I love a good coffee. What started off as a fun, rare treat has become a full-on obsession over the years. When I get a coffee in the morning, my day will automatically get better. When I want to study somewhere, the first place I think of is a nearby cafe, which is practically an excuse to order a cold brew or macchiato to get me through.
My coffee craving is heightened as the holidays near and every food brand is releasing new, on-theme menus that align with the nearing season. As someone who drinks coffee almost every other day, I took it upon myself to compare the two biggest coffee brands in the U.S, which have both released new flavors and new menus.
In order to accurately compare flavors and design, I firstly compare Dunkin’s new Cookie Butter Cloud Latte to Starbucks’ Iced Sugar Cookie Latte, which I got with an addition of sugar cookie cold foam in order to accurately compare to Dunkin. I first noticed with Starbuck’s drink that the cookie flavor was more subtle then I thought it would be, which was a pleasant surprise because it let me also enjoy the cold foam, which was probably my favorite part of the coffee. Overall, I thought Starbucks did pretty good on the cookie theme. At Dunkin, I noticed when trying Dunkin’s latte that the cookie crumbs were on top of the cloud foam, which I thought was a nice touch to the drink. But as I sipped my coffee, I soon realized that it was not. The crumbs, which I expected to be crunchy and add to the drink’s overall flavor, ended up immediately getting soggy and tasting like little pieces of cardboard. I also noticed that Dunkin’s cold foam was not as creamy as Starbucks’ and tasted more like an underwhelming froth. Overall, I thought that Starbucks’ cookie latte was better than Dunkin’s.
Next, I continued my culinary quest by comparing Dunkin’s new Peppermint Mocha Latte to Starbucks’ Peppermint Mocha. Since both drinks are the same exact style of drink, comparing the two ultimately came down to specific taste. I first noticed that Dunkin’s Mocha coffee base was perfect. Not too sweet, not too bitter, which is exactly what I like. For Starbucks, I noticed that their Mocha base tasted almost too sweet and sugary for my liking, which was only heightened by the whipped cream and chocolate syrup. However, Dunkin’s whipped cream was much lighter and barely there, compared to Starbucks’ heavier and more flavorful whipped cream. Overall, I thought that Dunkin’s Mocha Peppermint Latte was better than Starbucks’ due to its more flavorful and balanced base coffee flavor, compared to Starbucks’ overwhelming and overpowering coffee.
Lastly, I decided to even the scales and determine the winner by choosing one bakery item from each holiday menu and comparing the two. For Dunkin, I chose the Raspberry Striped Croissant, compared to Starbucks’ Cranberry Bliss Bar.
After trying both I quickly came to a conclusion.
Dunkin’s croissant was flavorful, but tasted soggy and missed the light and fluffy aspect of croissants that I was hoping for. Starbuck’s Bliss Bar, however, did not disappoint. With real pieces of cranberry, a blondie cake base, and cream cheese frosting, this baked goods greatly exceeded my expectations. The treat was the perfect balance of sweet and fruity, and tasted incredible.
Based on the variety of goods that I tried from each menu, Starbuck’s has won me over with their 2025 Holiday Menu over Dunkin’s.
