Taste Test: Which Is the Best Dunkin' "Artisan" Doughnut Flavor?

(SPOT.ph) We've got to give it to Dunkin' for tirelessly whipping up one creative doughnut flavor one after the other. Most were hits, some were misses, and the rest? They were all stuck in limbo—such was the case when we tried the Boston Coffee Kreme for a previous Taste Test. Still, we're all for giving chances where they ought to given—so for the second time around, we're putting not just one, but six Dunkin' doughnuts under the microscope. This time around, we're examining their Artisan Donuts line to see which flavor tastes the best and gives you the best bang for your buck.

Also read:
LOOK: Dunkin' Opens Biggest Store in Metro Manila
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A review of Dunkin's Artisan Donuts:

Dunkin' recently held the grand opening of Dunkin' United, a.k.a. their biggest Metro Manila branch, right at the corner of Sheridan and United in Mandaluyong City around mid-August. The new branch boasts all that you could ask for from a new Dunkin' store—and then some.

Dunkin' United is a two-story branch with more seating (both airconditioned and al fresco) capacity, Pasalubong Express, a drive-thru, car and bike parking area, a conference room, Dunkin' merchandise, and all your favorite Dunkin' drinks and doughnuts. Heck, it even has a glass waterfall installation spanning the height of the building!

Among the many special features of this branch are its main highlight: branch-exclusive doughnuts called the Artisan Donuts—ones that we're told will eventually be rolled out in other Dunkin' stores but in the meantime, are only available at the said branch. There are six included in this line, namely the Chocolate Chip Maritozzi (P80), Mangobav Pistachio (P80), Munchbunch (P80), PB Trailmix (P80), Calamansi Cream (P120), and Mochaccino Bean (P120).

Dunkin's premium doughnuts are a surprising offering considering the brand  typically targets the general Filipino population. The Artisan Donuts isn't at par with their doughnut flavors like Choco Butternut or Cheese Trickles because this line has had nods to Italian desserts, and some have fancier flavors like the Mangobav Pistachio. What is it, a mango, bavarian, pistachio doughnut? (Spoiler: Yes, it is)

But then if you think about their recently launched coffees, the prices are increasing too. Is it just market development? The never-ending inflation? Both? Well, for whatever business reason now that Dunkin' now has a premium line of doughnuts, it all boils down to this: Are they any good for its price?

What do Dunkin's Artisan Donuts taste like?

Chocolate Chip Maritozzi: With all the aesthetic food and drinks that have gone viral for the past years, we should know by now that the visual aspect is never an indicator if the food is good or not. In the case of Chocolate Chip Maritozzi, it was aesthetically pleasing—the most out of the entire line—and surprisingly, the flavor also delivers.

The beauty of this doughnut is thanks to how simple it is: inspired by the Roman pastry of the same name, it's comprised of a horizontally sliced doughnut with a two-inch high layer of sweetened whipped cream in between. From there it's covered in chocolate chips and dusted with confectioners' sugar. Our piece was light and sweet—very demure, and very mindful. A 9/10.

Mangobav Pistachio: If the Chocolate Chip Maritozzi is the one that drew us in visually, it was the Mangobav Pistachio that drew us in with its name. Mango, bavarian, and pistachio? How can you go wrong with that?

Thankfully, Dunkin' didn't mess this combination up because this deserves a 9/10 rating too. This Long John doughnut is piped with the classic bavarian filling, then topped with whipped cream, a drizzle of mango sauce, and whole pistachios.  What's interesting about this is that the mango drizzle is not your typical artificial mango—it tastes a bit like dried mangoes if it were turned into syrup. 

The only reason this doesn't get a perfect score from us is that we think the pistachios could have been crushed and then sprinkled over (thus giving you more chances of getting nuts in each bite) instead of having three whole pieces sitting atop the whipped cream.

Munchbunch: The Munchbunch are Munchkin doughnuts stacked on top of each other, similar to croquembouche, held together by the melted chocolate that coats each piece. There are four Munchkins—two each of chocolate and two plain which has this nutmeg-cinnamon taste incorporated in the batter. The coatings of each Munchkin are a mix of milk chocolate, white chocolate, and sprinkled with crushed nuts. 

Sadly, the Munchbunch was the most uninteresting of the... bunch. It wasn't bad per se, but this falls on the bottom of the list with a 6/10 rating.

PB Trailmix: The PB Trailmix tugs at our hearts because of the nostalgia it triggers. It reminds us of breakfasts of oily peanut butter slathered on toasted pandesal. And because of this emotional impact brought about by the peanut butter, this is an easy 10/10.

Yes, a perfect score, even if it has raisins on top. Aside from the fact that trail mixes often have raisins anyway, you can barely taste it because of the chocolate toppings and the sweet-salty peanut butter. If anything, we wish Dunkin' would sell the same peanut butter in a bottle, ASAP. We need this in our pantry, please.

Calamansi Cream: As unassuming as it looks, the Calamansi Cream was a clear winner, and thus, deserves another 10/10. But if we can break our own rules, it deserves a 1,000,000/10. It was that good.

This doughnut is injected with a calamansi curd, with what looks like bits of calamansi skin mixed in, and topped with sweet whipped cream, and topped with candied slices of lemon. Every aspect worked together seamlessly: The calamansi curd was zingy, the whipped cream balanced and mellowed it out, and the candied lemon added sweetness to each bite.

Mochaccino Bean: This doughnut has a cakey chocolate doughnut ring crowned with mocha icing and studded with chocolate-covered crushed espresso beans—plus it's got a plastic dropper with an espresso shot sticking out on the top of the doughnut. The espresso is meant to be "dropped" or injected into the doughnut, which gives it a stronger flavor.

The Mocchacino Cream stood out the most, flavor-wise, from Dunkin's Artisan Donuts line because it had the "darkest" profile of them all. And just because it's different, this doesn't necessarily mean it's bad. This is a good doughnut if you like coffee dessert, which we do, so this deserves a 9.5/10.

The Final Verdict: Which Dunkin' Artisan Donut is the best?

Frankly speaking, we weren't expecting much out of Dunkin's line of Artisan Donuts, but we were genuinely stunned that all of the six doughnuts were good—albeit some were not that impressive, but again, they weren't that bad that it doesn't merit a repurchase.

And if we were to recommend one doughnut, the best of the best, you already know what we're going to say: Go buy the Calamansi Cream. Now. 

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