Dunkin’ Donuts has launched a new drink collaboration with rapper Ice Spice, but its recipe has raised some eyebrows among coffee lovers.
The Bronx-born rapper - who recently won Best New Artist at the 2023 MTV VMAs - debuted a brand new drink with America’s favourite coffee company on Wednesday 13 September. Dubbed the “Ice Spice Munchkins Drink”, the cold beverage blends frozen coffee with pumpkin cake Munchkins, Dunkin’s famous bite-sized doughnut holes.
The drink is then topped with whipped cream and caramel drizzle. This is also the first time a Dunkin’ bakery item has made its way into a drink, in what the brand has called “a collaboration you never knew you needed”.
While the Boston-based coffee company is excited about the new pumpkin-flavoured drink just in time for fall, it seems that many Dunkin’ aficionados are taken aback by the contents of the Ice Spice Munchkins Drink.
In a post shared to X - formerly known as Twitter - popular account Pop Crave shared an image of the Ice Spice Munchkins Drink official recipe. The quantity of coffee syrup and liquid cane sugar varies with size. A small contains four pumps of liquid cane sugar and two pumps of coffee syrup, while the largest offering contains four pumps of coffee and eight pumps of cane sugar. For a large size drink, four Munchkins, which are each 4g of sugar, are blended into the drink, followed by three spins of caramel drizzle in the cup, whipped cream, and then three spins of caramel drizzle again.
It’s fitting that Dunkin’ has collaborated with Ice Spice for its new drink, considering it literally consists of both ice and pumpkin spice. The drink is also named after Ice Spice’s fan base, who call themselves Munchkins after her 2022 song, “Munch (Feelin’ U)”.
However, some people took issue with the Ice Spice Munchkins Drink recipe for its lack of, well, coffee.
“Where is the coffee?” asked one user on X.
“Is there any actual coffee in this drink LMFAOO,” said someone else.
“This should be illegal idk,” another wrote.
Others were also confused how the baristas at Dunkin’ were able to combine Munchkin doughnut holes in a frozen drink.
“MUNCHKINS in a beverage?! There’s just, so many things wrong with this,” one person said.
“Wait, I’m a little confused… are there Munchkins IN the coffee????????” another shared.
Some people simply couldn’t read the Ice Spice Munchkins Drink recipe without being concerned by the sugar content. According to the Dunkin’ website, a medium Ice Spice Munchkins Drink at Dunkin’ is 830 calories, which is reportedly equal to three and a half glazed doughnuts. A large, on the other hand, is 1,080 calories and equal to four and a half glazed doughnuts.
“As the child of a nutritionist I am positively terrified by this,” said one user, while another said: “This gonna send me into a sugar coma,”
To announce its newest drink collaboration, Dunkin’s official brand ambassador Ben Affleck teamed up with Ice Spice for a new commercial that aired during the 2023 MTV VMAs on Tuesday 12 September.
In the ad, the Boston native sat down in an office with the “Barbie World” rapper to brainstorm names for her new Dunkin’ drink. Ice Spice mentioned that she calls her fans "munchkins”, leading to the introduction of the Ice Spice Munchkins Drink.
“I’ve always been a Dunkin’ girl!” Ice Spice said in a press release. “Collaborating with Dunkin’ and Ben Affleck on this spot was a dream. The drink has a fun twist, a little something in the name for my fans, too. I can’t wait for everyone to try it.”
The Independent has contacted Dunkin’ for comment.
