It takes a lot of work to maintain the familiar flavor Dunkin' lovers have come to expect from their coffee.

The beans, from Latin America, go through an intricate — and noisy — process called "cupping," where taste testers slurp up and sniff black coffee to guarantee the taste. One of them at Dunkin' headquarters in Canton, Massachusetts, Hélène Marsot, noted that the company has similar testing going on in the beans' origin countries, too.

"A lot goes in to a cup of coffee," she said.

It can take a full year and a half to learn exactly how to get "cupping" right, but it leaves Marsot feeling proud every time she sees someone carrying a Dunkin' coffee cup.

"I'm thinking, oh, they must be having a very good time right now!" she said.

Then there's Janet Rock, known internally as "the m

See Full Page