The Dunkin’ versus Starbucks debate is one that’s heavily contested. But no matter where you stand or what arguments you agree with, each coffee giant has its hits and misses. There are plenty of drinks from Starbucks you shouldn’t waste your money on, from the caffeine-free lemonade to any of the 17 worst value drinks — and Dunkin’s no different. The thing is, though, that as far as the donut chain’s iced coffee drinks go, you’re probably not ordering the worst it has to offer anyway.
Look tried and ranked every Dunkin’ iced coffee from worst to best — the worst being the iced Americano. Made from a shot of espresso poured over ice water, iced Americanos are generally written off as watered down espresso drinks. But, that’s essentially the point of them. The simplicity is meant to highlight the perfection of the espresso. It just only works if the espresso is good quality. As is the case of Dunkin’s iced Americano, the drink’s simplicity only made the espresso’s imperfections all the more obvious.
Still, no matter where you get your coffee, people are more than likely to order something else. The flavor of iced Americanos just doesn’t compare to what you get from the longer extraction methods, and that’s especially if the espresso itself isn’t up to par. How that weighs into the Dunkin’ versus Starbucks debate is yet to be discussed. But it does introduce another interesting arena for comparison: iced Americanos versus other iced coffee drinks.
Cold brew and flavored iced coffees outshine the classic Americano
Americanos, whether iced or hot, are a staple coffee drink. In all of the drink’s simplicity, however, they tend to be outshined by other, more flavorful iced coffee options on the menu. That’s especially the case at Dunkin’ Donuts. Not only did both the cold brew and original iced coffee drinks supersede the iced Americano in Look’s ranking, but so did a whole list of other customized iced coffee orders. At Dunkin’, you can find everything from coconut to toasted almond, and blueberry to caramel swirl added to iced coffee drinks. The same can be said of the cold foams added to the iced cold brew, including the classic sweet cold foam and caramel cold foam.
All in all, the iced Americano is a drink that already has a lot to compete against on the menu — but, for them to even begin to be good, the espresso can’t be one of them. Seeing as the original cold brew and the iced coffee both ranked much more highly than the iced Americano, and the fact that Dunkin’ sells different bags of beans for each, the issue more than likely comes down to either the espresso beans themselves or a technical issue with the machine over-extracting them. Long story short, you’re better off saving the iced Americanos orders for third-wave coffee shops like Blue Bottle and embrace the flavor customizations when you’re at Dunkin’.
