McCafé is a coffee-house-style food and drink chain, owned by McDonald's. Created and launched in Melbourne, Australia in 1993 by McDonald's Licensee Ann Brown, and introduced to the public with help from late McDonald's CEO Charlie Bell and then-Chairman and future CEO Jim Skinner, the chain reflects a consumer trend towards espresso coffees. McDonald's introduced a coffee line called "McCafé" nationwide in the United States. Unlike in other countries, "McCafé" is just a line of special drinks, not a full coffee shop.
Australia is full of people that demand good coffee and that's why McCafé came to existence. Just watch the video to see how McDonald's is slightly different than the ones in the US. In essence what they've done is they've added things to make it their own, EXCEPT for McCafé , that started here because Aussies wanted espressos, and cappuccinos without having to sit down in a fancy cafe and now you can get McCafe coffees through the drive-thru. McCafe coffee is also available in various parts around the world, including Canada, Spain, Ukraine, Croatia, Bulgaria, Paraguay and South Africa.
When you walk into McDonald's there are two counters, one for burgers and such and the other, albeit smaller is McCafe. McCafe has it's own register and has a display case that includes yummy things such as cheesecakes, various muffins, cakes, cookies, macaroons, brownies, and sandwiches.
A McCafe display case
Aspley McCafe display case
I see macarons and assorted cakes in these displays, along with the bottles of flavours and the assorted sizes of coffees they offer.
Breakfast McCafe menu
Breakfast McCafe menu
It also has the most important thing, COFFEE! They have this loyalty program, every 5th coffee is FREE, a small cappuccino costs $3.55, along with a flat white, long black, the mocha ones. I don't personally drink the flavoured ones but they have a tendency of being ten cents dearer.
McCafe loyalty card
Espresso and small cappuccino
Small cappuccino, espresso and 2 mini muffins
I really like their cappuccinos and my husband likes their espressos very much. They are not the best, but they are nowhere near the worst. The only difference between a McCafe cappuccino and let's say a Merlo one, is the fact that I need to use 2 Splendas to sweeten it and none for the Merlo. Everyone's different when it comes to how much sugar they take in their coffee, I guess try first without and add sugar as needed. Australia has a very large espresso based love of coffees, they won't drink something that's filtered or sits in a pot, it's made fresh when you order it, not a minute sooner.
So when you come and visit, I'll shout you a coffee and you'll see, McDonald's actually knows how to make coffee, here, not in the US.
