Tag: Coffee

I’ll admit, I’m late to the brown sugar coffee game. It seems like a simple enough swap to have considered it sooner, but it never occurred to me over the years, even as I tried drinking my cup of joe with more adventurous sweeteners like honey and rich chocolate Ovaltine.

Once I finally learned of the warm and cozy depth it provided, I found myself visiting Starbucks more often for their brown sugar syrup. But this month, Dunkin’ one-upped its competitor with a baked good twist: brown sugar cookie syrup, which they’ve lovingly drizzled (I assume, since it doesn’t sound possible to hatefully drizzle brown sugar cookie syrup) into espresso and oat milk to create its new Brown Sugar Oat Iced Latte.

Suspecting this was going to be something special, I was able to confidently order a medium at 2:28 pm knowing full well it was going to spoil my bedtime. I cracked off the lid to see if it smelled like brown sugar cookies and instead was met with something closer to caramel. Not a dealbreaker, so I took a sip.

Holy cow, it was tasty. Wait, oat milk, forget the cow. Holy whatever plant oats come from, it was tasty.

The drink was rich, sweet, and creamy in all the ways one could want from a flavored iced latte. The syrup was perfectly sugary and had a pleasant cookie-like toastiness but I felt it lacked a hint of molasses that would really confirm the brown sugar flavor. Although, that syrup was so beautifully suspended in the oat milk that I couldn’t hold the lack of specificity against it. The flavor felt balanced throughout and lingered in my mouth after every sip, coating my tongue. After a few experiences with overly sweetened coffees at Dunkin’, this felt more restrained and never became too cloying, especially with the slight bitterness of the coffee and oat. I couldn’t help but recognize what a well-thought-out decision it was to add this syrup to oat milk as I took increasingly awed sips. I appreciated that Dunkin’ seemed to take the time to really pair a flavor with a dairy-free milk instead of adding it to a beverage just to say they used plant milk.

This was an overwhelmingly delicious iced latte that I would love to see permanently added to the menu. However, I think many would view this as a winter flavor, and a news release from Dunkin’ calls the Brown Sugar Oat Iced Latte a “comforting sip” that “warms the soul,” so… maybe snag it while you can. Whenever that may be, even if it’s late in the day; I can assure you it was totally worth spoiling my bedtime.

Purchased Price: $5.29
Size: Medium
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 240 calories, 4 grams of fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 0.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 160 milligrams of sodium, 49 grams of total carbohydrates, 30 grams of total sugars, 3 grams of fiber, and 2 grams of protein.

My relationship with coffee can best be described as a fairweather friend; when things are light and sweet, I’m the biggest fan, but the second it gets dark and bitter, I’m out of there.

For fellow lovers of milky, sugary, frilly coffees, I’m glad to report that Dunkin’s new Toasted White Chocolate Signature Latte is a dream come true. This review was the first time I’ve had both hot and iced variants of a latte simultaneously, and I was pleasantly surprised that their tastes were as distinct as their temperatures.

To celebrate an unseasonably warm day in late fall, I started with the iced version. On a sweetness scale from “plain cold brew” to “milkshake,” it fell solidly at “Frappuccino” level (that is to say, pretty dang sweet). Alongside the pure richness and creaminess of the white chocolate flavor, which was matched by the pure richness and creaminess of the thick, dense whipped cream on top, the “toasted” aspect of the name shined, accentuated by the cinnamon sugar dusting. The drink’s topping also contained a caramel drizzle, but as syrups tend to do, it quickly melted into the whipped cream in an indistinguishable blob, so it didn’t impact the flavor much for me.

As a white chocolate aficionado, I often lament its relegation to seasonal status, but I’ve got to say that this blissful combination of sweet and smokey was as perfect a winter treat as lounging by the fireplace on a snowy day. Bonus points for living up to the image on the poster about as faithfully as possible under the confines of the whipped-cream-smushing lid.

