We Tried Iced Coffee From 9 Major Cafés And Restaurants — Here's The One We Hated And The Two We Loved

All iced coffees are NOT created equal.

Okay, so I know everyone typically has their coffee allegiances — specifically, ye olde Starbucks vs. Dunkin' debate — so I thought it would be fun to see if people would actually still prefer their faves...even without knowing which was which.

Starbucks / giphy.com

As you probably know, coffee is a HUUUGE culture and identity. Whether it's their go-to coffee order or how they take their coffee, people tend to be pretty set in their preferences!

Well, I'm Syd, and because of all this, I wanted to take this idea a step further and taste-test all the iced coffees from popular chain cafés/restaurants!

Syd Robinson

(Or, more specifically, make my coworkers taste-test them. I knew I'd actually have a caffeine-induced ✨panique attaque✨ and/or a hot date with the office toilet if I tried all of them.)

With that, I rounded up these nine popular chain iced coffees for the participants to try:

Ezgi Guler / BuzzFeed

From left to right, we have Starbucks, Dunkin', McDonald's, Peet's, La Colombe, Blue Bottle, Wendy's, Taco Bell, and Krispy Kreme.

To make sure no one knew which coffee was which, I took each coffee and poured it into an unlabeled cup, numbering the cups 1 through 9.

Ezgi Guler / BuzzFeed

Like so:

Ezgi Guler / BuzzFeed

This is all my coworkers had to go off of.

While we ordered all the coffee black, I did let the participants prepare their coffee however they liked if they wanted to, and supplied the following milk/milk alternatives and sweeteners:

Ezgi Guler / BuzzFeed

We've got oat milk, almond milk, cow's milk, stevia, and raw sugar.

Now here are my coworkers who opted to try the iced coffees, along with their personal coffee preferences in their day-to-day lives. This is Hannah!

Hannah Marder

Favorite coffee chain: I like to get Dunkin' because their iced caramel swirl flavor is very sweet and very good (also, I grew up in Boston, so it's a loyalty thing), but I never get their plain coffee. I also like Starbucks' iced sweet cream coffee or just a plain latte of any sort from them.

How she likes her coffee: I usually just mix in oat milk at home, but if I'm buying it out, I'll usually just get a little cream and sugar.

Then this is Jon-Michael, and these are his coffee preferences:

Jon-Michael Poff

Favorite coffee chain: I usually go to Blank Street, which is a New York–specific chain, although I pop into La Colombe pretty much every time I pass it because I love it so much.

How he likes his coffee: I've gravitated away from oat milk iced lattes toward iced coffee lately, since it packs more of a coffee punch and isn't as filling as a latte. And depending on the day, I add a splash of either half-and-half or oat milk.

This is Tessa:

Tessa Fahey

Favorite coffee chain: Starbucks, but I do actually buy Peet's coffee grounds to make at home a lot.

How she likes her coffee: I usually get iced lattes or iced macchiatos!

And lastly, we have Jen!

Jen Adams

Favorite coffee chain: I like La Colombe, but I often go to Starbucks, since it is so convenient.

How she likes her coffee: When I order coffee out, I will usually get an iced oat milk or soy latte. I like my coffee to be like a tan color and not too milky!

So without further ado, here are all the iced coffees they rated, how much the little suckers cost, and what they thought.

Syra Coffee / giphy.com

Iced coffee #1: Starbucks ($4.25 for a large, aka venti).

Ezgi Guler / BuzzFeed, Hannah Marder

JON-MICHAEL: Coffee #1 evolved in terms of taste: While smooth at first, it had a rather bitter aftertaste — the kind of dull bitterness that lingers on the edge of your tongue. The flavor profile is SO distinct that I feel confident saying it’s from Starbucks. I’ve heard other people complain about the “burnt” flavor of Starbucks coffee before, and — though I could be wrong here — that’s exactly how I’d describe this coffee.

TESSA: Full-bodied, more nutty than fruity, more bitter than sweet, but not like a sour bitter; a smooth bitterness.

JEN: A little bitter and nutty, tastes a little burnt, but kinda gets better as you drink it.

HANNAH: Not too bitter (like, not a sharp bitterness, but a long-lasting bitterness), but felt a tiny bit watery. It felt dark and was very slightly nutty and almost chocolaty. The taste did linger on your tongue.

