet brewed coffee is $1.50, 10 cents cheaper than Starbucks.
Seekers also has music on different nights, such as Mondays, which is Open Jam Night 7-9:45 p.m. It also has a full menu and offers different selections of foods.
McDonald’s
Last year, McDonald’s added premium coffee to its menu to try to compete with other companies like Starbucks.
Consumer Report magazine reported Starbucks may be the world’s largest coffee shop chain in the world, but what they serve is not as good as what McDonald’s brews.
“The fast food giant’s premium roast is the cheapest and the best,” the magazine reported.
McDonald’s sells a small, regular coffee for 99 cents, medium for $1.19 and a large for $1.39. Also, a customer gets a free small coffee with any purchase between 5 and 7 a.m.
McDonald’s sells iced coffee in vanilla, hazelnut and regular flavors starting at $1.79 for a regular size.
Sonic
Sonic Drive-In recently added premium coffee to its menu as well. Sonic offers its coffee selection iced, frozen or hot.
Java Chillers, blended frozen coffees, are $2.44 for a regular size. The customer has the choice of caramel, mocha, hazelnut or any combination of the flavors.
The customer could also choose an iced latte for $2.49, hot latte for $2.19 or a premium roast coffee for 99 cents with any flavors he or she wants.
Starbucks
Starbucks sells a tall, regular drip coffee for $1.60. If a customer wants to add syrup, each flavor costs 30 cents extra. A tall latte without any syrup added is $2.90. They also sell grande and venti sizes, but those cost extra.
Starbucks recently shut down 7,100 stores to give espresso tutorials.
When Starbucks opened the next day, the outlets posted their new promise: “Your drink should be perfect, every time. If not, let us know and we’ll make it right.”
Robert Toomey, an analyst with E.K. Riley Investments, said, “They know they’ve fallen short. The quality of the product has deteriorated a bit over the last few years, and they know they’ve got to improve it.”
