The One Flavor Swirl We'll Never Order In Dunkin' Coffee Again

To swirl, or not to swirl. At Dunkin', that is the question. Coffee-lovers jonesing for something sweet turn to Dunkin's flavor swirls (not to be confused with flavor shots) – the thick, luscious, creamy additions that add sweetness and flavor to any drink on the Dunkin' menu. We're all about getting your coffee order exactly how you like it, but if we could offer one pearl (or coffee cherry) of advice, it'd be to steer clear of Dunkin's brown sugar syrup, which came in last place in our ranking of seven Dunkin' flavor swirls.

As we noted, while Dunkin's brown sugar syrup certainly delivered on sweetness, "it didn't have the depth of flavor that brown sugar has. Instead, it just tasted like white sugar." This flavor might be Dunkin's would-be appeal to fans of Starbucks' popular iced brown sugar oat milk shaken espresso craft beverages. Alas, while we prefer Dunkin's macchiatos to Starbucks', and we think Dunkin's nitro cold brew reigns supreme, the chain's brown sugar flavor swirl misses the mark. Whether or not it's a failed attempt to poach existing brown sugar coffee fans, this flavor swirl simply doesn't hit. "The key difference between brown and white sugar is that the former contains molasses," we said. "I don't know if Dunkin' used very little molasses or omitted it completely, but, in a blind test, I would have thought this drink was cold brew and simple syrup mixed together."

Our chief complaint about Dunkin's brown sugar flavor swirl is its lack of dimensionality, similar criticism popped up in a Reddit thread one year ago. "For the last few years, many swirls have tasted similar to something else or very boring to me," a commenter shared. "Does anyone else think so? ... Cake Batter Swirl (Summer '22) and Donut Swirl (Summer '24) taste the same, and they don't really taste like cake or donuts. They taste like a very basic sweet taste, almost like plain simple syrup ... The brown sugar cookie flavor used in the cookie butter cold brew and the churro flavor were the same flavor. Identical."

The comments are filled with folks echoing the same feedback. Fans say that a lack of creativity and diversity on fresh flavors (or actually delivering on the "new" flavors released every few months) has led Dunkin' to be outpaced by competitors. As one Redditor writes, "Places like Marylou's or Dutch Bros have tons of flavors that taste unique and actually taste like what they say they are." We were loving Dunkin's marshmallow ube flavor swirl, which hit the limited-time fall menu last year and was gone too soon. To Dunkin', we ask, "Bring back more distinctive flavors like this one," and to coffee lovers, we say, "Skip the brown sugar swirl," which isn't just a lackluster ingredient, but an example of an ongoing issue more than a few digruntled fans have noticed.