Tag: Dunkin

What are Dunkin’ Refreshers?

If you’re looking for an invigorating beverage this summer, Dunkin’ has you covered with the new green tea-based Peach Passion Fruit and Strawberry Dragonfruit Refreshers.

How are they?

I won’t bury the lede – they live up to their name, but one definitely outshines the other.

Peach Passionfruit was the clear winner.

It tasted like Peach Tea Snapple with a splash of guava that also had a few Sour Peach Fruit Rings floating in it. Well, maybe if you mute all of the previous flavors by about 33%. It’s not nearly as sweet as that description sounds, but I appreciated that.

It started with a strong peach flavor that soon got washed with a mild sourness I can only assume came from the passion fruit that I thought tasted exactly like guava. Still, peach was in the driver’s seat, and the flavors blended well, unlike, Strawberry Dragonfruit, which was just pretty dull.

It tasted like strawberry for a split second, but immediately turned into Power-C Vitamin Water. It makes sense, since they’re both dragonfruit flavored, but this is essentially just that Vitamin Water with some faint herbal tea notes in the background. That’s it, it’s Vitamin Water.

Anything else you need to know?

Refreshers are made with iced green tea, flavored fruit concentrate, and B vitamins, so you can see why Dunkin’ chose this name. Despite not being a big fan of one, I can’t dispute the claim. These are pretty refreshing.

For all the wine drinkers out there, I went ahead and tried a little cuvée of both flavors. Sad to say, it was a non-descript mess. Somehow the sourness rose while the peach tea flavored completely died. It ended up tasting like a flat, tangy, tropical punch seltzer.

Conclusion:

Oh, that reminds me, I wish these were carbonated. I think both flavor profiles could have benefitted from some effervescence.

There are much better menu options at Dunkin’, but if you don’t feel like a coffee or a frozen fruit drink, you might get a nice boost to your day from a Refresher – just make sure to get the Peach Passionfruit.

Purchased Price: $2.00 each
Size: Medium
Purchased at: Dunkin
Rating: 7 out of 10 (Peach Passionfruit), 4 out of 10 (Strawberry Dragonfruit)
Nutrition Facts: Peach Passionfruit – 130 calories, 0 grams of fat, 15 milligrams of sodium, 32 grams of total carbohydrates, 29 grams of total sugars, 24mg of potassium, 10g of calcium, 1 gram of protein. Strawberry Dragonfruit – 130 calories, 0 grams of fat, 15 milligrams of sodium, 29 grams of total carbohydrates, 27 grams of total sugars, 24mg of potassium, 10g of calcium, 1 gram of protein.

What are Dunkin’ Croissant Stuffers?

Dunkin’ is looking to kickstart its own “is a hot dog a sandwich” like debate by offering two new croissants stuffed with meats and cheeses.

How are they?

I’m prepared to say there are a couple of tasty new breakfast sandwiches (???) on the market.

I don’t know what it is about these little rolls that always turns me into a (probably offensive) caricature of a Frenchman, but when I eat one I just have to say “Qua-sahn,” and follow that up with that stereotypical “huh-huh” grunt laugh and a fake mustache twirl. So gimmie a second while I do my routine.

—

Ok, now that I got that out of my system, it’s time to shove these into it.

The actual croissants are perfectly textured. They were as buttery and flakey as you’d expect, but that’s not to say the overall sandwiches (???) were without their flaws.

Chicken, Bacon & Cheese – First of all, Everything seasoning is a game-changer. I’d eat an Everything Croissant every morning without remorse. The stuffing is where this one went off the rails a bit.

If you are expecting a lot of chicken and bacon, well, this is basically the anti-Arby’s, because they don’t have the meats. There was a tiny piece of rubbery bacon weaved through and a flimsy piece of chicken that got dwarfed by the flavors of bacon and Colby Jack – which was the best part of the stuffing. If you’ve ever had a Chicken Bake from Costco, this tasted kinda like a Lean Pockets version of that with less chicken and no dressing.

Three Cheese – This one wasn’t exactly teeming with stuffing either, but the mix of mozzarella and cheddar was delicious. There’s also a baked-on layer of Swiss on the outside of the croissant, which brought it all together. I’d call Three Cheese borderline great, but I still wish there was more cheese overall. Also, Dunkin’ should’ve added Colby Jack to this one too.

Anything else you need to know?

I’m a huge fan of the Cheddar Bagel Twists Dunkin’ sells, and the way the Swiss was baked on the Three Cheese Stuffer reminded me of those. Baked-on cheese is underrated.

Oh, and if you’re hungry, these aren’t exactly huge portions, so you might wanna grab one of each.

Conclusion:

Croissant Stuffers are a nice light breakfast. I’m happy the croissant is the star of each show, but I imagine the majority of people are gonna be left unfulfilled by the lack of stuffing in these sandwiches.

