These three items on the Dunkin Donuts menu have the same price and same cups, so for convenience's sake, I'll lump them together into one ridiculously long review.
Living in Seattle for part of the year and New York for the rest, my own experience (and a quick search on Google Maps) tells me that Dunkin Donuts is pretty much an East Coast thing, which is pretty strange considering how many there are on the East Coast. At least on Manhattan, you can't walk more than a couple blocks without passing by one - they could easily extend this sort of influence further across the country, yet here in Seattle I'd have to drive for hours to find one. Anyway, the review.
The first time I tried Dunkin Donuts hot chocolate, I did not have high expectations. It was a little over a dollar for the small size, and coming from the land of Starbucks where $2 got you a cup of hot water with a tea bag, that didn't bode well. But I was pleasantly surprised when, half an hour later, my hot chocolate was cool enough to drink. It tasted like chocolate cake to me, very rich and sweet.
Later, I tried it again, expecting the very rich, chocolatey taste I remembered - and it tasted kind of weak. So maybe it's a matter of expectations. Go in there expecting nothing, and it's delicious. Go in there expecting the best drink you've ever had, and it's disappointing. Go in there multiple times a week because it's across the street and the closest place to get breakfast before class, and eventually your expectations align. And it still tastes good.
There's also white hot chocolate. I love white chocolate, and white chocolate drinks, so this was pretty exciting to me - however, I'm not as much of a fan as I thought I'd be. It tastes bland and flavorless compared to the regular hot chocolate.
Third, the Dunkaccino - some sort of combination of their hot chocolate and coffee flavors. It's got a sort of thick, rich taste that feels like it coats your mouth (anyone who's has a Caramel Macchiato at Starbucks, I believe they have a similar feeling), and it's sweet in a rich kind of way. It really has more richness than either of the hot chocolates, and tastes very much like caramel. Growing up on Starbucks mochas with crazy numbers of shots and flavors, I appreciate all that flavor for so little money.
Now let me discuss the cups, since I'm full of opinions on those. The small ones have a wide, tear-away tab that you can, theoretically, fold back to open, or put back into place to close.
Pictured is a rare functional lid on a cup of the white hot chocolate. I'd say the likelyhood of getting a lid that will actually stay in place when folded back is a bit less than 50%. Getting a lid that will close again is much, much less likely. I've had maybe two lids that successfully closed again, ever. Of course, it's a bit of a luxury for a disposable lid to re-close in the first place, but knowing that it could close back up but just won't is a little painful. Not to mention it gets cold faster, but it also starts out too hot to drink so maybe that's not such a bad thing. Oh, on that note - the small cups are made of cardboard, and don't come with sleeves, so I usually have to ask for a double-cup to keep from burning my hands.
The medium-size (and I assume large, I've never gotten one) lids are completely different:
This time, there's a separate piece. Attached in the middle, it's a flap that you can fold forward to plug up the hole, or fold backwards to keep it out of the way. These lids rarely fail, and the medium-and-larger cups are made of styrofoam instead of cardboard, so the cup isn't too hot to hold. For those two reasons, I usually pay the extra bit of money and get the medium size.
Oh, and on the subject of presentation... there's not much to say. I've never been offered whipped cream or anything of the sort, so I'll assume that there isn't any. I won't discount the possibility that there's a can back there reserved for those who ask, but after months of frequent visits to several different franchises and never a single mention, I can at least guarantee you won't get anything if you don't ask.
Ratings
Dunkin Donuts Hot Chocolate
Taste: 3.5
Value: 5
Presentation: 2
Convenience: 4.5
Dunkin Donuts White Hot Chocolate
Taste: 2.5
Value: 5
Presentation: 2
Convenience: 4.5
Dunkin Donuts Dunkaccino
Taste: 4
Value: 5
Presentation: 2
Convenience: 4.5
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