Iced coffee #2: Dunkin' ($4.98 for a large).

Ezgi Guler / BuzzFeed, Tessa Fahey

JON-MICHAEL: Though it smelled sweet, it tasted very watery, and thinking about the color of the coffee, it was also much lighter in color than #1. In fact, I tasted more oat milk than coffee, which, for a coffee lover, is less than ideal.

TESSA: Really transparent, REALLY watery, and genuinely did not even need milk when I drank it black because it was so watered down. With milk, it really tastes like nothing...it's just watery milk.

JEN: It tastes really watered down. I can't really even taste the coffee!

HANNAH: I did NOT like this one. It tasted like straight garbage. Like motor oil. Somehow bitter AND watery. This is coffee you would get at a gas station or, like, coffee you would get for free while waiting at an auto shop for your car to be fixed. It felt thinner/lighter than the last; the oat milk mixed in a lot easier and made the coffee take on the taste of the stevia and oat milk rather than the flavors blending. Gross.

Iced coffee #3: McDonald's ($3.49 for a large).

Ezgi Guler / BuzzFeed, Jon-Michael Poff

JON-MICHAEL: Robust in smell, this coffee tasted pretty much exactly the way you’d expect iced coffee to taste: slightly bitter but not cloying, but without a lingering bitter aftertaste like #1 had.

TESSA: Really bitter in a sharp, unpleasant way when it's black. Feels like it's gonna give me heartburn. The milk overwhelms it and mellows it a LOT, but it's still kind of burnt and sour.

JEN: Nutty, but not bitter. Too bland and could be a little more acidic, in my opinion.

HANNAH: Slightly better than #2. A little watery (do I just think everything is watery? lol). Slightly burnt, and a little more full-bodied than the last one. Once I put oat milk and stevia in, it tasted sweet and inoffensive. Definitely drinkable, but a little bland. Maybe a tiny bit flowery? Not nutty or fruity.

Iced coffee #4: Peet's Coffee ($4.65 for a large).

Ezgi Guler / BuzzFeed, Jen Adams

JON-MICHAEL: Sweet in smell, #4 had a VERY distinct flavor — sort of as if it had been aged in oak barrels??? I’m not a fan of that flavor, though — in wine or in coffee — so while distinct, it was not my personal favorite.

TESSA: A very basic, fine cup of black coffee. A little sour, but not overwhelmingly so. Oops, does NOT go great with the milk, honestly. It's almost even more sour.

JEN: A little acidic and nutty; the flavor is definitely there. Tastes kinda sour but like cold brew, but this one tastes like a coffee shop coffee.

HANNAH: Felt very similar to #3 upon first tasting. Bland, a little bitter, but with a bad aftertaste. Really took on the creamy taste of the oat milk after I added it. Still has a slightly bitter aftertaste, but not as unpleasant as it was when black — a smoother bitterness. Slightly chocolaty.

Iced coffee #5: La Colombe ($4.25 for one size).

Ezgi Guler / BuzzFeed, Hannah Marder

JON-MICHAEL: Wow, right off the bat, its floral smell sucked me right in. It had such a well-rounded mouthfeel: smooth from beginning to end, and not very bitter at all. This is my favorite so far — by a long shot.

TESSA: Similar to #4 when black. A little bitter, not offensive. REALLY loses its flavor with the milk! Tastes like milk with a bit of coffee flavor, but it's smooth!

JEN: Tastes nutty but not sour. Flavorful, but has sort of a sweet aftertaste...?

HANNAH: SOMEHOW WORSE THAN #2, maybe because it was lukewarm. Still really watery, but very bitter and very acidic in a motor oil sort of way. I literally gagged after tasting this.

Iced coffee #6: Blue Bottle ($6 for a large).

Ezgi Guler / BuzzFeed, Jon-Michael Poff

JON-MICHAEL: Perhaps the most distinct smell of them all, so far — almost cologne-like! It was way too acidic, from the second it touched my tongue until I took a sip of something else to rid my mouth of the bitterness.

TESSA: Yuck; tastes like cheap gas station coffee when it's black. Bitter and sour. Really fine and boring with milk, though. Not too bitter and pretty smooth. Still leaves kind of a cheap, sour aftertaste, though. Battery acid, tbh.

