The wind bites, snow continues falling, and your breath hangs in the air like smoke — but in New England, the iced coffee never stops flowing.
No matter how low the temperature drops, the familiar clink of ice cubes and the smooth swirl of cream in a clear cup remain a staple, an unshakable tradition in a region that embraces the cold.
“Maybe [New Englanders are] a little cold hearted every now and then. And maybe we just need a little fuel for the cold heart … cold hearted, but pure,” said Dalton DeLima, who goes by “The Proper Masshole,” to his nearly 100,000 followers on TikTok.
DeLima remembers the first time he tried iced coffee. He was in high school and had previously only ordered hot black regulars — hot coffee with cream and sugar.
But this time, he ordered a plain iced black coffee from Dunkin’.
“I hated it,” he recalled. “I hated it because I didn’t order it right … and it was just so strong.”
Over time, he perfected his iced coffee order: a medium iced caramel latte from Dunkin’.
“It’s gotta have the swirl and it’s gotta have whole milk every time,” “The Proper Masshole” said. “That’s the way I go with it.”
The new Ben Affleck-approved DunKings menu from Dunkin’(Nick O’Malley, MassLive)
Some New Englanders order a hot coffee when the cold starts creeping in. However, since November, Dunkin’ said more than half the beverages ordered by its New England-based Rewards members have been iced.
“This winter alone, guests in New England have redeemed more than 315,000 free iced coffees and cold brews in the Dunkin’ Rewards app, a true testament to their love of iced coffee‚” Dunkin’ told MassLive.
Within New England, Massachusetts “takes the crown as the state with the most Rewards members who are iced coffee fanatics, proving Massachusetts’s iced coffee obsession is alive and thriving even in the coldest months.”
It’s a bit of a chicken or egg situation, though. It’s not clear which came first — the love for iced coffee or the influence of Dunkin’.
“Everybody loves Dunkin’ up here. And Dunkin’ iced coffee is such a staple. It’s such an iconic thing,” DeLima said. “You see the plastic cup with the name on — I mean, they’ve perfected the hell out of it. And I think that at least has a little bit of an influence on it.”
Coffee chain Shelburne Falls Coffee Roasters continues to see the icy love, too. There is a dip in the winter months for cold coffee orders — but cold coffee is still a favorite.
“Our most popular drink, no matter the time of year, is our Signature Flavored Coldbrews, with our homemade sweet cream,” said owner Annabelle Ellers. “Even in winter, our customers can’t get enough of it.”
The drink consists of espresso, pumpkin sauce and milk topped with fall spices. (Courtesy/Shelburne Falls Coffee Roaster)
But it’s not just one thing that makes iced coffee a staple for New Englanders.
For some MassLive readers, it’s the convenience of not having to wait for it to cool down. For others it’s the taste. And for some, it’s indescribable.
“I don’t know if I can describe specific reasons why I like ice coffee, just that in this hellscape it is one of the small joys I can consistently rely on,” Christina Ciaramella, of Brockton, told MassLive.
Both DeLima and another content creator, Elijah Boivin, agree: the cold cancels out the cold when drinking iced coffee in the winter.
“It’s a joke, but like, it’s serious,” Boivin said. “I just feel like every time I drink it, I feel a little bit warmer and it’s not so cold outside.”
You’ll likely find him with a house blend cold brew from Shelburne Falls or a medium iced regular from Dunkin’, which is three cream, three sugar.
For Boivin’s more than 200,000 followers, it’s not uncommon for them to relate to one of his videos on iced coffee in New England.
A recent video telling people to put their iced coffee in the snow while they shovel got thousands of views. Another video is a skit about always going to Dunkin’ as the first stop of the day, which got more than half a million views and more than 100,000 likes. And many video skits include a pilgrim ghost that haunts his apartment, including joining him to get his iced coffee for the day at the drive-through.
They’d be astonished by iced coffee, he said.
“That’s witchcraft, for sure,” Boivin said. “Juice that makes you go fast and brews out of nothing. Of course, that’s witchcraft.”
One of his recent videos with thousands of likes is an ode to iced coffee year round. The cold and snowstorms haven’t changed his orders.
“You can’t be cold when you’re already dead inside,” he said.
The National Coffee Association (NCA) told MassLive cold coffee’s year round popularity is increasing across the U.S.
“When NCA added cold brew to the [National Coffee Data Trends report] around a decade ago, it was virtually unheard of,” the organization said. “Now cold brew is the most popular non-espresso-based beverage with 21% of Americans drinking cold brew in the past week – the highest observed thus far.”
In 2020, 65% of American adults had a positive perception of cold brew. In 2024, it increased to 75%.
It’s a trend typically followed by those under the age of 40.
But for New Englanders, it’s people of all ages.
“My take is that as a New Englander, I feel like we are so hard working, we’re so busy and we get so much done that I feel like we don’t have time to hold on to a hot coffee,” said Rachel Simoncini, owner of the Spotted Cow Cafe in Barre. “Iced coffee is where it’s at because you can grab it and go. You can literally run with it.”
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Her cafe is known for its iced coffee flights with unique flavors, including a Banana Split iced coffee and Strawberries and Cream cold brew. Overall, her cafe has about 50 flavors.
But, she said, there’s a time and a place for hot coffee: coffee dates.
Coffee dates can be with a significant other, friend or parent. It’s just a time to slow down and catch up with each other.
“I just think it’s so important to sit down and have a soul-warming hot coffee or a latte,” Simoncini said.
But then, maybe grab an iced coffee to go.
