Tag: Dunkin

This is a long time coming for me.

I’m sure at some point Dunkin’ has dabbled with peanut butter flavored coffees, but I’ve never had it before. In fact, every time they put out a new flavor, I wonder when peanut butter is coming. I’ve never even had a peanut butter donut from Dunkin’, so I just kinda assumed they banned it altogether because of allergies or something.

Well, I no longer have to wonder what Dunkin’s take on peanut butter might taste like now that I’ve had its new Peanut Butter Cup Macchiato. Was it worth the wait?

Absolutely.

I never order “macchiatos” despite how fun it is to say, and I honestly had to Google what differentiated them from all the other coffee-based drinks. In case you’re as uneducated as me, it has a higher espresso to milk ratio. I shoulda been getting these all along.

Right away, I was shocked by how orange the macchiato was. It’s vibrant and festive, but all I could really think was, “I bet that’s just a bunch of unnecessary additives making it glow like that.” Either way, it’s fun to look at.

The drink settled in two layers, with the coffee up top and the orange peanut butter goodness down below. I wasn’t entirely sure if I was supposed to mix it up, so I sampled each layer before even getting to that point.

I thought the orange layer was delicious. There was a pronounced peanutty flavor with a nice supporting chocolate accent that didn’t outshine the main attraction. It reminded me of a very thin peanut butter ice cream milkshake.

The consistency of the orange was so velvety and tasty, I was actually a little bummed that half the cup had coffee in it. I probably drank a bit too much of the orange on its own before I ultimately mixed the coffee in.

The coffee portion packed a nice wallop and only cut the peanut butter flavor slightly. I was drinking a strong espresso with a peanut butter cup flavor finish, and I can’t think of anything wrong with that.

I hope I’m not alone when I say this is probably the best new Dunkin’ drink I’ve had in years. I think I loved it.

With that said, this can’t be your everyday order. You wouldn’t wanna drink this every morning because it’s basically a dessert moonlighting as a morning coffee. I guess that’s a clever disguise just in time for Halloween.

Outside of that, and the fact it’s a bit more expensive than the standard menu items, I have no other knocks.

I’ll definitely be a repeat buyer, and now that I can add “peanut butter cup” pumps to any drink in the app, I’m probably gonna run this flavor into the ground.

The Peanut Butter Cup Macchiato didn’t appear on the “limited” section of Dunkin’s nutrition page, so hopefully, that means this might be a mainstay. Don’t risk it though, try it as soon as possible.

Purchased Price: $4.89
Size: Medium
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: NOTE: this is w/ whole milk. I used oat. (24 oz.) 280 calories, 6 grams of fat, 3.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 20 milligrams of cholesterol, 160 milligrams of sodium, 47 grams of carbohydrates, 44 grams of sugar (including 32 grams of added sugar), and 8 grams of protein.

While pumpkin is the unmatched king of fall food, this year we’re seeing a push to bring an old favorite fall flavor back in the spotlight: apple. Dunkin’s Apple Cranberry Refresher is a very unique offering for those who seek a fall themed beverage, but don’t necessarily want coffee or pumpkin flavor.

The Dunkin’ Refreshers all start off with a green tea base mixed with a fruit concentrate and served over ice. While it has experimented with different Refresher flavors, this is the first seasonal/holiday version we’ve gotten.

When ordering the Apple Cranberry Refresher, you are given the option to add coconut milk. Normally, I aim to try everything “plain” first, but I had a suspicion the flavors would be strong and need the coconut milk to mellow them a bit. I am very glad I did this as I think the drink would have been nearly undrinkable for me without it. As the name would suggest, the predominant flavors should be apple (Honeycrisp according to Dunkin’) and cranberry with “notes of fall spices.”

The drink comes with a purple-ish tone when you opt for the coconut milk, but mine wasn’t nearly as purple as the advertised products. I noticed the bottom of the cup had almost a pulp-like look, and I guessed it was just the concentrate settling from its journey home. After a good stir, I took the first sip. The layers of flavors that I tasted were a little overwhelming at first. The apple and cranberry were very present but quickly overshadowed by the “fall spices.”

I am not sure if the recipe has those fall spices (cinnamon, nutmeg were the flavors I mostly tasted) as a separate part from the apple cranberry concentrate, but they were borderline overpowering. Especially so towards the end of the drink where the bottom seemed to be almost entirely made of those dang spices. Despite my best attempts to keep swirling, the cinnamon flavor took over about halfway through and wouldn’t relent.

The coconut milk added no perceivable flavor but helped to dull the very sharp spices. The green tea was undetectable. What was frustrating was that every few sips the drink would be palatable and then I’d hit this pocket of cinnamon that tasted what those horrible cinnamon brooms smell like. I also got a large (remember: I bought a 12pk of a mystery flavor soda, so I am kind of a risk-taker), and I almost tossed the last 1/4th. As the ice melted, however, it mellowed the drink to a point where I could finish it.

While it was a noble effort to try and offer a fall item not pumpkin-centric, the unevenly strong cinnamon flavor made it hard to love from beginning to end. If the fall spices are a separate thing, I would absolutely order it again with WAY less of whatever the recipe asks for. Otherwise, this drink treads too close to tasting like what an apple cinnamon candle smells like.

Purchased Price: $3.59
Size: Large
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 230 calories, 6 grams of fat, 4.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 90 milligrams of sodium, 44 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 40 grams of sugar, and 1 grams of protein.

