Review: Dunkin' Valentine's Day Drinks Menu 2026, Ranked Dud To Stud

I feel like I've barely put away holiday decorations, and it's already time to break out the conversation hearts and Valentines. Beginning Wednesday, January 28, Dunkin' is celebrating the season of chocolates and roses with a limited-time menu. As part of that menu, the chain released seven drinks right on theme for Valentine's Day.

Most of the offerings have the feel of secret menu-style items that fans might create on their own as unique takes on staple drinks from the chain. Each one even has an appropriately themed nickname. I tried all seven the day they came out to determine which ones need to be your priority and which ones you can safely skip. By and large, I was more impressed with these Dunkin' offerings than others I've sampled, having experienced my fair share of over-sugared and under-flavored Dunkin' beverages.

To rank the Valentine's Day drinks included in Dunkin's 2026 Valentine's Day menu, I am mostly considering taste. Simply put, I want drinks that are enjoyable to sip on. The best drinks are the ones that I'd be happy to order again, and even chose to keep drinking after the tasting concluded. The worst drinks are the ones that I could only stomach a couple of sips from.

On the surface, the Toxic Ex-Presso Cloud Latte looked like it was going to be a fabulous drink, like any good toxic ex, really. Perhaps I should have taken the "toxic" part of the name a little more to heart. This drink is a combination of espresso, mocha, and raspberry with chocolate cold foam on top. It sounds like a raspberry syrup lover's dream. Don't get your hopes up like I did.

Ever since Starbucks got rid of its raspberry syrup and brought it back for only a few fleeting moments, I (and raspberry syrup-loving fans everywhere) have been searching for a solid alternative. Unfortunately, this isn't it, and it only made me miss Starbucks' raspberry syrup all the more. The drink has 410 calories, 13 grams of fat, 65 grams of carbohydrates, 58 grams of sugar, and 10 grams of protein in a medium size. 

The flavor tasted off, even bitter. In fact, this was one of the few drinks out of the Heart Day lineup that I really couldn't bring myself to take more than a couple of sips of. I wanted to like this one a lot more than I did, but with the taste, there's nowhere else it could land than in the bottom spot. It's definitely one of the Dunkin' menu items to steer clear of.

With a name like Heart Eyes Daydream Refresher, you just know the drink is going to pack quite the sugar punch, and it certainly delivers. The base drink is a Strawberry Dragonfruit Refresher, which gets an addition of blueberry flavoring, all mixed with Plant Oat's oat milk (the popular brand of oat milk Dunkin' uses in its drinks). To finish it off, there's a dreamy (as the name suggests) layer of cold foam. The medium drink I had contained 290 calories, 5 grams of fat, 57 grams of carbohydrates, 42 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

My first impression of this drink was that there was so much going on with it, but one note drifted to the front: It was sweet, even over the top. With both strawberry dragon fruit and blueberry, the drink amounted to something of a mixed berry flavor, like those classic creamy berry Creme Savers hard candies I remember from the '90s. This drink suffered from the same ambiguous flavor issue that many other mixed berry drinks have. It was too vague to be a specific fruity drink flavor and tasted muddled with all of the different components. 

That said, I was impressed with how smooth the drink was, even though it's made with oat milk. There were no odd floaters to speak of, and the cold foam added a nice texture to the drink. Those looking for an ultra-sweet drink will definitely enjoy this one, but I found it too sweet, which is why I placed it toward the bottom of my overall ranking.

While I love Valentine's Day and the opportunity to celebrate all that is love, sweetness, and passion, I'll admit that it certainly gets blown out of proportion and romanticized, often leading to disappointment. Similarly, The Perfect Matcha promises just that: perfection. I was curious to see how it would differ from other matchas I've had, and if I could indeed claim it to be perfect.

My allegedly Perfect Matcha had 330 calories, 12 grams of fat, 44 grams of carbohydrates, 43 grams of sugar, and 11 grams of protein in a medium size. The drink was basic. It was an iced matcha latte with a topping of sweet cold foam. With all the iced matcha lattes I have recently been enjoying, I was excited to try this one. I have had quite a few exceptional iced matcha lattes (like Dunkin's Wicked Green Matcha and Starbucks' Iced Dubai Chocolate Matcha), but unfortunately, this doesn't surpass any of them. 

The Perfect Matcha is overblown, and it feels like a promise still waiting to be fulfilled, like a mediocre Valentine's Day date. That said, it wasn't outright bad, but perfection should be extraordinary, and this was just a basic, slightly sweet iced matcha latte. It had all the flavor you expect from matcha with the smoothness of the milk. Since it wasn't exceptional, I can't put it any higher than the middle of the pack. There are better matchas available, but if you're at Dunkin and you want matcha, this one isn't bad.

