The other day, we had the grandkids over and they (as usual) requested McDonald’s. I went to pick up our meal and thought to myself, I think I’d like a chocolate shake. I haven’t had a McDonald’s shake in over 15 years. WOW was I disappointed. They’re not the shakes I remember. This hunk of junk was just their vanilla soft-serve with chocolate syrup mixed into it. And they did a crappy job of mixing it besides. I could see a glob of chocolate syrup on the bottom of the cup and lots of vanilla ice cream that hadn’t even been blended with the syrup. I seem to remember they had a separate soft serve spigot for chocolate.
When did this change?
I guess from now on if I’m craving a chocolate shake (although I like malts better) I’ll either get one at the ice cream parlor or a Kwik Trip’s Freal chocolate malt.
It is a separate nozzle. It gets mixed in the machine and then dispensed. If the machine isn’t calibrated properly it won’t get mixed enough.
Fun fact: About 10 years ago, McDonalds switched to the clear cups for shakes. They didn’t change anything else about how the shakes were actually made. But now that people could actually see how poorly blended they were, they were SURE that McDonald’s had changed them and that they tasted different.
I loved the old Shamrock Shakes, and had one after the formulation change. BLEECCCHHHH!!! Oh, it tasted OK, but the texture wasn’t the same. The old ones were slightly gritty, from ice, and these just were not the same at all.
Sounds like an improvement over the McDonald’s shakes I remember from the old days, as at least their soft serve somewhat resembles ice cream. The old shakes were just thin runny liquid. of course, yeah, always go to an ice cream parlor or a place that actually uses ice cream in shakes. I can’t really think of any fast food type places other than Steak n Shake. Arby’s concretes used to be good, but that’s about it.
“Welcome to McDonald’s. How can I make you smile today?”
“I’d like some ice cream.”
“Certainly; what flavor?”
“…I don’t know. I didn’t expect to get this far.”
Soft serve isn’t ice cream; it’s scarcely even food. And it most certainly does not belong in a milk shake.
I get mine from Tastee-Freez, Baskin-Robbins, or Carvel. And I specify to make it from real (hard) ice cream if they have a soft “ice cream” dispenser.
I treat myself with a Strawberry shake a couple times a month. Diary Queen is the only place I will buy them. They’re made with real strawberries. You can see small pieces in the drink. Other places use powdered flavorings. That’s always disappointing.
I used to buy frosted Cokes at Sonic. It’s a Coke float that’s been blended like a shake. I enjoyed them from childhood and even my kids liked them. That’s at least thirty years of cold goodness until the Corporate idiots at Sonic took them off the menu.
I haven’t bought a McDonald’s shake in at least fifteen years.
I think they used to offer Strawberry? I’ll drink a chocolate shake but it’s not something I’d order. That’s a lot of calories for a drink flavor that I’m not craving.
I’m mildly lactose intolerant as almost all Asians are and for a while maybe 10-15 years ago I’d get mild hives from the shakes, cones and sundaes so I suspect something changed. It’s been a couple years since I’ve had any kind of “ice cream” from Micky D’s cause I really have to be in the mood to risk the hives and upset stomach.
It could also just be a dirty machine because I sometimes would get hives from Dairy Queen which I had long before there are any McDonalds in Hawaii.
Strawberry, chocolate and vanilla as I recall. How is vanilla a shake? Isn’t it just…ice cream? J/K I know they add vanilla flavoring to give it a boost! Never tried any of the seasonal flavors and hate any shake with pieces of anything in it. Gotta be smooth!
I have heard that soft-serve ice cream gets its consistency in part from the same substance that makes Depends and the like absorbent. Does anyone know if this is true?
Carl’s Jr. (Hardee’s in some parts of the U.S.) uses real hand-scooped ice cream in their shakes. Chocolate, Vanilla, Strawberry, and Oreo. Sometimes their marketing people get experimental. Their Jolly Rancher shake a few years ago was a huge mistake.
J/K I know they add vanilla flavoring to give it a boost! Never tried any of the seasonal flavors and hate any shake with pieces of anything in it. Gotta be smooth!