That’s right, I have declared them a sandwich.

Purchased Price: $3.49 each
Size: n/a
Rating: 6 out of 10 (Chicken, Bacon & Cheese), 8 out of 10 (Three Cheese)
Nutrition Facts: Chicken, Bacon & Cheese – 330 calories, 18 grams of fat, 10 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 710 milligrams of sodium, 29 grams of total carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 6 grams of sugar, 14 grams of protein. Three Cheese – 320 calories, 17 grams of fat, 10 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 500 milligrams of sodium, 30 grams of total carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 6 grams of sugar, 12 grams of protein.

Update 3/4/2021: We also tried the blueberry-flavored version! Click here to read our review.

Matcha is not for everyone.

I can easily understand how its grassy and slightly bitter flavor can be a taste bud turnoff. Even when the bright green tea powder is mixed with milk and ice, like it is with Dunkin’s Matcha Lattes, it still won’t be for everyone.

But if you love the flavor, as I do, then Dunkin’s Matcha Latte is a perfectly adequate drink.

It’s available hot, iced, or frozen, but because it was 75 degrees when I ordered it, I decided to go with an iced latte. And, because I sometimes like to test my lactose intolerance, I decided to get mine with whole milk.

Dunkin’ makes a big deal about how its matcha green tea powder is from the Nishio region of the Aichi prefecture in Japan, where the finest tea leaves have been grown for more than 800 years. To be honest, I can’t determine how fine the tea is or whether the tea is from Nishio or the city of Uji in Kyoto prefecture. But I don’t care because I’ve enjoyed every slurp of Dunkin’s Iced Matcha Latte.

Full disclosure: I’m a man who is easily satisfied when it comes to matcha lattes. I’ve had a number of them, from either Starbucks or in bottled form from one of the many Japanese beverage brands I can get my hands on here on this rock that’s the closest U.S. state to Japan. Out of all of them, I don’t think I’ve ever had a lousy matcha latte.

To me, they all generally taste the same because it’s a simple drink. It’s pretty much matcha powder and milk. But this one from Dunkin’ doesn’t have as strong of a matcha punch as others. Maybe my dairy choice subdued the sweet, slightly bitter flavor, but it did make the drink creamy. Speaking of cream, I thought this tasted like a less sweet, less bitter matcha ice cream.

This offering from Dunkin’ isn’t going to change your mind about the green tea made from baby leaves if you don’t care for its flavor. But if you do enjoy the earthy matcha tea, it’s a perfectly fine latte and it’s nice to be able to buy one from someplace other than Starbucks.

Purchased Price: $3.99
Size: Medium
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 250 calories, 9 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 25 milligrams of cholesterol, 130 milligrams of sodium, 33 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 32 grams of sugar, 10 grams of protein.

What is Dunkin’s Pink Velvet Signature Latte?

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, it’s Dunkin’s new coffee-fied spin on a Red Pink Velvet cake.

How is it?

Are you wondering what *Pink* Velvet is?!

Wonder no more, because, well, it’s Red Velvet.

This a Red Velvet cake-flavored latte, and that’s pretty much what it tastes like.

Honestly, despite the name and color, I was getting a sweet green tea vibe from the flavor at first. If you’ve ever had green tea ice cream at a sushi restaurant, it put me in mind of that.

As I sipped on, I realized that Dunkin’ actually did do an excellent job of capturing that ever so slight cocoa red velvet cake flavor.

There’s a hint of espresso, but this is a Dunkin’ latte, so the flavor is ultimately “milky cake.” Ask for an extra espresso shot. You know what you’re getting into when ordering a Dunkin’ latte, but man, it’s just so damn milky.

Despite nearly choking to death on the generous heaping of cocoa powder, I enjoyed the often-excessive whipped topping. The whip and chocolate drizzle paired with this particular flavor nicely.

Is there anything else you need to know?

Unlike the new Pink Velvet Macchiato, this latte doesn’t have hints of cream cheese frosting — at least according to the official website. So, if you want the full experience, maybe consider opting for the Macchiato.

If the cream cheese frosting was there, I don’t think I could have tasted it above all the skim milk anyway. So I’m kinda glad I didn’t because there’s enough dairy as is.

I was pleasantly surprised at the color of the latte. I assumed it was gonna be “Pink Velvet” in flavor, not necessarily appearance, but as you can see, it’s pretty fun and festive.

Conclusion:

The color is great, the flavor’s middle of the pack, but it’s still worth a shot – just maybe get an extra shot of espresso.

Purchased Price: $4.19
Size: Medium
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 330 calories, 5 grams of fat, 3.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 25 milligrams of cholesterol, 190 milligrams of sodium, 58 grams of total carbohydrates, 0 grams of dietary fiber, 53 grams of sugar, 13 grams of protein.