Dunkin’ has a pretty good handle on donuts, but the brand’s coffee is hit or miss. In the name of science, we decided to put it to a taste test. So, here’s all the popular Dunkin’ iced coffees ranked worst to best.
Though the taste test sent us into a caffeine spiral for approximately 72 hours, we did come out of it with a much better idea of what to get – and what to avoid – when the Dunkin‘ drive through is your only option. We were surprised to find that their standard coffee is weaker than we expected, but a few gems popped off the menu.
Not actual gems, of course. At least we don’t think so? We’ve had a lot of coffee.
12 Dunkin Iced Coffees Ranked from Worst to Best
12. Iced Coffee with Vanilla Swirl
We can’t figure out what’s wrong with Dunkin’s Vanilla Swirl but it is…how do the kids say it…not good. The Iced Coffee with Vanilla Swirl is just your standard coffee with two pumps of vanilla flavoring, and unfortunately, the flavor is stronger than any of the other swirls we tried.
Where the other swirls were like a gentle mist through the coffee, the vanilla came bungling through like a toddler putting on her mom’s heels and trying to walk down a flight of stairs. It could also be described as heavily artificial. Use whichever description speaks to you most.
11. Iced Coffee with Caramel Swirl
Caramel and iced coffee is usually a lovely combination, so why doesn’t this one work? Dunkin’s caramel flavor in just didn’t have enough richness and tasted too artificial to convince us to keep drinking.
Some artificial flavors are OK — like Banana Laffy Taffy, which is not trying to fool anyone — but this is not one of them. Maybe if there was a caramel drizzle on top. Or around the cup. Or drizzled throughout. Or filling the whole cup. We just want a cup of caramel.
10. Iced Cappuccino
The Iced Cappuccino may, in theory, be a blend of espresso and milk. But if you ask us, all we can tastes is milk.
Several of Dunkin’s iced drinks are some varied blend of coffee and milk, and they all taste about the same, but this is the weakest of the bunch. So if you don’t actually like coffee and are secretly Anton Chigurh, then we have the perfect drink for you.
9. Iced Coffee with Butter Pecan Swirl
Dunkin brought back the Butter Pecan flavor in 2023, so we thought it would be a sure winner. We also thought it would have been really sweet, and we were wrong about both. Welp.
This swirl has a hint of nuttiness but not enough sweetness to matter, so it was just enough dull drink in a series of dull drinks. If you like butter pecan, then sure. This won’t be the worst drink on the list.
8. Iced Latte
Here’s the thing — a latte, macchiato, and cappuccino are all different drinks. But I’m not sure Dunkin’ got that memo, because all three were pretty much the same.
When you put these coffee types over ice, you lose a lot of what makes each unique. Here, the coffee flavor was weaker than our cell service during the camping trip our friend convinced us to take. It’s a pass for us.
7. Iced Coffee with Mocha Swirl
We tried these coffees in their most basic form, but some of them could have been made better with more modifications. This is one, because mocha is always better with milk. Coffee and chocolate work well together, but milk would have given us the melted milkshake vibe we were craving.
This drink was the most boring and forgettable — not good, not bad, just boring.
6. Cold Brew
Dunkin’s Cold Brew (which is steeped overnight in cold water) is just a little bit sad. Though it’s billed as a “full bodied” coffee, it’s got very little flavor, which is unusual for a cold brew. Are you secretly nitro?
Typically this coffee drink is so strong that it smacks you in the face and sends you to the bathroom within 30 minutes of drinking it. So if you’re someone who has been afraid to try cold brew, this one is for you.
5. Cold Brew with Sweet Cold Foam
The Sweet Cold Foam helps salvage the Cold Brew. Barely.
The foam has a hint of vanilla and sweetness to it, so when it falls into the coffee — which it does quickly — it adds some flavor to the otherwise weak coffee. The foam would be better served on a different base. Ya know, one with actual flavor, but this isn’t the worst thing on the menu.
4. Iced Coffee
You know what? The Dunkin’ Iced Coffee is so bad it’s good. You know the coffee in gas stations that’s sitting in a coffee pot on a burner that’s older than dirt, burnt to a crisp, that will absolutely burn a hole through your intestines? That is this, but with ice!
In a word, this drink is nostalgia. And we love it.
3. Iced Americano
Believe it or not, an Iced Coffee and an Iced Americano are not the same thing. This simple Dunkin’ drink is the kind of beverage that fancy people bring into business meetings to subtly tell everyone they actually like the taste of plain black coffee. And don’t want any of your Frappuccino business.
Dunkin’s Iced Americano is two shots of 100% Rainforest Alliance Certified espresso mixed with a bit of water, and it goes down so smooth. It’s like the James Bond of iced coffees. If James Bond would ever set foot in a Dunks.
2. Iced Macchiato
Of the milky coffees, the Iced Macchiato is the best option, because it starts with the least amount of milk.
A macchiato is a shot of espresso with a splash of milk, but Dunkin’s Iced Macchiato is a layered masterpiece…unlike their Iced Latte. It has two shots of espresso layered over milk, so you can actually taste the coffee here.
Added bonus? It’s an aesthetic drink.
1. Frozen Coffee
We already knew going into this taste test that Dunkin’s Frozen Coffee was going to be our top choice. It’s a blended drink with a coffee concentrate, a little bit of sweetener, and some milk. You can also put some flavor in it if you want, but we got it straight up.
It’s perfectly balanced with sweetness, creaminess, and it has just enough coffee punch. It’s not too creamy to feel like a milkshake, and not too icy to feel like a slush. Get it, Goldilocks.
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