JEN: Super acidic and doesn't leave a great taste in your mouth.

HANNAH: Oh my god, this one was even worse AGAIN. It tastes like it was steeped in a dirty garbage bin. This one isn't just bitter and watery; it has a BAD taste to it. Like rotten. The scale doesn't have a zero, but this is a zero from me. The milk mixed in TOO easily and it didn't help the taste at all, just made it creamier. It smelled bad too. I gagged after smelling it. No, thank you.

Iced coffee #7: Wendy's ($2.89 for a small).

Ezgi Guler / BuzzFeed, Tessa Fahey

JON-MICHAEL: There was absolutely no flavor for the first, like, second after I took a sip, and there was no smell, either. The flavor that crept in was not distinctly that of iced coffee either.

TESSA: Really bland for a black coffee??? Tastes like a sad approximation of coffee. GRAY????? Why is it so gray?! It's like bland and watery and gray. Gross!!!

JEN: Super underwhelming and tastes like burnt water. Not flavorful and unenjoyable!

HANNAH: This is going to sound weird, but there was something almost meaty about this one. Not like actual meat, but like...meaty fruits like rhubarb? Is rhubarb a fruit? Or like a red wine? Or dark chocolate? Like, that's the kind of bitterness. Once I added oat milk, it felt pretty boring and inoffensive. VERY similar to #4, but slightly sweeter, like burnt sugar. The sweetness stays with you longer than the bitterness. It felt full and dark.

Iced coffee #8: Taco Bell (99 cents for a small).

Ezgi Guler / BuzzFeed, Hannah Marder

JON-MICHAEL: No offense, but this tastes like coffee GROUNDS, not iced coffee itself: so bitter, and frankly hard to drink.

TESSA: Another cheap and bitter-tasting black coffee. Even worse with milk!!! Battery acid, even more so than #6.

JEN: Tastes burnt, as if someone held it directly over a fire.

HANNAH: Very bitter and very watery upon first tasting, but it didn't last very long. Also felt pretty bland and inoffensive once I mixed oat milk in, but I liked that the taste of the oat milk kind of blended with the taste of the coffee rather than masking it or just feeling completely separate. Something almost fruity about it. Fresh, like summer.

Iced coffee #9: Krispy Kreme ($2.59 for a small).

Ezgi Guler / BuzzFeed, Tessa Fahey

JON-MICHAEL: A touch similar to the flavor profile of #4, in that there was an “aged” quality to it; it had a strong coffee flavor without being overly bitter. I would definitely look forward to waking up to this in the morning.

TESSA: Not a great flavor with the black, but it's not really bitter. The milk flavor mostly mellows it out, but it's also overwhelming all the coffee flavor.

JEN: Not as bad as some of the other ones, but a little underwhelming.

HANNAH: Reminded me of #7 on first taste, almost meaty, but had a more bitter aftertaste. The meatiness lingered more than #7 too, and while the oat milk blended in, it felt as if the sugar just sort of sat separate from the taste of the coffee. A little burnt.

So, what's the overall verdict? Which iced coffee is the best, and which is so gross that they almost couldn't fathom it?!?!?!!

ALLBLK / Via giphy.com

Obvi, I sent the group a Google form so we could get some actual ✨data✨ on the subject.

As for LEAST favorite, here are the stats:

Google Forms

So the worst by FAR was Taco Bell. We hate to see it!!!

Ezgi Guler / BuzzFeed

And as for the overall FAVORITE...??? People, we have a TIE!!!!!!

Google Forms

OUR WINNERS ARE STARBUCKS AND LA COLOMBE!!!!!!!!

Ezgi Guler / BuzzFeed

Still, when we add up all of the participants' numerical rankings, THIS is what it came down to...drum roll, PLS!!!!!!!!!!

BuzzFeed

Wow, how about it! Sure, everyone's iced coffee opinions were pretty different, but I'm so glad we were able to reach a verdict that Starbucks and La Colombe slap and Taco Bell's coffee is BOGUS!!!

NBC / Via giphy.com

Do you feel morally obligated to defend your coffee chain allegiance? And is Starbucks or Dunkin' better? Please, by all means, sounds off in the comments below!!!

NRDC / Via giphy.com