Here's What You'll Get If You Order A 'Light And Sweet' Coffee At Dunkin'

Few things in this world are as personal as someone's coffee order (like matching your Dunkin' order to your Zodiac sign). Luckily, the Dunkin' menu is equipped with a wide range of customization possibilities to help coffee-lovers get exactly the cuppa joe they crave. Dunkin' even has a wide sugar-free menu for foodies steering clear of the sweeter side. But when thirsty fans order their coffees "light and sweet," they can expect lots of cream and lots of sugar.

It's worth pointing out the potential ambiguity of the word "light." For instance, when a drink is ordered with "light ice," that means less ice. Here though, "light" refers to a visual color descriptor of coffee made with a lot of cream. To clarify this matter, a post in the Facebook group Dunkin' World asked the 397.9k members, "To those of you who work at Dunkin. How exactly do you make your orders large light and sweet?"

One apparent employee jumped in to answer, writing, "Light and sweet = extra cream (makes the coffee light) and extra sugar (makes the coffee sweet). The standard is to do 1 extra than the regular amount for the size when people say this." Although, these numbers are somewhat debated. Another post in the Dunkin' World Facebook group asks a similar question, to which another ostensible employee replies, "Standard for a large is four [sugars and creams] ... Light and sweet is extra extra, which is six [sugars] and six [creams]."

The debate here is about whether the "one extra" standard is light enough or sweet enough to suit customers' tastes. "I've come to learn [that one extra] usually that isn't enough for people," explains one Dunkin' barista, via Reddit. "I usually go three extra when someone says light and sweet." For example, since Dunkin's medium-sized drinks typically have three creams and three sugars, a coffee-lover who wants it light and sweet might ask for their medium drink to be made with five or six creams and sugars.

There's also a regional aspect at play that's less a Dunkin' thing than a geographical-proximity-to-New-York" thing. One fan who grew up in New York took to Reddit to ask, "Is 'Light and Sweet' not a universal term in the DD world?" The poster notes that, as they've traveled around the U.S., they've noticed that Dunkin' locations in some states know exactly what is meant by the order, while others are confused. Indeed, "light and sweet" is a common colloquialism for ordering coffee in New York. Per NYC's notorious fast pace, coffee orders should be efficient and succinct to keep the line moving. Fittingly, "light and sweet" keeps the order short and sweet, and in NYC, a "regular" coffee is a small with milk and two sugars, "plain" is black, and "light and sweet" means heavy cream and sugar.