Interestingly, my hot latte was reminiscent of a different iconic winter flavor: gingerbread. After consulting the label to make sure I hadn’t picked up the wrong order, I started to suspect this had to do with the coffee-to-mouth pipeline. Sipping the iced latte from a straw allowed me to skip the whip and get right to the heart of the drink, but since I was swigging the hot latte directly from the opening in the lid, the whipped cream and its accoutrements were the first things that rose to meet me. The heated combination of whipped cream richness, white chocolate toastiness, and the light bite of cinnamon all at once gave the hot version its zesty, cookie-esque character (I found the caramel didn’t make much of a mark in this version, either). Once I slurped past the wintry mix on top, I was met with a beverage as sweet, full-bodied, and comforting as a cup of cocoa.

I couldn’t detect even the faintest hint of acrid coffee taste in either version, which suited me just fine. Ultimately, I might recommend the hot latte over the iced just because it isn’t subject to the same “melting ice diluting the flavor” issue that can plague a cold drink that isn’t chugged quickly enough. But honestly, as long as you don’t mind a serious sugar rush, either variant is so delicious that you just might want to drink it as quickly as possible regardless.

Purchased Price: $4.56
Size: Small
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 300 calories, 11 grams of fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 6 grams of saturated fat, 35 milligrams of cholesterol, 125 milligrams of sodium (hot) or 135 milligrams of sodium (iced), 42 grams of total carbohydrates, 38 grams of total sugars, 0 grams of fiber, and 8 grams of protein.

What is the Dunkin’ Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew?

Dunkin’s surprisingly tasty way of hammering down the final nail in summer 2021’s coffin.

How is it?

I’ve been on the fence about this whole “sweet cream” kick Dunkin’ has been on recently…until today.

Finally! This is the first time I’ve had any of their various sweet cream toppings that didn’t melt into a viscous goo within two minutes.

The cold brew itself is standard fare, but it’s a style I love around this time of year. I’m usually a “one pump” of pumpkin flavor swirl guy, but special medium-sized drinks always have three. It’s not something I want every morning, but I really didn’t mind it being a little too sweet for my liking. Plus, I think Dunkin’s pumpkin flavor is great because the “spice” is left out.

The pumpkin cream is kind of a revelation. I ate a few scoops of it and thought it tasted a little too synthetic at first, but then realized it had a nice light pumpkin pie filling flavor to it. Not only that, I could have been convinced it was spliced with something else. I landed on a vague coconutty taste. While there’s zero indication this is the case, those are two flavor profiles you never get mixed, so I dug it, even if coconut wasn’t technically there.

If this pumpkin cream was sold in a can, I’d probably have that nozzle hovering over my mouth before I even got home.

Anything else you need to know?

The cream is so light and fluffy that it really doesn’t make much sense in watery cold brew. Don’t get me wrong, I liked it a lot, but it just sat there on the top, causing me to mostly eat it on its own as if it was a meringue or something. Once I ultimately gave up and just mixed it into the drink, it didn’t add all that much to the flavor. I think it would probably be more ideal for a frap-style drink.

I also feel like I have to mention that I always use oat milk as my dairy, so my cold brews are always slightly creamier than the rest.

Conclusion:

This coffee was the first taste of fall I’ve had, so it actually bummed me out a bit. I drank it on a warm, breezy summer day, and while it worked in that setting, I could imagine the crisp cold autumn winds creeping up my neck. I guess it’s time to acknowledge that summer is over. I pretty much use Dunkin’s fall line of products as the gauge anyway.

So, whether you’re a summer dude like me or one of those sweater-loving, Halloween-devoted, and Ugg-thumping Autumn weirdos (I love you all), you can’t really go wrong with a Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew.

Purchased Price: $3.25 (G.O.A.T. Milk is $.25 extra)
Size: Medium
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 210 calories, 2 grams of fat, 0 gram of trans fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 10 milligrams of cholesterol, 120 milligrams of sodium, 42 grams of total carbohydrates, 42 grams of total sugars, 0 grams of fiber, 4 grams of protein.