The Drink: Dunkin Donuts Latte
Overall Rating: 2 out of 5
I have a love-hate relationship with Dunkin Donuts, Okay, it’s mostly hate. I like their sausage, egg and cheese sandwiches on croissants, but I could do without their poor and unfriendly customer service. Their coffee tends to end up somewhere in the middle. The Dunkin Donuts Latte falls closer in the spectrum to their customer service.
I’m not sure if it’s an improvement over the Panera Caffe Mocha that I had yesterday, but at least the Dunkin Donuts Latte looked and tasted like a latte. It definitely wasn’t the best tasting latte I’ve ever had, but it was a small step in the right direction.
However, it went downhill from there. It started with the aroma, or the lack of it. It was weak and almost impossible to pick up anything. I practically buried my nose into the foam to smell faint hints of nuts and chocolate.
Two things set the tone for the taste. The first was the burnt taste that overwhelmed just about everything else. It was like a dark roast gone bad. The second was a flat or stale feeling to it. As it cooled down, it did become a little bit more drinkable because it became more sweet.
The lingering after taste had a nutty flavor that I did like, but it was quickly buried by a chemical and processed taste that was really the final nail in the coffin.
They do get some bonus points for using Fair Trade Certified coffee beans in all of their espresso drinks, but it’s not enough to bring their score up above a two out of five.
The service didn’t do anything to help the score either. For a change, they were very friendly at the window, but that was negated when it took over ten minutes to prepare my sandwich. They had me pull forward so that I could be out of the way of the people behind me, then completely forgot about me. Me and at least three other people had to hunt down an employee to get our orders.
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Photo by sameold2008
{ 10 comments }
Seriously, Mike—why do you keep going back? Are you a glutton for punishment?
I was in RI for a wedding last weekend and with a few minutes to spare we ended up at a DD. It was the nicest I had ever seen-couches and everything. However, their “new french roast” iced coffee left much to be desired.
I think that’s what it is! After this last experience, I won’t be going back anytime soon.
Mike, thanks for going through this pain and agony for our benefit as readers of your reviews! Two questions. How are Dunkin’s actual donuts? I’m on the “left coast” and I dont’ think I have any around me.
And how is the Dunkin Donuts coffee you can buy in the store? It still seems weird to me that they have bags of coffee in the grocery store, but at the same time, they do have a huge well-known brand so it’s not that surprising.
Chris – LOL, it was my pleasure…sort of.
For me the donuts are hit and miss, depending on how fresh their made.
The coffee in the stores are also sometimes iffy. There’s some that I enjoyed, like the French Vanilla, but I really disliked their Medium Roast.
The picture alone makes me want absolutely none. I haven’t had a Dunkin Donuts Coffee in probably 2 months and I couldn’t feel better about it than I currently do.
John – I actually think the picture looks pretty good, a lot better than what I actually got the other day.
Mike, i feel the same way as you did, a long time ago, then i do not want to order this DD coffee anymore, i thought it was different in your country, from your report, it is the same, thanks
There’s no actual coffee in their lattes! I just experienced this first hand. Thought I was getting a cafe latte with pumpkin syrup instead got a cup of milk with pumpkin flavored coffee syrup. Yuck! Wanted coffee. : (
Interesting. I’m going to have to pay more attention the next time I order one…assuming their is a next time.
Mike, The beans in the 1 pound bags recently have had no aroma. Therefore the fresh brew tastes like nothing. The answer is to have the mgr sell you a pound from the cellophane bag. This is the bag with the really fresh beans they use in the store. Idaho guy
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