5 New Dunkin' Menu Items That Totally Bombed In 2026 (So Far)

Dunkin' seems to have decided that 2026 is the year for an extra shot of creativity. The coffee chain has maintained a revolving door of specialty menus all year long, dropping a new list of themed drinks and snacks almost every month. It launched protein milk in January, a Valentine's Day 2026 Drinks Menu for February, and two different specialty lineups for spring — and that was just the beginning. July 2026 puts us right in the middle of a "King Kylie" collaboration with Kylie Jenner featuring three candy-pink limited-time drinks and specialty snacks. Not every new menu item Dunkin' has released has been a stunning success, though.

Dunkin' is actually the bakery ranked dead last according to customers, and somehow still one of the most well-known in the United States. Menu innovation helps it stay relevant, but with all those new releases Dunkin' has racked up quite a few failures over the years. Premade frozen pies triggered a $1.7 million corporate loss in the 1970s while the Angus Steak Breakfast Sandwich (which sounded like a good idea in 2012) was discontinued in 2018 after customers were unhappy that Dunkin' used ground angus instead of sliced. We've already seen dozens of new, limited-edition drinks and snacks from Dunkin' in 2026 — here are the ones that have totally bombed with customers.

The viral dirty soda trend made it onto Dunkin's Summer Menu in 2026. Dunkin's version is a strange mixture of Pepsi, coffee milk, and cold foam, and customers have noted that it's a confusing mixture of tastes and textures. According to them, the first sip of the drink is off-putting before it gets worse. Since Pepsi has lighter carbonation than other dark sodas, the bubbles don't last and it quickly goes flat. To make matters even less appealing, the cold foam tends to curdle.

Others have an even stronger opinion on the drink. Some say they get a chemical aftertaste once they've finished a sip. "It tastes like you stuck a straw into a puddle of mud and blew a cloud of vanilla-flavored vape on it," complained a reviewer for Jezebel. Meanwhile, another vented: "Whoever thought it was a good idea to mix coffee, milk, and Pepsi is crazy. First you taste the coffee, then you taste the Pepsi, and then you taste windex [sic]."

Black Cherry Refreshers landed on Dunkin's menu in late April 2026 and should have been a summery, sweet-tart addition perfect for a hot day. It's sugary and caffeine-packed, just like the rest of the Dunkin' Refreshers menu. But Dunkin' leaned too heavily on the sweet flavors of this drink; instead of bringing to mind sun-ripened fruit or homemade ice cream, Dunkin's Black Cherry Refresher makes people think of cough syrup. "Hated it!! And I love black cherry! It had a super weird aftertaste too," explained one reviewer. Another echoed the sentiment: "I hate it reminds me too much of Robitussin." And there's another problem.

Somehow, Dunkin's Black Cherry Refresher is also dry and astringent. Customers complain it does nothing to quench your thirst. In fact, it does the opposite. "I'm thirstier after drinking it than I was before," noted one reviewer. Some people combine the Black Cherry flavor with other Refreshers to cut the syrupy flavor and make something drinkable. Others, however, admit to giving up on the drink completely and tossing it in the trash before they emptied the cup.

The new Ice Cream Cake Donut from Dunkin's midsummer "King Kylie" menu is meant to be a donut version of a cookies and cream ice cream cake inspired by flavors you'd find at Baskin' Robins. It also takes a page from Kylie Jenner's ultra-bold and bougie lifestyle. It's a donut dripping in luxury that even comes with its own box, but it's been consistently disappointing customers since it appeared on the Dunkin' menu in July. People who have taken a chance on this new donut describe it as not being all that special. Instead, it's basic – just a regular chocolate-filled donut with standard buttercream and a few Oreos crumbled on top.

On the outside, it's a simple pastry with a classy layer of whipped buttercream frosting and cookie crumbles on top. It's supposed to be stuffed to the brim with a creamy chocolate filling, but some customers claim their donut is missing the filling entirely. Others note there hasn't been enough frosting on top to evenly cover the dough. One Redditor said: "Filing is actually ⅛ the donut and tasted nothing like ice cream cake."

Dunkin' welcomed Summer 2026 with the addition of the Fruit Punch Donut on the same early summer menu as the Black Cherry Refresher. It was a yeast donut covered in fruity frosting and featured a layer of fruit punch-flavored sprinkles to really make the flavor profile pop. Reportedly, this donut was so terrible that employees had to upsell it to get it out of the stores and avoid waste. That strategy might have worked better if they hadn't trash talked the donut so badly online. "The crew thinks it tastes like Play-Doh and looks something from the Rugrats," wrote one person on Facebook.

More gentle reviews of the Fruit Punch Donuts said they were overly sweet and completely unforgettable but occasionally clashed with their usual coffee orders. To others, the addition of a fruit punch donut seemed very random. Oreos were heavily featured on the same specialty menu and the pairing seemed weird. And then there were the customers like this Redditor, who wrote: "Tastes like Dunkin [sic] did a collab with Fabuloso."

Dunkin' kicked off June 2026 with a specialty menu that was all about red, white, and blue. It was an offering with explosive flavors celebrating America's 250th Anniversary and the Rocket Pop Donut on the menu was a call-back to the ever-popular Bomb Pops we love to enjoy around Independence Day. It was a regular yeast donut with a Rocket Pop-flavored filling and blue icing on top complete with stars and stripes sprinkles. Unfortunately, customers said the best thing about this donut was its aesthetic. The taste was overly sweet and the flavor profile finished with a chemical aftertaste. "They really nailed the melted popsicle syrupy flavor," explained one reviewer.

The donut has been described as tasting like melted crayons or cough syrup. Mostly, this donut didn't get finished and ended up in the trash. One reviewer even drew parallels to Dunkin's failed Fruit Punch donut: "It's like Dunkin [sic] needed something to do with all the fruit punch icing from last LTO, so they shoved it into a shell and called it something."