The realm of fall coffee beverages is very much a thing, and there is a hierarchy in it. Starbucks has long dominated with its iconic Pumpkin Spice Latte, but there’s always room at the table for a new and interesting take on caffeinated squash. This year, Dunkin’ says they’re “Uppin’ the pumpkin” with its Pumpkin Vanilla Oatmilk Iced Latte – a blend of espresso, pumpkin swirl, vanilla flavor, and oatmilk over ice. This sounds pretty straightforward, and as someone who hasn’t been counting down the days until I can put up a 16-foot skeleton in my yard, all I was looking for was a good standard coffee that hinted at the change of seasons.

There are no whipped cream or cookie crumble additions here to make this photo-worthy; it’s just a regular tan-colored iced latte. The best things are sometimes the simplest, though, and I hoped this might have the sincerity of Linus waiting in the patch for the Great Pumpkin to come. Unfortunately, there is no Great Pumpkin here. Oddly, there is hardly any pumpkin at all. I know that pumpkin is a fairly mild flavor on its own and needs a boost of spice to become what we all associate with “Fall,” but I expected to taste a little more of it here. Or really, a little more of anything.

This drink is very sweet and not very flavorful. The espresso gets lost, and the oatmilk lends a nice creaminess, but it’s too sweet for me to enjoy as a coffee, and it lacks the flavor to make it a fun Fall indulgence. I don’t think there’s anything truly wrong with it, and it isn’t offensive, but at almost six dollars and 300 calories for a medium, I can’t see myself being inspired to purchase this again and I’m not sure why it exists. I suppose it’s an easy way to order an oatmilk beverage without having to customize your order, but I almost feel like that’s doing the oatmilk a disservice. If you’re looking for a coffee to get you into the Halloween spirit, I would look elsewhere because the only thing you’ll be haunted by here is a lack of pumpkin.

Purchased Price: $5.78
Size: Medium
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 300 calories, 4 grams of total fat, 0.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 gram of trans fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 230 milligrams of sodium, 62 grams of total carbs, 3 grams of dietary fiber, 42 grams of total sugar, and 5 grams of protein.

Ever since Mike’s Hot Honey debuted in 2010, it’s been oozing its way onto pizza, ice cream, and everything in between. Dunkin’s menu is the latest to fall into Mike’s sticky fingers with its new Hot Honey Bacon Sandwich, Wake-Up Wrap, and Snackin’ Bacon. The sandwich stacks hot honey bacon, a fried egg, white cheddar, and a hot honey drizzle on a brioche bun. Honey seems like a perfect condiment for a breakfast sandwich, so this collaboration is a no-brainer, and I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner. Dunkin’ might be a little late to the game, but there’s no reason this shouldn’t be a slam dunk.

Upon unwrapping this sandwich, I took note that it looked like a lot of buns and not much else. The cheese was visible, but that was about it. I don’t typically feel the need to dissect my food before eating it, but sometimes it can be helpful when reviewing to make sure you actually have all the correct ingredients since (this will come as no shock to my fellow fast food purchasers) plenty of times – you don’t.

Opening the sandwich revealed everything that was supposed to be there, albeit none of it looked very appealing. The cheese wasn’t well melted, the bacon mediocre, and the egg looked squishy, perhaps due to sitting on the bottom bun that was soaked in the hot honey glaze. I reassembled things, which did make for a more complete picture. Although unfortunately not a better eating experience.

For having both hot honey bacon and a hot honey drizzle, there is zero heat present in this sandwich. I couldn’t detect any whatsoever, and if I hadn’t seen the employee who made it using a bottle with a Mike’s label, I would have thought it was regular honey, and maybe the location ran out of the real stuff. My dad is the kind of spicy food-averse person who starts coughing if they look at a red pepper flake, and I think he could eat this with no problem. Dunkin’ must have mellowed out the pepper content in hopes of a more universal appeal to its sweet-leaning fanbase, but it’s disappointing to expect a sweet/hot combo and lack half of it entirely. Trying the bacon on its own, I found it to be serviceable fast food bacon with a honey flavor, but the heat is still missing. The egg was as unpleasantly squishy as its appearance promised. I didn’t expect a great fried egg in this situation, but a spongey, sweet one does not help things. Perhaps if a more viscous honey drizzle was used or if it was placed elsewhere on the sandwich, it would work better, but as it is things just get soggy.

When I tried this, there was a deal in the app to get it for $3, and it’s definitely not worth more. Fans of hot honey and good breakfast sandwiches should get their fix elsewhere because Dunkin’ dropped the ball on this one.

Purchased Price: $3.00 (app offer, normally $5.99)
Rating: 5 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 600 calories, 29 grams of total fat, 12 grams of saturated fat, 0 gram of trans fat, 265 milligrams of cholesterol, 1210 milligrams of sodium, 61 grams of total carbs, 2 grams of dietary fiber, 23 grams of total sugar, and 24 grams of protein

Summer is here, and with it comes the sounds of bees buzzing, grills sizzling, phones ringing, and, wait, what? Phones ringing? Yup, Dunkin’s summer menu has arrived, and at least in the case of the new Blueberry Donut Iced Coffee, the chain definitely phoned it in. The Blueberry Donut Iced Coffee is made with brewed Arabica coffee, donut-flavored swirl syrup, cream, and blueberry flavor.

The berry flavor hopes to evoke the spirit of the juicy summer fruit, while the donut swirl promises to bring notes of vanilla frosting, pastry, and donut sugar to the mix.

My first impression was that this drink looks pretty regular, and that’s okay. It’s perfectly fine that this looks like coffee and isn’t colored with blue dye, nor does it contain any bursting blueberry boba. As long as it tastes good, I don’t mind that it isn’t going to turn my mouth blue. It certainly smelled like blueberry, which I took to be a good sign. Unfortunately, the smell is kind of where the berry stops.

A few sips in, I found the blueberry less and less noticeable. It was almost like drinking regular coffee out of a blueberry-scented cup. With the blueberry taking a backseat, you might think it was due to the donut swirl hogging the spotlight, but it isn’t particularly donut-y either. The swirl brings a welcome creaminess and sweetness that wasn’t too sugary for my liking, but it doesn’t really stand out as having a donut flavor. That’s the real issue here; nothing stands out. I found it enjoyable enough, but nothing about it would inspire me to repurchase.

With National Donut Day coming up on June 7, Dunkin’s attempt to celebrate the pairing of coffee and donuts is a bit lackluster. If the goal was to mimic the taste of a mediocre blueberry pastry, I suppose it was achieved. This coffee won’t leave you with any Violet Beauregarde vibes, and I guess being spared a trip to the juicing room isn’t the worst thing. If you’re okay with a simple switch-up to your regular iced coffee, this might be worth a try. But much like Spring’s Churro Latte, it seems not special enough to be headlining a limited edition menu.

Purchased Price: $2.00 (Normally $3.69, there was a $2 medium iced coffee deal at time of purchase)
Size: Medium
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 260 calories, 9 grams of total fat, 4.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 gram of trans fat, 30 milligrams of cholesterol, 110 milligrams of sodium, 40 grams of total carbs, 0 gram of dietary fiber, 39 grams of total sugar, and 4 grams of protein.