Coffee Review Series: Dunkin Original Blend, Consistently Average!
Our first review is here! Walking down the coffee aisle at your local store, it’s hard to miss the wave of Dunkin’s signature orange dominating the shelves. With a variety of blends, grind options (or whole bean), and flavors, Dunkin offers something for nearly everyone at every coffee equipment level. This particular bag was snagged during a recent Instacart order from Walmart for just $8.46 (12oz).
Labeled as a medium roast, it delivered exactly that—true to its name. The beans showed solid roast consistency, with an even, uniform color firmly within the medium roast range. Below, you’ll find a breakdown of each of the metrics I used to grade: Flavor, Smoothness, and Aftertaste. Also included in the score is a grade for the Price and Availability of this bag.
Flavor (5.67 out of 10)
Brew Method | Trial 1 | Trial 2 | Trial 3 | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Aeropress | 6 | 5 | 6 | 5.67 |
V60 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6 |
Espresso | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5.33 |
Overall |
|
|
| 5.67 |
Unsurprisingly, this bag didn’t bring a ton of noticeable flavor like fruitiness, chocolate, etc., but came in with a solid flavor. My first V60 trial had a lot going for it
Smoothness (6 out of 10)
Brew Method | Trial 1 | Trial 2 | Trial 3 | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Aeropress | 7 | 6 | 7 | 6.67 |
V60 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 5.67 |
Espresso | 4 | 6 | 7 | 5.67 |
Overall |
|
|
| 6.00 |
This was the best-performing metric for this bag—I was genuinely surprised by how smooth the coffee turned out. The Aeropress, in particular, delivered excellent results thanks to its immersion brewing method where the grounds steep in hot water for 1-2 minutes. This meant that any bitterness was completely extracted, leaving a smooth, clean cup.
Aftertaste (5.78 out of 10)
Brew Method | Trial 1 | Trial 2 | Trial 3 | Avg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Aeropress | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6.33 |
V60 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5.67 |
Espresso | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5.33 |
Overall |
|
|
| 5.78 |
Bags like this, while very consistent, often lack distinct flavors like fruitiness like I mentioned above. As a result, the aftertaste is typically subtle or unremarkable and follows that trend. For this one, the aftertaste was, overall, just average.
Price (9 out of 10)
This is extremely well priced at $8.46 – a typical speciality coffee bag will run you anywhere from $12-20 a bag for a 12oz bag, with some even coming into that range with an 8oz or 10oz bag.
Availability (9 out of 10)
To check availability, I reviewed a list of grocers we support on Instacart across the U.S.:
Woodman’s (WI) – Available
Walmart (CA, MI) – Available
Harps (AR) – Available as ground coffee
Foodtown (NY) – Available as ground coffee
I’m giving it a 9 because, while it’s widely available, whole bean options are limited to certain stores.
Overall, this is a bag I’d happily keep on hand for milk-based espresso drinks like cappuccinos or lattes. It’s also a great choice for anyone rocking a drip coffee maker, and I imagine their keurig cups also lineup similar for folks using that as a brew method.
Final score: 35.45/50.
