Autumn is arriving, and it isn’t typically the season you’d expect for ice cream. Yet Dairy Queen has just unveiled three new Coffee Coolers, and once we heard, we had to give them a try—seasonal considerations be damned.
The trio of flavors includes: Oreo Coffee Cooler, Salted Caramel Coffee Cooler, and Toasted Marshmallow Coffee Cooler. Each starts with Dairy Queen’s signature soft serve paired with their “misty slush” (their built-in slush-like texture), ice, and cold brew. Then you layer in elements like caramel ribbons, Oreo bits, and tiny soft marshmallows, finish it with whipped cream, and, if you’re me, hope you don’t spill it on the way home. In honor of National Coffee Day approaching (September 29), each flavor is available in a small size for just $3.
Oreo Coffee Cooler
Pros: Oreos tend to shine when the cookie brings a cake-like bite with a hint of creamy filling. Here, a notable upside is the surprisingly seamless pairing of Oreo’s distinctly cocoa-forward chocolate flavor (mixed into the drink) with the deeper roasty notes from the cold brew. Although the cookie is ground a touch too fine (a chunkier, pulsed cookie would be nice), you still catch occasional strands of Oreo cream as you sip or scoop through.
Cons: The sweetness level is high, though not as overwhelmingly sugary as Oreos with soft serve and whipped cream might suggest—and, again, softened by that unusual union of Oreo’s darker cocoa profile and the roasted cold brew, the Dairy Queen blend comes close to a more refined Oreo‑flavored blended drink. My suggestion: cut back on the syrup and soft serve, add a few chunkier Oreo pieces, and tilt the balance a bit more toward the cold brew.
Salted Caramel Coffee Cooler
Pros: Oddly enough, given the visually tempting caramel ribbons swirling inside, this option isn’t as sugar-forward as the Oreo version. It lands a touch less saccharine, with a delicate, tiny crunch from a few salty-sweet candy pieces sprinkled on top.
Cons: Okay, perhaps my sweetness expectations were a bit optimistic, because once you encounter a caramel ribbon, the sip can feel like a rush of sugar. And while the classic coffee-caramel pairing remains well balanced, the more I sip, the more I think Dairy Queen should tune down the sugar, push the cold brew a touch more, and loosen the candy pieces on top—those salty morsels do wake the roasted coffee notes when they aren’t smothered by too much caramel.
Toasted Marshmallow DQ Coffee Cooler
Pros: On the first sip, a small chewy marshmallow comes through, reminiscent of those softer, non-crisp marshmallows found in hot cocoa—only larger and not crunchy at all. Honestly, I wasn’t sure where the “toasted marshmallow” note would appear from the description, but so far it seems the marshmallow pieces, possibly with a hint of marshmallow syrup, are doing most of the work.
Cons: As much as I enjoyed the occasional chewy marshmallow and fudgy morsels in the drink, the toasted aspect is largely absent. A more pronounced toasted marshmallow flavor (perhaps from a stronger syrup) would have complemented the roasted notes nicely and could have elevated the underlying cold brew. With the sweetness and the lack of toastiness, the cold brew presence—meant to be a key, noticeable element—remains very faint.
