The Worst Hot Drink You Can Order At Dunkin' Is Unpleasantly Bitter

Dunkin' is a beloved coffee chain for innumerable reasons, one being its expansive menu. Dunkin' caters to every kind of coffee and morning beverage drinker with a full roster of standard café drinks served alongside lemonades, teas, frozen Coolattas, and more. Besides seasonal and specialty beverages, Dunkin' has over two dozen drinks that consistently reside on the regular menu, including lattes, cappuccinos, macchiatos, and Americanos. We wanted to get a sense for which of these drinks Dunkin' has perfected and which fall short, so we ranked every single hot drink on the Dunkin' menu and can safely say that the Americano is the worst.

A traditionally perfect Americano combines espresso and hot water to make a smooth, caffeinated beverage that lets the layered notes of the espresso's flavor shine. Dunkin's espresso, however, is overwhelmingly bitter, making the Americano an unadulterated cup of burnt, acrid muck that we were not a fan of. And this wasn't due to a bad day for the Dunkin' espresso machine, as the Iced Americano was labeled the worst drink on the menu when we ranked all of the café's iced coffee drinks, too — and for the same reason. 

While we can't recommend the hot Americano from Dunkin' by itself, the chain is known for its range of delectable syrups, sauces, and add-ons that make customizing your perfect drink possible. One user on Reddit shared that she upgrades her hot Americano from Dunkin' by adding Hazelnut Swirl, cream, and sugar. Sounds delicious, but, realistically, anyone wanting an Americano is probably more likely to enjoy the strong flavor of straight coffee. If that is what you're looking for, we'd recommend skipping the Americano and getting a regular cup of Dunkin's drip coffee, which uses an ideal ratio of water to coffee. It's a balanced, reliable, and delicious cup of coffee that will give you the kick you're looking for without the unpleasant bitterness of the espresso.

The other variation on the Dunkin' Americano that seemed genuinely delicious was shared in a TikTok by a Dunkin' location in Deland, Florida. The video features an Iced Americano made with brown sugar syrup, espresso, water, and topped with brown sugar cold foam and cinnamon. Not only is the drink beautiful, it sounds like the low-maintenance sister to Starbucks' Iced Brown Sugar Oatmilk Shaken Espresso, which took the number one spot in our ranking of 47 of the most popular Starbucks drinks. So, while we'd be happy to see the Dunkin' hot Americano disappear from the menu forever, it does seem like there are some tweaks and edits that can make the drink more, well, drinkable.