Review: Dunkin's New Black Cherry Refreshers Mostly Stick The Landing

If you're craving a new-to-you drink, Dunkin' launched a slew of concoctions today. The coffee chain released sippers including all kinds of Black Cherry Refresher iterations, its take on a dirty soda, several Oreo-infused creations, and more. It's a vast lineup to put out in one day; to be honest, I feel like it's overwhelming as a customer, but, hey, I enjoy a challenge. 

Since I like to try out Dunkin's new menu options whenever possible (like its Valentine's Day lineup), I booked it to my nearest location to try six drinks: various spins of the Black Cherry Refresher and Black Cherry Daydream Refresher, as well as a Matcha Limeade. I'll dive into what's in each drink, how they tasted, if they had any flavor flaws, and if I'd get them again. I'm still chasing the high of the banana-flavored beverages Dunkin' released in early March, so let's see which of these cherry options can compete. 

I ordered a medium size for all drinks. In terms of judging them, I looked for well-rounded and balanced flavors. Some are sour or ultra-sweet, while others teeter on a better flavor equilibrium that makes them more enjoyable. I ordered my drinks through Dunkin's app and picked them up in the drive-thru. I made no changes or customizations to the drinks to keep them exactly as described, but I always recommend making changes to suit your palate. I'd go this route next time.

The Black Cherry Refresher is the base drink, and all the other Black Cherry beverages I'm covering are just riffs of it. That said, I decided to group the Black Cherry Refresher and the Cherry Lime Rickey Refresher together in this review and separate the Daydream Refreshers. The Black Cherry Refresher is the unadulterated version, made with black cherry flavoring, green tea, and the standard concentrate, while the Cherry Lime Rickey version has limeade instead of green tea. 

The regular Black Cherry Refresher is leagues better than the lime one because it has an earthier note of green tea, and it's far less sugary. Tasting them side by side, the Lime Rickey is cloying with a barely-there hint of lime. I don't really care about calories, but the limeade-based drink has 100 more calories than the classy cherry, and the only difference is the limeade versus green tea; that tells me something about the sugar content and resulting sweetness. The Black Cherry Refresher is the clear winner among these two creations, and it's also one of the best out of the six I drank. It feels more balanced between sweetness, green tea, and cherry flavoring. It's incredibly refreshing and perfect to sip on a sunny day.

Now we move on to the Daydream Refreshers, which typically include milk or an alternative milk. The Cherry Daydream Refresher has the Black Cherry flavoring, oat milk, and sweet cold foam, while the Very Cherry Daydream Refresher has all of that plus three pumps of toasted almond flavoring. The former isn't bad at all, while the latter has a very mild nuttiness that almost blends into the cherry notes; I only taste it at the end of the sip if I concentrate. This is likely because cherry flavoring typically has the same benzaldehyde compound as almond flavoring — the more you know! So, it actually makes for a seamless pairing, and whoever came up with adding the toasted almond to the cherry must know that. Luckily, the almond flavoring is unsweetened, so it doesn't make the drink any sweeter; it just imparts added nuance.

The Cherry Protein Daydream Refresher is also similar to the Cherry Daydream Refresher, but it uses protein milk in place of oat milk. It doesn't have a protein flavor, as you might taste in pea protein or collagen. It seamlessly blends into the drink and gives you a protein boost; the result is slightly creamier than the oat milk versions but not especially different. I tested the protein milk in the form of a few Protein Refreshers when it was released, so I generally think it works well in the Refreshers. The oat milk versions are fine if you don't mind a bit of separation in your drink after it sits for a few minutes. It looks unappetizing after that happens, but both oat milk options taste fine and easily reincorporate if you stir or shake them.

I'm a bit torn on this drink. On one hand, I like that it isn't hyper-sweet like other Dunkin' matcha iterations. You can taste some of the matcha's earthiness as you swirl the drink on your tongue. But at the same time, the limeade tastes out of place. Yes, it brings some sweetness, but it also offers a tart, sour note that clashes with the grassiness of the matcha. Somehow, the lime notes are clearest in this drink. Now the drink is both sour and grassy, which isn't my favorite flavor combination. 

If we're comparing limeade libations from Dunkin', then I certainly prefer the Matcha Limeade over the Cherry Lime Rickey Refresher; the Lime Rickey tasted like my toddler was in charge of pouring in the sugar, to the point where the sweetness was overwhelming. That's not to say the baristas did anything wrong; that's just how the drink is made. But would I get the Matcha Limeade again? No. Plus, it was the most expensive drink, at nearly a dollar more than the Black Cherry Refreshers.

If you read my reviews, you'll know that I'm not too easily impressed, but I'm also not easily offended by flavors. Most things are merely okay, and that's the case here. My least favorite beverage is the sugar-on-sugar Cherry Lime Rickey Refresher that's mostly sweet, with a mild hint of fruity notes and lime. I genuinely don't like that one, and it isn't pleasant to sip on; I took two sips, and the rest of it is sitting on my counter forming a condensation ring as I write this. But everything else is good enough.

I enjoyed the refreshing quality of the Black Cherry Refresher, which blends fruit cherry notes with green tea for a flavorful, sweet tea-esque sip. The three Black Cherry Daydream Refreshers have minor differences, which means you can pick based on preference. I'd actually customize my drink and finesse a blend of the Very Cherry Daydream Refresher and Cherry Protein Daydream Refresher. I want the protein milk along with the toasted almond flavoring. I think that'd be the best blend of flavors. I'll say that I like the Black Cherry Refreshers flavor more than the Mango Pineapple and Strawberry Passionfruit options; it's my new favorite of the three Dunkin' Refresher flavors. It may be the top contender in a Dunkin' Refresher ranking, at least if I have any say in the matter.

The six drinks I tried are available nationwide as of today, April 29, 2026, so you can easily order them at your nearest Dunkin'. Everything was easily available for order in the Dunkin' app, as well. Dunkin' states that these are the flavors of the season but doesn't clarify how long you'll be able to buy them for. 

I am based in the San Diego County area, and my medium-sized drinks were priced as follows: $4.35 for the Black Cherry Refresher, $4.85 for the Cherry Daydream Refresher, Very Cherry Daydream Refresher, Cherry Protein Daydream Refresher, and the Cherry Lime Rickey Refresher, and $5.75 for the Matcha Limeade Refresher. If you have the app, you can earn three times the points on Refresher drinks through May 3, 2026, which can really add up for point rewards.