My gym’s cardio room stares directly at a Wendy’s – dead central, right in your face, can’t miss it.
There’s no better cardiovascular inspiration than accepting that you’re almost certainly getting fast food the minute your workout is over. It’s embarrassing how many times I’ve tricked my brain into pretending a 6-piece nugget is just as good as a protein shake.
It’s all good, though, because staring at that building has propelled me to run* 12 miles** at a time in preparation. (*walk **1.5 miles.)
Anyway, a few days ago, while plodding along at breakneck speeds upwards of 4, and fighting the inevitable call of that redheaded siren, I noticed Wendy’s had an entirely new seasonal menu. There were new burgers, chicken sandwiches, fries, and the pièce de résistance – a Peppermint Frosty.
That’s… kinda like a protein shake. There’s milk, right? Naturally, I immediately fired up my app and had one ready and waiting.
While I found Wendy’s recent Strawberry Frosty to be “mid,” I gotta say, its Peppermint Frosty is a Yuletide miracle. Whereas “mid” meant “meh” in Strawberry’s case, I’ll use it here as the ultimate compliment. The Peppermint Frosty is a perfect middle ground between vanilla and mint-flavored ice creams.
I’m a mint ice cream lover, but I feel it can sometimes start to taste like you’re chewing gum after a couple of scoops. This had just enough peppermint flavor to balance off the vanilla base.
The texture was everything I wanted a Frosty to be – not quite shake, not quite ice cream, with enough tiny ice crystals for that distinctly gritty Frosty consistency.
The faint pink color is even a midway point between a Vanilla Frosty and the Pepto-esque Strawberry.
This Frosty is perfectly balanced, as all things should be. If Thanos had one, he would’ve never snapped. I genuinely think everyone will enjoy this. Some might say the peppermint flavor isn’t big enough, but ya know what I say? If you want a mint bomb, brush your teeth!
Actually, brush your teeth anyway. Proper hygiene is always encouraged, and this is so good even the 5th dentist agreed he enjoyed it.
I’m ready to put the Peppermint Frosty on my Wendy’s Mount Run-more. There’s no doubt I’ll have a few more of these after my rigorous sprints (slightly inclined walks), but I won’t even feel guilty about it.
This will almost certainly be a limited holiday release, which is a shame, but the recent new Frosty flavor drops are very encouraging. I hope Wendy takes a cue from the Oreo and Kit-Kats of the world and puts out a unique Frosty flavor every month moving forward. I know international Wendy’s have dabbled. Give us a Peanut Butter Frosty. Salted Caramel. Banana! Whatever! Just keep ’em coming.
Add a topping bar while you’re at it. I’m still waiting for Wendy’s HQ to hit me up about my brilliant “Wendy’s Blendies” idea. This Peppermint Frosty is an all-timer, but it may be even better with little crunchy candy cane bits.
Ok, time for me to get back to “the gym.”
Purchased Price: $1.89
Size: Small
Rating: 10 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 330 calories, 7 grams of fat, 0 gram of trans fat, 4.5 grams of saturated fat, 35 mg of cholesterol, 130 milligrams of sodium, 58 grams of total carbohydrates, 50 grams of sugars, 0 grams of fiber, 7 grams of protein.
A 10! Wow. Will have to give this one a try, though I do agree it will seem a little weird to have a mint dessert without some sort of chips.
Have you tried the Chic-Fil-A Peppermint Chip Milkshake? The website says (and as the name suggests) it has “chips of peppermint bark”, though a milkshake isn’t exactly a Frosty.
I absolutely hated the Peppermint Frosty. I went years without having had one and news of the peppermint flavor got me out the door. But where was the heritage frosty texture? Grit. None to be found. What I did get was a nebulous “frozen dessert” that never actually fully melts. When you drip it off the side of the spoon it had the drooping V of choix pastry. Slimy is how I’d describe it. I assumed the formula changed–it seemed full of gums. So, I checked the ingredients: a gum, another gum, and carrageenan. This new-to-me-texture is not the business!
Someone said it tastes like Pepto-Bismol. I can’t imagine wanting to try it after that description and yours.
Asked a Wendy’s employee what it tasted like and she said Listerine, needless to say I stayed away!
I actually went and tried it. It was pretty good actually. I can see why some people may think that it tastes certain ways. But to me, it tasted like peppermint ice cream such as if you eat peppermint chip without the chip.
I tried this, wasn’t too bad.. but then my mom said.. “Tastes like rolaids”.. it completely ruined it for me lmao
I still ate the whole thing, but when you try it you might see she’s talking about?
The peppermint frosty sucks. It was runny and had hardly any flavor. First taste and I was ready to toss it out the window. Very sugary..very disappointed.
1. Awesome review. Witty and playful and also provides an apt description of your experience with the product!
2. Lol at the comments that seem to have a completely different opinion about it. 🙂 I wasn’t interested before and now I really want to!
3. This completely screams wanting to do a half and half with the chocolate! And they really should do a peanut butter because that alone is amazing and then to go half and half with that would be a fun way to mix it up! And especially considering that Wendy’s is an Ohio based fast food chain? Come on guys! Seize that opportunity to represent the Buckeye state (not referring to the team just the famous candy and state tree.)
Problem is that peanut allergic population will have an issue. Although not a bad idea. How about chocolate & raspberry frosty? Mango frosty?
Well then they just don’t order it. 🙂
I wouldn’t mind a Banana or an Eggnog Frosty.
Wouldn’t order it again. Taster like toothpaste
Not sure why others thought it tasted like toothpaste, but I thought it was delicious. Exactly as described in the review.
I even got a Culvers salted caramel cement mixer with cookie dough right after for comparison. I like the peppermint frosty better.
I tried it after the negative reviews. It is pink and I can see why some would then think of it as Pepto-Bismol, but I thought it was pretty good. It is mint ice cream without the chocolate chip.
Tastes like those chalky stale mints people put on the counter. No mint flavor. I’m not saying it should punch me in the face but it should taste kinda close to a candycane. This was gross and the kids didn’t finish theirs and they love any ice cream so THAT should tell you something. ?