8 Dunkin' Frozen Drinks, Ranked

Picking up a frozen drink at Dunkin' can be a smart move when you're craving a refreshing beverage. Not only will you get a drink that'll give you a brain freeze in the most pleasant way, but you'll also experience your favorite flavors with different, thicker textures. And luckily, Dunkin' offers more than a few different frozen drinks on its menu, so there are options for different palates. I ordered the eight standard (not seasonal) frozen drinks on the menu's app, taste-tested them all, and ranked them from worst to best to give you a better idea of what you're getting with each order.

One thing you should know about the frozen drinks on Dunkin's menu is that they're quite sweet — often too sweet, in my opinion. Therefore, the highest-ranked of these drinks are a little less aggressively sweet with a more balanced flavor profile. I also considered additional ingredients (like whipped cream) and the way they change the texture of the drink when applicable. So, whether you want to give these drinks a try for yourself or just live vicariously through my taste test, here's what I think.

As fun as Dunkin's Blue Raspberry Coolatta may look, it unfortunately ranks in the very last spot on this list. It's not completely unappealing, but it's not anything I'd want from a coffee shop. Rather, it tastes like those blue slushies I used to drink growing up. That "raspberry" flavor doesn't really taste like raspberry at all but rather tastes generically, artificially blue. (And if you've eaten as much processed, questionably dyed food in your life as I have, you know exactly what flavor I'm talking about.)

Not only do you get that not-super-pleasant artificial flavor from this drink, but I also found the Blue Raspberry Coolatta incredibly sweet. That sweetness keeps it from being as refreshing as it could be, since it almost leaves a film of sugar on your tongue. It lacks the acidity needed to give it the refreshing quality I'm looking for in a frozen drink that's not tea- or coffee-based. Sure, it has its appeal for a certain type of drinker, but I'm not quite sure someone craving this type of drink would find their way to a Dunkin' in the first place. Of all the frozen drinks on this list, I would recommend this one the least. It's no wonder other Tasting Table reviewers ranked it poorly.

Since I'm not the biggest fan of Dunkin's Blue Raspberry Coolatta, it probably shouldn't come as a huge surprise that the Strawberry Coolatta doesn't do it for me either. It's better than the lowest-ranked drink on this list, but it doesn't really represent a significant step up in terms of quality or flavor. The strawberry version of this frozen drink is also wildly sweet, although it has a more recognizable fruitiness, along with a subtle acidity, than its blue counterpart. This creates a bit more balance, even though the sugar is still too strong. After my first sip, I felt like I got a hint of real strawberry flavor, but once I drank a bit more, I realized that there's ultimately an artificiality here too as well. Since I didn't recognize that right off the bat, though, I consider this flavor a bit more enjoyable.

If you tend to like berry-forward flavors and don't mind that artificial tinge, then you might not mind this drink. Even though it's intensely sweet, it still tastes somewhat refreshing (at least at first). But considering you can find frozen drinks at Dunkin' that taste more natural, it's not a beverage I would revisit again.

Out of the three Coolattas I tried for this ranking, the Vanilla Bean Coolatta was my favorite by far. Alas, it still easily ranks in the bottom half of the list, but it's much better than its fruitier siblings. This Coolatta is quite sweet, which seems to be expected from this entire line of beverages. However, the sweetness doesn't feel quite as out of place here, since you're getting that vanilla flavor. Maybe it's because I'm just primed to expect sweetness when I taste vanilla, but the sugar doesn't seem out of place here. Admittedly, it's still a bit too sweet for my liking, but the flavor feels more balanced than the previous options.

However, I don't particularly like the iciness. It seems like this drink should be richer and creamier, with a heavier and weightier mouthfeel with every sip. Unfortunately, though, the drink feels a bit thin without the decadence I crave with vanilla-flavored anything. I guess it's not bad if you want a drink that feels like a halfway point between a sweeter, more dairy-focused beverage and one that leans toward fruity. Personally, I've never specifically sought out that kind of drink, so I probably wouldn't order the Vanilla Bean Coolatta again.

Like me, a lot of people go to Dunkin' specifically looking for coffee drinks. And while, of course, Dunkin' carries plenty of coffee on its menu, the chain sells a lot of drinks that are decidedly not coffee. That's definitely the case with Dunkin's Frozen Chocolate. Although it sort of looks like a Starbucks Frappuccino that comes with coffee, this stuff tastes like a straight-up milkshake. You have a nice, creamy base, a rich chocolate flavor, and even the whipped cream on top to make it taste even more like a dessert. It's decadent and quite sweet, but it's the kind of sweetness that I'd expect from this kind of drink.

