Starbucks Coffee and Doughnuts at SeaWorld
Coaster Coffee Company is one of two locations at SeaWorld that serves Starbucks® coffee, the other location is called the Coaster Coffee Express and is more of a walk-up kiosk and not a walk-in shop (the Express location is over by the Dockside Pizza Company). As far as I know, the coffee makers behind the counter, are SeaWorld cast members and not Starbucks baristas … so don't be surprised if they're not up on all your favorite "secret" beverages at a full-on Starbucks® location.The walk-in Coaster Coffee Company shop (near the front of the park) is the subject of this review. The coffee and beverages that are on the menu board, all seem to be made correctly and taste like something you would get at a Starbucks®. That's probably going to depend more on the individual making the drinks and not a representation of the location so much. I wouldn't try and stray from the digital menu board at all… they don't have the resources to make a Grasshopper Frappuccino or a Chocolate Dalmatian… but if you see a Caramel Macchiato on the board, then they should be able to make that.
Cost and Value
Pricing here, oddly, doesn't seem all that expensive — not because the food and beverage options are cheap at SeaWorld — but because Starbuck's® locations are expensive outside the park as well. The pricing seems to be equal with whatever you might find at any high-end coffee shop.Coaster Coffee Company Food
Since a photo of a cup of coffee or iced Frappuccino is going to look just like it does anyplace else — I'm going to review a doughnut from Coaster Coffee Company. Interestingly, none of the doughnuts have little name tags. This is mostly a good thing... because I love naming stuff. I'm calling this one the "Do Nut Get This Donut if You Do Nut Like Nuts" – Doughnut…
The Chocolate Peanut Crunch Doughnut is a "hole in the middle" style fried doughnut base with a chocolate ganache icing and is topped with crushed peanuts.
Okay, it's actually more like a Chocolate Peanut Crunch Doughnut and it has a normal fried doughnut base with chocolate ganache style icing and topped with crushed peanuts.
The pricing of the doughnuts at Coaster Coffee Company varies a little bit depending on what kind of toppings it has, if it's got a hole in the middle or if it contains filling, etc. They're all within a couple dollars of each other. I honestly don't even remember what this one cost — I think it was $6.99.
The fried doughnut base was good... the texture was perfect and it didn't show any signs of getting mushy or being dried out. That fried doughnut flavor was starting to get a little pronounced, but I did purchase this late in the afternoon (the doughnuts are probably only made fresh in the morning each day).
This is a Chocolate Peanut Crunch Doughnut from SeaWorld's Coaster Coffee Company.
I do wish the chocolate ganache-style icing had a deeper, more pronounced chocolate flavor — but there's really only a couple of ways to get there (increased sugar, and/or butter cream, higher cacao solids, etc.), and those would all add substantial cost to the doughnut. In the context of this being a theme park coffee shop doughnut, it's probably fine just like it is.
The peanuts themselves were mostly good as well… much like the doughnut base and the chocolate, I couldn't say they were a "perfect 10" — they didn't really have that fresh nut flavor or crunch — but here again, I picked up the doughnut in the afternoon. Those peanuts had probably been on the doughnut since 5:00am.
Your Chocolate Peanut Crunch Doughnut from Coaster Coffee Company will not be served on a cool looking plate. I brought this doughnut home from SeaWorld in a white box.
All in all, I'd say this one was on-par with any other theme park doughnut I've tried. Theme park doughnuts tend to be a little larger than the donut shop style variety and this one was a larger size as well and wouldn't be difficult to cut in half with a plastic knife (although you're probably going to get a little sticky in the process).
The Environment and Service
All coffee shop lines these days can get backed up. It's mostly because freshly made coffee drinks are getting more and more complex to make and it just takes time. The Coaster Coffee Company is no different in this respect… but it is a very small shop in comparison to a typical Starbucks. There's also never more than three or four cast members behind the counter — so it only takes a half dozen customers to overrun the system a little bit.I usually pop in and look at the pastries each time I pass by Coaster Coffee Company — and four out of five times — there's no one in line. As in, nobody, zero — the two cast members behind the counter are checking their phones and watching movies. But that one time out of five — it's crazy busy. You can't get another person in the shop, and everyone seems a little agitated that their drinks aren't being made faster.
If you happen to stop by and see two rows of people at the counter and things look backed up — go around the corner and look at the dolphins for 15 minutes, take a look at some of the treats in the nearby Sweet Sailin' Candy Company store, or just find a seat in the shade somewhere nearby. I can almost guarantee that if you go back in 15 minutes, there won't be anyone in the shop, and you'll end up getting your coffee around the same time that you would have if you stood in line.
