Iced tea from Dunkin Donuts: good news for New Enland

[finlero]

Having grown up in Phoenix, but living in Boston, one of the things I miss the most is the fresh brewed iced tea, a staple of Arizonan hydration. Most restaurants in Phoenix tend to have two pitchers, one for water and the other for tea, which is always fresh brewed, unsweetened, and available with lemon. Not sure whether it's the variable weather or some continued aftereffect of the Boston tea party, but iced tea in Boston has been tough to find, and good iced tea even tougher.

So it was with surprise and more than a little disbelief that I discovered that Dunkin Donuts' iced tea is actually good. Fresh brewed, properly strong, not cloudy, unsweetened, no trace of coffee flavor (the most common problem with iced tea in Boston), and best of all, fresh lemon available.

The two downsides are (1), with a large costing over two bucks (and some franchises charging closer to $3), it's definitely not cheap. And (2), since Boston is still very much an iced coffee town, I seem to have to order with a high degree of specificity to get exactly what I want: "I'll have a large iced tea, black, no sugar, with lemon."

The tea is by no means earth shattering, but it's both dependable and, thanks to the chain in question, ubiquitous across New England, which means Boston's iced tea situation has just made a quantum leap forward.

[Suzy Q]

Do the McDonald's up there not have iced tea? It's pretty good.

[PrincessBakesALot]

We do have McDoanld's tea up here. The Unsweetened is quite good. Not quite as good as Dunkin's but for 99 cents for a large, definitely worth stopping for.

[joshgreen]

I have to say that I never once enjoyed unsweetened tea until two months ago, when they rolled it out at New York Dunkin Donuts. The one and only issue that seems to be the biggest issue is that no two dunkin donuts make it the same, however i have found one store that makes it to my liking, which is why i go there every single day.

[lonborgfan]

I live in a DD dominated area but I will check out Starbuck's. I am thrilled to have an alternative to Wendy's and seeing as some of the Wendy's here in WMass have closed, it's even better.
FYI, you can also get unsweetened iced tea at Panera Bread.

[crosby_p]

I have become addicted to Starbucks venti black shaken iced tea, unsweetened. I ask for light ice so it doesn't get diluted. It is $2.10 in the Baltimore area, which is kinda pricey. However, I asked the barista which of their tea bags they used to make it so I could buy some for home...and she said they used special bags, not available for sale! I bought one bag of their black Awake tea, had it this morning, and that's not it... I have e-mailed the company but haven't heard back yet. But the iced tea there is always right on for me!

[CrazyOne]

Oh, please come back and let us know if they actually give you a variety that they use! So funny, I have been meaning to ask someone at a local Starbucks store the very same question. I thought maybe it would be one of the Tazo varieties they sell in the store, and is likely related to them somehow, but may be a blend of two or more varieties. I'm not really surprised that they would use something not exactly for sale, because they probably have one package that makes half a gallon or a gallon or however much they brew at a time. Obviously they wouldn't sell those giant "tea bags"! But surely somebody knows the tea blend that's in them....

Another funny coincidence, we made iced tea from some old Awake bags this morning too. What I found is that I don't really care for that blend as iced tea. Ah, well. Would be nice to get an answer on this, though. I really do like whatever they brew at the Starbucks stores.

[txhawk23]

google tazo black iced tea.

they sell it for about $28 for 6 tea-bags (each bag makes 1 gal))

txhawk

[CrazyOne]

*Slaps forehead* Thank you. I should have thought to do that, but I was only looking at the ordinary Tazo site, which doesn't make mention of it.

Here's an example of where they sell it http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=204966

In fact, the search turned up this for sale directly from StarbucksStore.com, in a slightly more manageable one bag makes 2 liters size. But they're showing out of stock. http://www.starbucksstore.com/product... In fact, the only way you can find that is from the Google search, which I suppose means it's discontinued. Probably too many people didn't want to make 2 liters at once.

[crosby_p]

I'm bummed...went to DD yesterday...all they had was bottled iced tea....so I left. Wonder if it's a Baltimore area thing that they don't have it... and went to Wendys....got a large...it was AWFUL!!!

[jes]

DD on Guildford Rd in Mt. Vernon in Baltimre has iced tea, small is still 99 cents.

[crosby_p]

It took a while, but I got a reply today..."You can find the tea needed to make that beverage by visiting the website www.cooking.com." I haven't looked yet, but will.

[othervoice]

finlero,
You have said it all......I'm soooo hooked on it. My only hope is that it isn't discontinued now that we're all addicted. I love DD's ice coffee but trying to cut calories is impossible drinking it the way I like it. Very creamy and sweet, but now with the pure brewed tea, just a little lemon and some fake sugar and I'm good to go.

