Tag: Dairy Queen

What is Dairy Queen’s S’mores Shake?

DQ’s latest shake mimics the flavors of the classic campfire treat. It has vanilla soft serve blended with marshmallow topping, chocolate flakes, and graham cracker bits.

How is it?

The first thing I tried to figure out was what the little grainy pieces were. They were so tiny that I couldn’t discern much flavor. Were they chocolate bits or graham cracker bits? When I had drunk more of the shake and could see beyond the whipped topping, it was clear that the really tiny bits were the graham and the larger flakes were chocolate.

Flavor-wise, it’s a giant marshmallow-flavored kick in the face. There’s no subtlety here, not that I wanted any. The graham bits and chocolate flakes added enough texture to create a nice mouthfeel, but the marshmallow flavor of the product still overwhelmed the graham and chocolate notes. Strangely as I got deeper into the shake, the chocolate pieces were bigger, and it added more chocolatey-ness to the experience.

This is a thick shake, so thick that I sometimes had trouble sucking it up with my straw. This isn’t Wendy’s Frosty “Give up on straws, you need a spoon here” territory, but it’s getting there.

For some reason, this shake didn’t strike me as being as addictive as the shakes from Five Guys, currently my go-to for milkshakes. It’s good, but it just doesn’t have that same “OMG I have to shovel this in my face immediately!” quality. What’s the secret? Perhaps the quality of the base dairy product? Clearly, I need to do more research on this topic and drink many, many more shakes — for science.

I should note that the shake is very sweet, but let’s be honest: I’m a person who reviews milkshakes from Dairy Queen. If “too sweet” were ever an issue, I probably would not be in the milkshake-review game.

Anything else you need to know?

Dairy Queen’s website tells us that “One sip and you’re sure to be left wanting s’more,” so you can be satisfied that no opportunity to make that old-as-the-hills pun was spared. It’s not a lie though; I finished my whole shake and I still kind of want s’more. Having any more at this point would probably make me sick, but I still want it.

Conclusion:

The S’mores shake is a very respectable attempt to turn the gooey, classic summer snack into a drinkable delight. It’s a little one-note, but fortunately it’s a tasty note.

Purchased Price: $4.79
Size: 8 oz (small)
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 640 calories, 32 grams of fat, 21 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 40 milligrams of cholesterol, 240 milligrams of sodium, 77 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 64 grams of sugar, and 12 grams of protein.

What is the Dairy Queen Reese’s Pieces Cookie Dough Blizzard?

It’s the October Blizzard of the Month, and its name pretty much describes what it contains: Reese’s Pieces candy, chocolate chip cookie dough, peanut butter topping, and pumpkin-flavored soft serve. OK, it’s regular vanilla soft serve. Just checking to make sure you are really reading this part of the review.

How is it?

It’s good, but this one goes into the category of what I’ll call the Taco Bell-style of Blizzard. While Taco Bell has introduced some new items lately that are actually new, like the Crispy Chicken Sandwich Taco, most of its “new” introductions are just a slightly different combination of its core ingredients or the same combination from a few years ago that it thinks we forgot about. While Reese’s Pieces are not generally on the standard DQ menu, there have been countless Blizzards with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and/or cookie dough, so I can’t give the DQ folks many creativity points here.

I realize with the seasonal Blizzard menus, the Blizzard of the Month (which is sometimes more than one), and other new Blizzards throughout the year that every Blizzard can’t be a mind-blowing creation, and there’s nothing at all wrong with this one. It’s quite good, but I doubt my opinion is going to sway you on this one.

If you like Reese’s Pieces (or PB Cups) and cookie dough, then this is going to be a winner for you. If you are not on Team Reese’s, then this probably isn’t for you. I will say that the crunch of the Pieces in a Blizzard is a nice change compared to PB Cups, which have a consistency similar to the cookie dough. Even though there are chocolate chip cookie dough pieces in this, the chocolate flavor gets pushed aside by the power of peanut butter. So if the chocolate part is important to you, then maybe ask them to add in a bit of chocolate fudge topping or chocolate chunks.

Anything else you need to know?

Assuming that the nutrition info on the DQ website is correct — which is not always a safe assumption because, in the past, the chain has challenged the laws of both math and science by listing negative numbers for dietary fiber — this is the highest calorie Blizzard I can remember seeing. The small size has a whopping 900 calories, and the large has 1,710 calories, along with 81 grams of fat and 192 carbs. Wow.

Conclusion:

At the risk of hurting the feelings of this Blizzard, there’s nothing special about it. But don’t feel bad little Blizzard, you are still pretty good.

Purchased Price: $4.29
Size: Small
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (Small) 900 calories, 39 grams of fat, 20 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 50 milligrams of cholesterol, 490 milligrams of sodium, 108 grams of carbohydrates, 2 gram of dietary fiber, 88 grams of sugar, and 17 grams of protein.

What is the Sea Salt Toffee Fudge Blizzard?

It’s part of the Fall Blizzard Menu at Dairy Queen, and it features salted toffee pieces, rich fudge pieces, and caramel topping with vanilla soft serve.

How is it?

It’s the surprise hit of the fall season!

I wasn’t sure how much I would like this one because I don’t think I’ve ever bought a toffee bar in my life. Sure, I’ve had toffee plenty of times, but it’s usually been during the weeks after Halloween when I ask one of my kids for a piece of candy from their massive haul and they generously offer me a Heath bar because they don’t want to give up any of the good stuff. As a standalone candy, toffee is just OK to me. But as part of a tag team with the fudge pieces in this Blizzard, it’s really tasty.

The toffee pieces in here are quite small, but they pack a solid punch with their extreme crunchiness and buttery sweet flavor. The caramel topping blends well with the not-so-different toffee flavor, and then the fudge pieces provide a vastly different chewy texture and nice chocolatey kick. It all comes together to form a complex and pleasant taste experience that sets this one apart from most other Blizzards.

One caveat here -— if you are excited about the sea salt part of this Blizzard, well, calm down. As much as I tried, I couldn’t discern any salty taste at all, from the sea or anywhere else. I don’t want to call the fine people at DQ liars, especially considering I’m sure they have a whole team of lawyers that would frown upon such a statement, but I do think putting sea salt in the name of this Blizzard is a bit of a stretch.

Anything else you need to know?

I bet you can’t name three brands of toffee candy bars. In the U.S., there are basically two — Heath and Skor (and although they competed against each other at one point, both are now made by The Hershey Company). I tried, without much success, to see where those two candy bars rank in popularity compared to the likes of Snickers, Kit Kat, Milky Way, Twix, etc. The best I could do is find that the Heath bar was 56th in popularity in 1987, back when I’m not sure there were many more than 56 different candy bars being made. And maybe it’s time for someone to do a new survey.

Conclusion:

If you are like me and do not have an affinity for toffee, you should still give this Blizzard a chance because it’s unexpectedly good. And if you are one of the few people who actually goes out and buys toffee bars, then you are probably going to love this.

Purchased Price: $4.29
Size: Small
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (Small) 710 calories, 25 grams of fat, 14 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 60 milligrams of cholesterol, 570 milligrams of sodium, 110 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of dietary fiber, 86 grams of sugar, and 13 grams of protein.