Now, there are plenty of fast food milkshakes out there, and many of them are pretty solid. You can also make your own chocolate milkshake at home to save money. Therefore, I'd probably never go out of my way to get a Frozen Chocolate at Dunkin'. It's quite heavy and not something I'd buy at what I think of as a fast food coffee joint. But if you happen to find yourself at Dunkin' when you're craving a milkshake — or you're just looking for a non-coffee option for a kid — I can see where it might make sense to order this frozen drink.

Now, if you're someone who likes sweet coffee (especially when it's frozen), then there's a good chance that you're going to enjoy the Caramel Creme Coffee Chiller from Dunkin'. Can you taste the coffee in this drink? Yeah, kind of. There's definitely a hint of bitterness there, and you get some of that signature coffee complexity. However, that's mostly overpowered by the flavor of the super sweet caramel. It doesn't have enough saltiness to balance all that sugar out like you'll find from some other caramel drinks at other coffee shops. Once you add the whipped cream on top, along with a sticky caramel drizzle, this Dunkin' frozen drink tastes like it's bordering on milkshake territory to me.

What I can appreciate, though, is that the texture of the drink gets better as it starts to melt. That's largely because the whipped cream starts to mix more with the base of the beverage, which increases its overall creaminess. That sticky caramel sauce adds to this unique texture even more. I wouldn't order this beverage on a regular basis, but this might seem like a fun, sweet option when I'm craving a dessert that tastes just a little like coffee.

Love chocolate in your coffee? I personally love the combo when I want a treat, and Dunkin's Triple Mocha Coffee Chiller fulfills that craving. This drink seems like a mix between the chain's standard Coffee Chiller and the Frozen Chocolate, but it leans more toward the Frozen Chocolate end of the spectrum. Upon that first sip, I could automatically taste a ton of chocolate. There's a sort of hot chocolate flavor, but the drizzle of chocolate sauce on top adds even more richness (and sweetness). The coffee flavor comes in on the back end, with a subtlety that's probably nice for people who aren't big coffee drinkers to begin with. I like this variety more than the caramel take on the same drink because it seems to be slightly better balanced, with more richness to curb all that sugar.

I think this is another coffee beverage that tastes a bit too much like a milkshake ... but who am I kidding? I love milkshakes. It's a treat-yourself drink and perfect for those who crave a chocolatey beverage.

Compared to coffee, I find matcha to be a lighter and more refreshing coffee shop drink option. In a good matcha, I look for subtle grassy, nutty, and sometimes even floral notes that make for an interesting, nuanced beverage. Unfortunately, you lose a lot of that nuance in Dunkin's Frozen Matcha Latte, thanks to the sugar content, but despite that, the drink remains pretty tasty. And while I would prefer this drink to have a bit less sugar, it doesn't taste bad at all. In fact, the sweetness seems a little more restrained here than in most of the other drinks, perhaps because the flavor of the matcha is so subtle. While there is a lot of creaminess (as opposed to the iciness of the Coolattas), I still think this matcha beverage could be pretty refreshing on a hot day.

The fact that this drink doesn't come topped with a ton of whipped cream and flavored drizzles makes it something I'd be more likely to drink, although its relative sweetness still makes it feel like more of a treat than an everyday beverage. Be warned, though: If you're looking for a drink that delivers a strong punch of matcha flavor, you might be disappointed with this Dunkin' order.

I was actually pretty surprised that Dunkin's Coffee Chiller ended up being my favorite frozen drink on this list. I wish that sweetness were pulled back so I could focus on the actual flavor of the coffee more. But to be fair, most of Dunkin's flavored drinks are sweet, so that's not a big surprise, and I can ultimately overlook it considering just how sweet the other options on this list are. So, what makes this the best drink in the lineup? It all comes down to simplicity. When you take out all of the added flavors (like caramel and mocha, which are present in the other Coffee Chillers on this list), you get a much more approachable profile and a drink that won't overwhelm your palate the second you take a sip.

I also appreciate the creaminess. It has a nice richness, with a smooth, pleasant texture that goes down easily. It could be improved, sure, but if you're ordering off of Dunkin's standard menu, the plain Coffee Chiller might just be your best bet for a frozen drink.

I ordered a small of each of these drinks, and I chose the default settings for each one in terms of milk variety and added flavors. I tried all of them as quickly as possible after getting them home for fear that they would melt if I waited too long. The main factor I considered in this ranking was flavor and balance of sweetness. The more aggressively sweet drinks are generally ranked lower than those that I felt had a bit more balance (although all of the drinks in this lineup are quite sweet). I also considered texture, preferring a creamier, more dairy-forward texture than an icy one.