Tag: Blizzard

What is the Dairy Queen Raspberry Fudge Bliss Blizzard?

One of the new additions to Dairy Queen’s 2020 Summer Blizzard Menu, this one features real raspberries, soft fudge pieces, and choco chunks mixed by the magical Blizzard machine with vanilla soft serve.

How is it?

I give this one an “A,” as in adequate, acceptable, average…that’s all I could find for synonyms starting with the first letter of the alphabet. My issue here is that I did not get much of a raspberry taste, and therefore, not much bliss.

The promotional photos from DQ feature good-sized chunks of raspberries perched atop a mountain of soft serve covered with two types of chocolate. My Blizzard, however, had what would best be described as flecks or specks of raspberries. My hopes that the fruit chunks had simply sunk down a bit during the melting that occurred from the drive-thru window to my house were dashed after a furious digging expedition yielded nothing.

The raspberry taste was quite mild and no match for the double dose of chocolate, which was amply mixed throughout and on top of the Blizzard. The soft fudge and choco chunks worked nicely together with the different textures, and the flavors merged well with the vanilla soft serve. But if you are expecting a distinctive raspberry flavor, you might be let down.

Is there anything else you need to know?

Because it has real raspberries, this Blizzard is really good for you! OK, no it isn’t. Not even close. But it is less unhealthy for you and has fewer calories, fat, and sugar than most other varieties. Plus, a medium has 20 percent of the recommended daily value of Vitamin C, so all you need to do is throw down five of these and you’ll be all set for the day. Disclaimer: you’ll also have to run a marathon plus some extra miles to work off the 4,000 calories.

Conclusion:

“You’re not bad, but I am disappointed in you” is what I tell my kids when they do something stupid, and it’s also what I told this Blizzard as I consumed it. Look, it’s hard to make a bad Blizzard using any combination of candy, chocolate, and fruit, although eggplant and olives are technically both fruits, so it wouldn’t be an impossible task. So this is still a good Blizzard, but it’s also pretty forgettable.

Purchased Price: $3.99
Size: Medium
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (Medium) 800 calories, 32 grams of fat, 19 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 55 milligrams of cholesterol, 310 milligrams of sodium, 117 grams of carbohydrates, 6 grams of dietary fiber, 89 grams of sugar, and 16 grams of protein.

What is the Peppermint Hot Cocoa Blizzard?

The Dairy Queen Blizzard of the Month for December features candy cane pieces, choco chunks, and cocoa fudge, blended of course with DQ’s signature vanilla soft serve.

How is it?

This one definitely makes Santa’s nice list, and I was genuinely surprised how much I enjoyed it. On their own, the candy cane and hot cocoa flavors are pretty good, but together they teamed up to get my taste buds ready to celebrate the holidays all month long.

The cocoa fudge flavor certainly doesn’t scream hot cocoa (which by the way is always fun to scream for no reason at all), but it does provide a more complex chocolatey taste compared to the regular fudge and the hints of cocoa blend perfectly with the choco chunks and candy cane pieces.

Peppermint can be an overpowering flavor, but with this Blizzard there was enough to deliver that crunchy candy cane sweetness and distinctive taste while also letting the chocolate flavors join the party. I also liked the two different sensations with the hard candy crunch mixed with the softer crunch of the choco chunks.

Is there anything else you need to know?

This Blizzard is a cousin to the Candy Cane Chill and Candy Cane Oreo Blizzards that have appeared and disappeared like the Elf on the Shelf over the past few years, but I like this the best of the three. It’s unique enough to stand out among the Blizzard family in which some are too closely related.

The whipped topping speckled with candy cane pieces is a nice added touch here, especially if you are looking for the big burst of peppermint flavor that is missing from the rest of the treat.

Unlike some recent Blizzard flavors that were labeled as seasonal and seemed to be hanging around for a while, this one will be gone by New Year’s Day, so dash into your local DQ soon if you want to try one.

Conclusion:

With DQ introducing so many new Blizzards each year, along with several “let’s pretend it’s a new Blizzard even though we’ve had it in the past and just hope you forgot about it,” this one truly does rise above most others and is a great holiday treat.

Purchased Price: $3.99
Size: Small
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (Small) 750 calories, 26 grams of fat, 16 grams of saturated fat, 1 grams of trans fat, 50 milligrams of cholesterol, 230 milligrams of sodium, 120 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of dietary fiber, 100 grams of sugar, and 13 grams of protein.

What is the Dairy Queen Heath Caramel Brownie Blizzard?

It’s the new Blizzard treat you spotted after you went back to Dairy Queen for your eleventh Pumpkin Pie Blizzard in the last two weeks. With Heath candy pieces added to a mix of chewy brownie pieces, caramel, and Dairy Queen soft serve, the new treat is trying to be a caramel brownie with a bit of toffee crunch.

How is it?

Surprisingly complex for what seems like a flavor that would have already been tried before. Since Heath pieces tend to be the most overlooked candy mix-ins ever, you never quite know what you’re getting when they’re included. But the hard crunch of the pieces is a good textural contrast to the slightly chewy and chocolatey brownie pieces, which are plentiful enough to give the Blizzard a chocolate flavor that makes the caramel aspect taste both rich and familiar.

While the caramel flavor hangs in the background, the burnt sugar toffee of the Heath gives the Blizzard a new appeal that keeps it from getting boring.

Is there anything else you should know?

The level of your enjoyment for this will likely vary by the quality and quantity in which yours is made. That’s because the vanilla base seems like the wrong choice to host the established chocolate-caramel synergy, which was a letdown in the spoonfuls that didn’t get brownie pieces. And while the Heath pieces give the Blizzard an added element, they don’t define the baseline flavor the way that the brownie pieces do.

Conclusion:

Dairy Queen doesn’t make a bad Blizzard, and this Heath Caramel Brownie one is no exception. But I tend to think the line between very good and mind blown is pretty discernible, and this latest Blizzard doesn’t reach the latter category. It’s a shame Dairy Queen didn’t go all out and double down on the chocolate and caramel.

Purchased Price: $2.99
Size: Mini
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (Mini) 370 calories, 14 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 35 milligrams of cholesterol, 210 milligrams of sodium, 54 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 44 grams of sugar, and 8 grams of protein.