Did you know that cookie butter has been around since 2007? It was first pitched on a Belgium TV competition show (similar to Shark Tank) and caught the attention of Lotus Biscoff. The sweet, spiced spread is a unique blend of flavors that I wasn’t sure Dunkin’ could capture in its newest holiday offering — the Cookie Butter Cold Brew.
Starting with the slow-steeped cold brew coffee, the drink is then sweetened with a brown sugar cookie flavor, topped with cookie butter cold foam, and finished with cookie butter crumbles. Being a cold brew fan, I was happy that the newest holiday drink wasn’t a hot beverage. Don’t get me wrong, I will absolutely enjoy a hot peppermint mocha the week of Christmas, even when the weather is still in the 80s, but I like to stick with cold drinks most of the time.
I was happy to see it look fairly close to the promotional materials. The first sip was mostly a mouthful of the crunchy cookie butter crumble, but once the cold brew broke through, I got a better sense of the overall drink. Unlike a majority of Dunkin’ coffee beverages I’ve tried, the sweetness level was much more measured. The balance of the spice from the cookie butter crumbles and cold foam cuts down on the cloyingly sweet nature of most Dunkin’ drinks.
The cookie butter cold foam was delicious from the bit I could taste. Unfortunately, on the 10-minute ride home, it had all but dissolved into the beverage. While it was no longer as strong, it blended well by adding a creaminess to the strong cold brew. The brown sugar cookie flavor wasn’t as noticeable, but when competing with a very loud taste like cookie butter, that’s not a shock. I can’t speak on its comparison to the much missed Starbucks Gingerbread Latte, but the strong cookie butter flavor certainly invokes a gingerbread-like taste.
While the cold foam blended in well as it melted, the cookie butter crumbles didn’t fare so well. By the time I got home, half sat at the top like cereal floating on the cold brew, and the other half had sunk to the bottom. Mixing just made them smaller and created a weird mouth feel to the sips that were like wet sand.
Dunkin’s Cookie Butter Cold Brew is a unique offering that, with those initial sips, brings a fun flavor to the chain’s holiday lineup. Unfortunately, if you are a slow drinker like myself, you risk it melting into a less pleasant drinking experience, texturally speaking. The overall flavor is wonderful, but not good enough for me to ignore the gritty crumble that settled to the bottom of my cup.
Purchased Price: $5.09
Size: Large
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 390 calories, 19 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 50 milligrams of cholesterol, 160 milligrams of sodium, 56 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 53 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein.