Taste Test: Dunkin' Pumpkin Spice Menu

Ryan L. Fox

Well folks, summer is almost over and in the rear view mirror. As the days start to get shorter and colder, that indicates two things: fall is coming and the pumpkin spice craze  is not too far behind.

However, getting an early jump on the pumpkin spice wave was Dunkin' as they had released a special pumpkin spiced based menu the other week. This included items such as the pumpkin spiced ice coffee, the pumpkin spiced latte with oatmilk (both hot and iced), the Dunkin' chai latte, and apple cider donuts and munchkins. 

After resisting the temptation of the pumpkin spice, curiosity got the better of yours truly as I had to try these new items on the menu.

Out of the new pumpkin spiced menu items, I decided to try out an iced pumpkin latte with oatmilk, the pumpkin spiced ice coffee, and the apple cider donut. 
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Before trying sampling the iced latte, I decided to go for the pumpkin spiced ice coffee. Normally I would try to customize my iced coffee for a certain way of flavor (i.e. cream with caramel and a turbo shot). However I decided to just go with regular cream and sugar to get a better tasting of the pumpkin spice in the coffee. 

There was some skepticism since I had previously imagined the taste would be too spicy/citrus for my liking. But after a few sips, I can see why many people go gaga for pumpkin spiced coffee items. I got a rich mouth full off pumpkin flavor that wasn't overpowering and actually had a tinge of sweetness to it. Best part, there was no weird after taste in my mouth that made me think I just had taken a giant bite out of a pumpkin.
Next was the iced pumpkin latte with oatmilk.

To be honest, I didn't know what to expect when it came with the oatmilk. I had regular milk, regular cream, and almond milk but never oatmilk. I assumed based off it's name, it was oat-based and probably had some sort of weird after taste. 

Compared to the iced coffee, the iced latte had a heavier and richer creamy taste to it as I soon discovered upon my first sip. I had to pace myself so I wouldn't get overloaded (i.e. take smaller sips) with all the flavor in this iced drink. Combined with the flavor of pumpkin spice, the oatmilk tasted sweeter than I had anticipated and didn't leave any weird after taste (a major plus in my book).
But alas, it was not a clean sweep.

Unlike the previous too items, the apple cider donut was an absolute disappointment. I expected to be some sort of apple-enriched cider glaze on the sugary treat or at least the donut dough itself had some sort of apple flavor. Instead, I got just a donut with flavored sugar on it instead that created more of a mess than it curbing any sweet tooth I had.

Overall, it was a nice change of pace delving into the into the infamous world of pumpkin spice flavor. I won't go as far as to buy all things pumpkin spice (i.e. candles and giant coffee containers) but I could see myself perhaps getting another pumpkin spiced beverage at Dunkin' down the road when the weather gets a little crisper and we're heavy into the fall season.

Score
3.8 out of 5 Bobheads and 1 Car Grump.

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