Around Valentine's Day, there are a few sweets you'll always find to treat your date, like a tray of chocolate-covered strawberries. This simple combination is as sensual as it is delicious, and I'm always down for a drink that tries to capture the flavor of the decadent, rich, and juicy taste. The Chocolate Covered Strawberry Daydream Refresher tries to do just that. The medium size contains 280 calories, 5 grams of fat, 56 grams of carbohydrates, 42 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein, which is strikingly similar to the Heart Eyes Daydream Refresher.

This dessert in a cup is a modified Strawberry Dragonfruit Refresher with oat milk and a thick layer of chocolate cold foam. Before taking my first sip, I noted just how thoroughly the cold foam seeped into the drink, turning it entirely brown and dominating the flavor. It was so abundant that it gave the drink more of a chocolate taste than a chocolate-covered strawberry, making me miss some of that juicy goodness. 

I think Dunkin' could achieve more balance with a Refresher base that leaned more into strawberry rather than dragonfruit. With the lack of strawberry flavor, it was too heavy in the chocolate realm. Still, it was an enjoyable drink that tempered some of that over-the-top sweetness of the Heart Eyes Daydream Refresher, earning it a slightly higher place in my ranking. I love drinks in that middle, not-too-sweet ground, and this one achieved that.

To make it match the theme for Valentine's Day, Dunkin' simply offered a name for an easy-to-order drink off its menu. The Blush Spritz Refresher alludes to the color of a Strawberry Dragonfruit Refresher when it is made with sparkling water. The combination is a lighter drink among the offerings, with 120 calories, 0 grams of fat, 29 grams of carbohydrates, 27 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein for a medium.

As bold as the rest of the Valentine's Day menu is, I was more than a little surprised to see that this Blush Spritz Refresher isn't as flavorful and sweet. Over my subsequent sips, I noticed the flavor building, an effect I was surprised to enjoy, even coming to remind me of a strawberry Jolly Rancher. It was more of a sparkling juice drink than a seltzer, and while I don't normally enjoy fizzy drinks, this one was good. 

That said, I could imagine it being a whole lot better if mixed with a spirit of some kind. Fruity-flavored vodka would do well here and add a nice punch, making this a delightful evening drink to grab with your sweetheart. For its balance of flavor, I'm placing this one near the top of my favorites, a move that is surprising to this usually non-sparkling water-loving writer.

Protein-heavy coffee drinks sure have become all the rage in coffee chains and local shops across the country. Dunkin' is no different, offering protein milk enriched drinks as part of its menu. The Buff Chai is one option, with 290 calories, 6 grams of fat, 44 grams of carbohydrates, 40 grams of sugar, and 15 grams of protein in the medium iced beverage. The Buff Chai also comes in a hot version, but since the rest of the menu consisted of iced drinks, I decided to continue the trend.

Dunkin's Buff Chai is simply a combination of chai syrup with protein milk (a new introduction with the Dunkin' winter drink offerings), and I must say, this was a pretty good chai. I found the spices of the tea were right where they needed to be, and with the milkiness of the drink, it definitely had a very calming and enjoyable flavor to it. Though I can't particularly get behind the naming of the drink, it certainly does lend itself to images of buff models on the front of a romance novel. 

Still, this protein-enriched drink only had 3 more grams of protein than the closest protein competitor at 12 grams. Overall, I was impressed by the balance of smooth and slight spiciness, making it a frontrunner for my drink ranking. It had a much softer and delicate spice to it that I actually really enjoyed, like a well-rounded buff romance novel love interest. If I were to get this again, I would ask to have an espresso shot added to make it a Dirty Iced Buff Chai.

With 420 calories, 12 grams of fat, 64 grams of carbohydrates, 63 grams of sugar, and 12 grams of protein packed into a medium, the Sweet On You Cloud Latte was easily my favorite of the bunch, and the one I chose to continue drinking throughout the morning. It's a combination of the chain's espresso with milk and caramel and coconut flavors, topped with cold foam.

Funny enough, this Valentine's Day menu came out the same week that most of the Midwest, and even as far down as Florida, where I live, was experiencing something of a deep freeze. So I had to giggle when I saw this drink included coconut, the most classic of summery, beachy flavors. It may feel less seasonal given the temperature, but I'm here for it because I absolutely love coconut, and it didn't disappoint. The flavor came through strongly; it even smelled like the type of drink you would enjoy while basking in the glory of summer sunshine. 

If you, like me, enjoy coconut and the way that it offers something of a sunscreen taste, you will like this one. Although I didn't get a whole lot of caramel flavor, it definitely contributed to the sweetness of the drink, which was notable. This was one of the sweeter options, but it wasn't overwhelming, even if the nutritional information shows that it has the most sugar compared to others in the Valentine's Day lineup. All told, this was my favorite drink and one I would definitely order again.