In Elite Daily's series Chef's Kiss, we taste the latest food and drink trends to help you figure out which ones you definitely don’t want to sleep on.
In this review of Starbucks and Dunkin’s Pumpkin Cream Cold Brews side by side, you’ll see exactly where they differ.
It’s made with ice, cold brew coffee (which is steeped for 20 hours), vanilla syrup, and pumpkin cream cold foam — a blend of sugar, condensed skim milk, pumpkin spice sauce (with real pumpkin puree), and vanilla syrup.
It’s topped with cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg.
Made with 12-hour steeped cold brew, the pumpkin flavor swirl has sweetened condensed nonfat milk, sugar, brown sugar, and other sweeteners. It also has light cream and a pumpkin-flavored cream cold foam — milk, sugar, cream, real pumpkin — and it’s topped with a cinnamon-sugar blend.
It has a subtle scent, but the coffee and pumpkin flavors come through.
The lightly sweet cold foam and spices mellow out the coffee and complement the subtle vanilla aftertaste. You can really taste the nutmeg on the cold foam.
It’s well balanced with a light cinnamon aftertaste and a hint of vanilla.
It has a strong pumpkin scent and is sweeter than Starbucks’ sip.
Pumpkin and spice flavors come through with an overwhelming flavor of cinnamon and cold brew. The subtly sweet cold cream balances it.
There are lingering pumpkin and cinnamon flavors. Overall, the coffee is smooth.
Starbucks’ Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew has less than you might expect in the caffeine department, with 185 milligrams of caffeine in a grande.
Still, it’s stronger than a grande PSL from Starbucks, which provides 150 milligrams of caffeine.
Dunkin’s Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew comes out on top with 260 milligrams of caffeine in a medium size.
That’s is stronger than the brand’s medium Dunkin’ Signature Pumpkin Spice Latte, which contains 166 milligrams of caffeine.
The Starbucks Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew costs between $5.25 and $5.45 for a grande.
Dunkin’ is offering $3 medium Pumpkin Cream Cold Brews through Sept. 14, while supplies last. Once that deal is over, a medium will cost $4.09.
The vanilla and extra spices in Starbucks’ Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew make it stand out. It also has a richer coffee flavor, while Dunkin’s drink is more cinnamon-packed.
Dunkin’s drink, though, will cost you nearly $2 less than Starbucks and give you a bit more of a caffeine boost.
Overall, both coffees bring the fall vibes.