I went to dunkin’ the other day and asked for an iced latte with less ice because it’s winter and I wanted less ice. They gave me a cup that was halfway full of coffee. So I asked why and they told me they press a button on a machine, it fills it halfway full with coffee and then they add ice. So when you get a medium iced latte, you’re not actually getting a medium latte, you’re getting a small or a kids size nowadays of coffee, and then they just fill the rest of it with ice. If you ask for less ice, no screw you, you’re not getting the full amount of coffee that you paid for…
I have never heard of this in any other country. What the hell?
So you mean they have an entirely different “base” coffee when making a normal latte vs an ice latte? A latte should just be espresso and milk, and an iced latte is just that + ice…?
Depends.
In metal general, if you’re making the coffee + milk, then adding ice, you have to make the coffee part “strong” in one way or another, because that ice is going to melt. It’ll melt fast, too, at the beginning, so not adjusting your process is going to lead to weak, watery iced lattes.
If you then reduce the ice, the problem goes in reverse where the concentration of coffee compounds is higher, so it doesn’t taste like it’s expected to taste.
Now, some places chill batches of the espresso, mix it with the milk chilled, and the ice is just there to extend the time it’s cold, with an expectation of less melt.
Afaik, dunkin doesn’t have a chilled container of the latte shipped in, or made in bulk. They could have changed from the last time I talked to anyone that worked there, but at the time it was in smaller batches and stored at the temp it came out in. So if they changed the amount of ice, it would change the finished drink.
If you make your own iced latte, you’ll likely just make it regular, then pour it over ice. It’ll be thinner, and it’s up to you how you like that or not. Stores tend to go for consistency between products as a priority, so they don’t have as much freedom.
I’ve never worked at a coffee shop, but I know our taste sensitivities are different at different temperatures. I’d be surprised if they were exactly identical products to account both for that, and the fact that your product is about to be diluted when it gets combined with ice (depending on the temperature before that happens). The ingredients may be more or less the same, but the proportions and concentrations may not be.