What is the Dunkin’ Smoked Vanilla Cold Brew?

Sweet and spicy? Been there, done that. Sweet and salty? Played out! Sweet and smoky? Hmm, is Dunkin’ on to something here?

How is it?

Dunkin’ is, in fact, NOT on to something here.

Let’s just clear the air first – this is a weird flavor choice. I guess I see why Dunkin’ would do it. It does look cool on paper, but it’s always had a vanilla representation on the menu, and the “smoke” element really didn’t set it apart at all. It’s not all that “smokey.” All I can really say is, the vanilla flavor seemed to have a unique lingering effect to it, so maybe I’ll just credit that to the smoke…?

I always get one swirl just to sweeten my cold brews up a bit, and my choice varies by the day. I’ve had em all, and there really hasn’t been one that I dislike. Smoked Vanilla reminded me of a combination of two of ’em – Vanilla and Caramel.

The flavor was vaguely Werther’s Original, which sounds great as I type it, but “vaguely” is the keyword there. It was like those Werther’s soft caramels with a vanilla filling or those “Cow Tail” candies that I think only me and 43 other people eat. I love those, so even a hint of that flavor was welcome.

That’s all good and well, but it wasn’t what I was being sold. Where’s the smoke? I’m struggling to even hypothesize what “Smoked Vanilla” was supposed to taste like. Maybe it really was just a slightly caramelized vanilla flavor, and they absolutely nailed it.

Anything else you need to know?

I use oat milk as my dairy, so that may have counteracted the smoke. Who knows? I’m just trying to think of any reason why I didn’t get any. I wasn’t expecting it to taste like brisket, but I expected some sort of intriguing smokiness.

This brew also had sweet cold foam, and it didn’t even last the walk from the Dunkin’ lobby to my car. I apologize, but I can’t even really tell you if it added any flavor to the drink whatsoever. Foam doesn’t really last in a cold iced drink, so I’m not even sure what I was expecting. From what I recall from the last time I had it, it was just a generic sugary sweetener.

Conclusion:

Hey, we’ve got another option to sweeten our drinks. Ya really can’t be too mad about that. If you’re expecting this to taste like a flambeed dessert or something, you’re probably gonna be let down.

Will Smoked Vanilla last as a flavor? I doubt it, but you may think it delivers a lot more than I did, so give it a shot. It’s like the “smoke-heads” love to say, “Smoke ’em if you’ve got ’em.”

Purchased Price: $4.29
Size: Medium
Rating: 4 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 190 calories, 3 grams of fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 10 mg of cholesterol, 55 milligrams of sodium, 39 grams of total carbohydrates, 36 grams of total sugars, 0 grams of fiber, and 1 gram of protein.

What is Dunkin’s Coconutmilk Iced Latte?

Summer’s just about here, so why not try brightening up your morning latte with a hint of the tropics?

How is it?

Well, I certainly didn’t feel like I was on a tropical vacation because this might be the worst possible coffee order at Dunkin.

That might seem hyperbolic with the endless amounts of combinations on their extensive menu, but I don’t think I’ve ever had such a… let’s say, “incomplete” iced coffee drink.

I didn’t get any sweetener or flavor add-ons because I wanted to review the Coconutmilk Iced Latte in its true form, and I’m here to warn you against making the same mistake.

I’ve gone this long in life without ever using coconutmilk as a coffee creamer, and I was excited at the prospect. I guess I just expected so much more.

Coconutmilk doesn’t work as a latte milk; it’s just way too thin. I’m not looking for a milkshake here, but I still expect a latte to be creamier than my usual cold brew. I’d say the only thing worse would be an unsweetened skim milk latte, but the coconut finish actually detracted from the coffee flavor too.

Honestly, this tasted like coffee-flavored coconut milk more than a coconutmilk based coffee – if that makes sense? It was just water with a distant taste of coconut, and an even more distant hint of coffee.

Anything else you need to know?

Here’s the weird thing, I’m a big coconut fan.

I frequently order a cold brew with oat milk and a shot of coconut. Those flavor shots (not to be confused with flavor swirls) add just a tiny hint of additional flavor and very little sweetness, but I like that order so much more than this. I guess I can chalk it up to being mostly coffee with a thicker milk. Oddly, I think I like the fake coconut flavor better than the authentic too.

With all this said, this latte is probably salvageable. I never get sugar in my coffee, but it definitely would have pepped this up. I can see a flavor swirl of mocha improving it a ton as well. I bet the chocolate would pair nicely with the nuttiness of the coconut and possibly wake the coffee flavor up a little bit too. I loved Dunkin’s Samoa iced coffee in the past, so why not add a swirl of mocha AND caramel? Go (coco)nuts. It’s only 100 more calories. I might actually do this.

Conclusion:

Despite pretty much hating this latte, I do like that Dunkin’ has added the option of using coconutmilk, and I intend to give it another try in a cold brew or iced coffee.

If you feel so inclined to order this specific latte, just heed my advice and sweeten it up. I want your morning to be as bright as possible!

Purchased Price: $4.59
Size: Medium
Purchased at: Dunkin
Rating: 3 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 50 calories, 4.5 grams of fat, 0 gram of trans fat, 3.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 mg of cholesterol, 70 milligrams of sodium, 3 grams of total carbohydrates, 0 grams of total sugars, 0 grams of fiber, 1 gram of protein.