What To Order On Dunkin's New 'DunKings' Menu

Maybe you're like me and you get a severe migraine every time you see a famous actor attached to an ad campaign. Still, there is something undeniably charming, and dare I say natural, about Ben Affleck endorsing Dunkin'. Every time I think "Wow, what a cash grab," I remember the many 2016 photos of Ben Affleck smoking a cigarette, looking forlorn. In some of those photos, he's got an iced coffee from Dunkin'. As much as I want to hate it, the partnership just makes sense. He is this East Coast coffee chain's soulmate.

With Affleck's official involvement in the brand's marketing, Dunkin' holds the keys to a cinematic universe. Last year, he worked the Dunkin' drive-thru window for a series of Super Bowl ads. A slew of different commercials and promotions followed, ratcheting up to this year's Super Bowl spot in which Affleck assembles a boy band called the DunKings featuring himself, Matt Damon, and Tom Brady. The campaign culminated in this week's release of the limited-time-only DunKings Menu, available now.

There is a catch, though: three of the five items on the DunKings menu are only available through the Dunkin' Rewards mobile app. Anyone can purchase the new DunKings Iced Coffee and the DunKings Munchkins Skewers, but to experience the Everything Encore Breakfast Sandwich, Hazelnut Heartthrob Iced Coffee, and Mixed Berry Beats Dunkin' Refresher, you must download the app and create and account. Is it worth it? How do all of the DunKings items stack up? I tried each to find out.

The DunKings Iced Coffee features Dunkin's classic iced coffee mixed with vanilla and cream, then topped with sweet cold foam and a dusting of cinnamon sugar. Sounds great, but all this did was make me wistful for Starbucks' Pistachio Cream Cold Brew. Why? The cold foam here is just far too thin, and the flavor tastes drastically of sugary syrup. The cold foam should be a little thicker, a little more rich and creamy. Apparently, this is Ben Affleck's go-to Dunkin' order, and I absolutely believe this man is drinking sugary drinks and blasting cigarettes on the regular. There's something relatable about that, as well as this iced coffee.

Munchkins, Dunkin's proprietary doughnut holes, are typically sold in boxes of roughly two dozen, but this new menu item is three Munchkins on a skewer as if they're being served at a wedding reception, or the first bite in a 20-course elevated Dunkin' tasting menu. In short, they're hilariously elegant. Personally, I like it when food chains lean into have fun, and this is stupid good fun by design. Per the press release,

"There's no way to watch this campaign and its many outtakes, to try The DunKings Iced Coffee with the fun MUNCHKINS® skewer, or to wear the pink and orange tracksuits without smiling. That's the genuine, lighthearted connection we want people to feel when they think about Dunkin'," said Jill McVicar Nelson, Chief Marketing Officer at Dunkin'.

The more Dunkin' leans into lightheartedness, the more appealing the food seems. My doughnut hors d'oeuvres included a Chocolate Glazed, Original Glazed, and Cinnamon Munchkin. Of those, the Original Glazed tasted best: soft, doughy, and wonderfully sugary. I had a good laugh eating these, which is the best you can hope for when it comes to eating out.

This breakfast sandwich is a bit of a mess, but the price ($5.99 in Los Angeles) was pretty damn good, considering how substantial and filling it was. For starters, here's the bad: It's completely sheathed in loose poppy seeds. This is not the type of breakfast sandwich you can eat in your car, or even at your desk. It must be eaten outside. The mess generated by the poppy seeds is substantial and annoying. They rain down and litter your immediate surroundings.

The sandwich itself doesn't have great ratios, either—each bite is mostly everything bagel, with some thin, fatty strips of bacon, a small circle of egg, and one slice of white cheddar cheese. The white cheddar is a great move here, funky and sharp; more breakfast sandwiches should feature it. This breakfast has its problems, but again, for $5.99, it's a pretty good deal.

The Hazelnut Heartthrob Iced Coffee is a dark, caramel drink with a real roasted flavor. It's Dunkin's Original Blend coffee plus whole milk, two pumps of hazelnut syrup, and two pumps of caramel swirl syrup. Surprisingly, this didn't taste aggressively sweet, allowing the flavor of the coffee to shine through a bit more. Strong, nutty, dark flavors work well in an iced coffee, and they're all the more refreshing amid the slew of sweet caffeinated beverages available to consumers everywhere else.

The Mixed Berry Beats Dunkin' Refresher is a little confusing, because the promo pics would have you believe that this is a pinkish purple, berry-forward drink. Mine, however, came with green tea, and the color reflected that. I checked the app again to make sure I didn't do something wrong (remember, you can only order this one through the app). I hadn't made a mistake: Green tea is not only listed in the ingredients, but you also can't make any substitutions. It's curious, because green tea is noticeably absent from the ingredients in this press release.

The strawberry dragon fruit and the raspberry, if present at all, got completely lost in the green tea. Still, I'm not complaining. This is very tea-forward, with a lovely and subtle earthiness. I much prefer this to a drink loaded with stock syrup and sugar. If you want something sweet, go for Affleck's coffee order and some Munchkins on a skewer. If you want a hearty sandwich, there's the everything bagel with egg, bacon, and white cheddar. And if you want something subtle, try the hazelnut coffee or the refresher. There's really a little something for everybody here.