Back in August, Dunkin and Starbucks released their fall menu. They brought back classic fall drinks and baked goods and also added some new ones. In this review, I compared popular menu items from Starbucks and Dunkin so that anybody who wants a good fall drink knows exactly which place to head to. 

Dunkin: Pumpkin Spice Signature Latte

Rating: 10/10

This coffee is my favorite hot drink to have during the fall season. The Hot Pumpkin Spice Signature Latte is a rich espresso and milk paired with pumpkin flavor and vanilla topped with whipped cream, caramel drizzle, and cinnamon sugar.  Something that I liked about this drink was that there wasn’t an overwhelming pumpkin flavor. This coffee was just a perfect go-to choice for a hot drink during this cold season.

Starbucks: Pumpkin Spice Latte

Rating: 9/10

The Starbucks Hot Pumpkin Spice Latte comes in different sizes. I got the smallest size which was short and it felt to me like a perfect pick me up. If you don’t like your coffee to taste like straight coffee, I would recommend the Starbucks latte. I tasted more milk rather than coffee which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just personal preference. Nothing was wrong with this drink but I prefer to be able to taste some coffee. For that reason, I prefer the Dunkin latte over the Starbucks. 

Dunkin: Pumpkin Cold Brew with Sweet Cold Foam 

Rating: 3/10

The Dunkin Pumpkin Cold Brew with Sweet Cold Foam is a bold cold brew paired with a sweet pumpkin flavor, topped with sweet cold foam. In my opinion, this drink tasted like a pumpkin air freshener. No matter how much I mixed the drink, I could not get over the harsh pumpkin flavor. The flavor itself just tasted like I was eating out of an actual pumpkin. At first, I really got the pumpkin flavor but then after it passed, I got the coffee flavor. I want one cohesive drink. Not two different flavors in one drink. I would not recommend this drink to anyone during the fall season.

Starbucks: Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew

Rating: 7/10

The Starbucks Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew is a cold brew with vanilla syrup topped with pumpkin cream cold foam and pumpkin spice on top. This coffee in my opinion is a good option for a cold coffee drink. I personally don’t like how strong cold brews are, but some people do. I recommend that whoever likes their coffee a little stronger should get this drink. I do feel that after the cold foam layer is gone from the top of the coffee, the pumpkin flavor was gone and I was drinking just straight coffee. I did not really enjoy that part of the drink but otherwise, it was a pretty good cold coffee choice.

Dunkin: Pumpkin Iced Chai Latte 

Rating: 7/10

The Dunkin Pumpkin Iced Chai Latte is a normal Iced Chai Latte infused with pumpkin flavors. I love chai, and it is usually my favorite drink to get from cafes. But again, I found an issue with the pumpkin flavor in Dunkin’s chai. The drink was too sweet and the pumpkin flavor was too sweet as well. I felt like I was drinking a big ball of sugar. The pumpkin flavor tasted the same as it did in the cold brew but it was less potent because it was mixed with the milk. 

Starbucks: Iced Pumpkin Cream Chai

Rating: 9/10

This Starbucks drink is Iced Chai topped with a sweet pumpkin cold foam and some pumpkin spice on top. This is my favorite seasonal drink to get from Starbucks. I love chai and I love pumpkin chai. But the one from Starbucks tasted so much better. Even after the cold foam was gone, I still tasted pumpkin throughout the drink. The one thing I would change about this drink is taking away the pumpkin spice on top. It isn’t necessary in the drink in my opinion. If there are people out there who love chai as much as I do, definitely buy this drink. It is amazing!

Dunkin: Pumpkin Muffin

Rating: 7/10

The muffin from Dunkin did not have the horrible pumpkin flavor that the drinks had which was a little bit shocking in my opinion. It tasted a little bit like a normal muffin because the pumpkin flavor was so tame. Overall it was not a bad muffin.

Starbucks: Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin

Rating: 7/10

This muffin from Starbucks did not wow me but also did not shock me. I do have to say I did not like the different seeds on the outside of the muffin. I think the muffin without those seeds on there would have made it a 9/10. I would recommend that this muffin should be warmed because I thoroughly enjoyed it warmed. 

And the winner is…Starbucks! I liked the Starbucks drinks a lot more than the Dunkin drinks. Even though Starbucks is more expensive than Dunkin, I could taste a difference in the price when it came to doing a side-to-side comparison of the fall menus. If Dunkin ends up changing their pumpkin flavor, my decision may change. But based on my favorites, I would have to say that I will be driving to Starbucks from now on if I need a good seasonal drink.