[CrazyOne]

They don't have Starbucks in Boston? ;-) For all the love/hate of that place, they do make good iced tea. Not hugely expensive IMO, although a premium over a fast food joint probably (and worth it too, I'd say). Pretty sure they have lemon available, and you definitely can get however you like. I now have the lingo down kinda like the coffee silliness: "(size) black iced tea, unsweetened", once I realized they would ask me sweetened or unsweetened each time otherwise.

Okay, I know there are probably more Dunkins in that area than Starbucks, but still.

[RichardA]

I'll second the vote for Starbucks iced tea over DD. Starbucks has black, green, passion and whites teas. Including an excellent bluberry white iced tea right now. It is less expensive than DD. And I never have problems with bitter iced tea which I have had a couple times recently at DD.

[finlero]

It may be a regional thing, but Starbucks doesn't tend to carry fresh lemon in their New England stores. Their large is also nowhere near as gigantic as DD's, something I care about during these warm summer days.

Having said that, I agree that Starbucks makes some credible iced tea, slightly more refined than Dunkin's.

This morning, I tried the peach-infused black iced tea from DD, which I may actually prefer to the plain black.

[lvecch]

Have you tried the iced tea at Au Bon Pain? It's tasty, and when I lived in Boston (admittedly, this was a while ago), you could get a good-sized (about the equivalent of a DD medium) cup for a buck. And, let me hasten to add, there's always a tray of lemon slices for the taking.

[finlero]

Generally I don't mind iced tea from ABP (especially with lemon), but since I'm an anal retentive chowhound, a few niggling comments:

1) Every once in a while, their tea tastes like coffee, clearly having been brewed in the same container, which is an enormous pet peeve of mine. So far, I have yet to encounter this at Dunkin.

2) Their larger-sized cold drinks are served in paper cups rather than Dunkin's plastic. Not sure if it's purely psychological or a legitimate chemical phenomenon, but I always perceive a certain flatness in tea served in a waxed paper cup.

That said, I've certainly been reasonably happy in the past to grab a tea from ABP. I've also been happy with Panera Bread and, in a pinch, Wendy's.

[lvecch]

I never noticed a coffee taste, but obviously that would be terrible.

The paper cups don't bother me, but I have friends who won't drink hot coffee at Starbucks for the same reason.

I didn't know Wendy's has iced tea. I'm in NYC now, but I'll have to check this out.

[finlero]

Yep. Wendy's iced tea isn't outstanding, but it's fresh-brewed, and they have lemon.

We only have one Chipotle in the Boston area, but I've enjoyed their iced tea as well, and I know they have quite a few branches in New York.

[CrazyOne]

So funny about the paper vs plastic cups. I got iced tea from another coffee place a while back, and they only use the same paper cups as the hot coffee. The tea was probably okay, but indeed somehow the cup seemed to take away from it enough that I wouldn't bother getting it again.

[finlero]

gini, you are, as usual, totally right, this time about the tea at Petsi being great.

My point is neither that Dunkin has the best iced tea in town, nor is it that there was no good iced tea in town before. My point is that in one broad move, Dunkin has leveraged its size to bring something to New England never before available: a ubiquitous, perfectly serviceable facsimile of the plain old iced tea I grew up drinking by the gallon in Arizona.

To me, this does for iced tea in New England what Starbucks did for espresso drinks across the country. Can I get better, artisinal, "destination" tea elsewhere in town, or brew it myself? Yes, just as before. But essentially overnight, it has suddenly become possible to grab a pretty good iced tea on every other street corner in town.

As for the bitterness, I find that just like Dunkin's iced coffee, it's vital to add heaps of ice so as to dilute it to the proper consistency. I had one experience where they only filled the cup halfway with ice, and it was indeed bitter, not to mention too warm.

[gini]

Flattery will get you everywhere.

I do understand the appeal of iced tea available across town (even I get tired of water), so it's good to know that the iced tea is serviceable.

Maybe this could be considered a PSA?

[bachslunch]

[reposted here, with edits, at moderator request]

I tried one -- thought it was passable, if more bitter than I like. The best thing about it is the 99-cent price, though I understand that's a temporary introduction pricing.

I'm in general pretty underwhelmed with DD's products except their cookies (which are good) and their coffee (which is above average). Terrible donuts and breakfast sandwiches in particular.

[bachslunch]

More bad news. The 99-cent promotional price is history for the small DD iced tea; it's now $1.68. I also tried the iced tea at Starbuck's today -- their small is a little cheaper than DD's at $1.50 and it tastes much better, smoother and less bitter.

[gini]

Really?

Hmmm....

Really?

If you're at all anti-chain, check out the iced tea at Petsi's pies. I like their black the best, but they also brew a nice pomegranate version.