There’s something about the fountain drinks at McDonald’s that gives them an edge over a soda at pretty much any other restaurant. Sure, you can get a Coke at a bunch of fast food chains, but a Coke at McDonald’s just tastes better. (There are actually a bunch of reasons for this phenomenon.) But what if McDonald’s had a way to elevate its drink menu even more?
That’s where McDonald’s new lineup of crafted sodas and refreshers comes in.
Officially starting May 6, the restaurant is rolling out six new drinks: Orange Dream, Dirty Dr Pepper, Sprite Berry Blast, Strawberry Watermelon Refresher, Mango Pineapple Refresher and Blackberry Passion Fruit Refresher. (You can probably find them early in the McDonald’s app.)
“Our fans have an obsession with beverages — to them, drinks are more than just drinks. And soon, our beverages won’t just be a reason you come to McDonald’s, they’ll be the reason,” Alyssa Buetikofer, chief marketing and customer experience officer at McDonald’s, said in the company’s announcement. “We’ve taken the time to get this right, introducing new drinks that are hand-crafted with bold flavors and quality ingredients our fans can taste in every sip.”
The six new drinks at McDonald’s break down into two categories. You have the chain’s first entry into the dirty soda arena with Orange Dream, Dirty Dr Pepper and Sprite Berry Blast, with cold foam getting added to the trio of classic McDonald’s beverages. (I love that Hi‑C Orange Lavaburst is part of this.) And then you have the refreshers, which are lemonades with added flavors and fun mix-ins like frozen fruit and popping boba. (They also have caffeine, with each medium refresher clocking in at 60 mg.)
I love that these fast food chains are getting into the drink customization trend. The dirty version of Mountain Dew Baja Blast Zero Sugar has become my go-to beverage at Taco Bell, and I’ve even tried to make a dirty Coke Zero at home. I’m still working on that one. My first attempt created a Coke Zero volcano on our kitchen counter …
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Before we get into the six drinks themselves, I should point out that despite the introduction of all these new drink mix-ins — cold foam, vanilla flavor, etc. — McDonald’s doesn’t give you the option to go rogue and add them to other drinks. At least not through the app. I wanted to try adding some cold foam to a Coke Zero, but couldn’t do that.
When it comes to customizing the six drinks themselves, you have the option to remove or add the basic mix-ins, but you can’t change the base drink to a zero sugar option, even if one is available. So if you want a Sprite Berry Blast made with Sprite Zero, no luck.
Orange Dream
I grew up in the 1990s, which means Hi-C Ecto Cooler played a major role in my childhood. It was the flavor of Hi-C back then. Maybe we’ll someday get Ecto Cooler again, but for now, the Hi-C Orange Lavaburst that McDonald’s serves is as close as we’re going to get. This is why I started my tasting journey through this lineup of drinks with Orange Dream.
McDonald’s added a bit of vanilla flavor and cold foam to Orange Lavaburst for this crafted soda. If you enjoy a creamsicle, you’ll very much enjoy Orange Dream. Because Hi-C is uncarbonated, though, this crafted soda is missing the zing that you expect from a soda — normal or dirty.
If I’m going to order one of these new drinks with an actual meal, it’s going to be Dirty Dr Pepper. Dr Pepper is already one of the all-time smooth sodas, and adding some vanilla and topping it with cold foam only amps up that smoothness.
There’s no gimmick to McDonald’s Dirty Dr Pepper. This one is as classic a dirty soda as you can get. Does it also mean that Dr Pepper is sticking around on McDonald’s menus despite Coke relaunching Mr. Pibb?
Despite its wild blue color, Sprite Berry Blast wasn’t high on my pre-rankings of McDonald’s’s crafted sodas and refreshers. Welp, I was wrong. Sprite Berry Blast is easily the most fun and best option in this six-beverage lineup.
This is a Sprite that’s been infused with a “sweet blue raspberry syrup” and topped with cold foam. This dirty soda is fruity, it’s vibrant. It feels like a treat. Our daughter, no joke, wrote me a note reminding me to leave the last sip. Sure, the note was in all capital letters, had no spaces and some of the letters were backwards, but I got the gist.
OK, we’re onto the refresher half of the lineup. The Strawberry Watermelon Refresher, like the other two refreshers, began its life as a lemonade. McDonald’s then added “sweet strawberry and watermelon flavors” before topping the beverage with freeze-dried strawberries.
All of the refreshers have a classier vibe to them than the crafted sodas do. I’d feel weird walking into an office with a Sprite Berry Blast, but the Strawberry Watermelon Refresher might trick some people into thinking I’m making healthy choices. The strawberry and watermelon flavors work well together, and the freeze-dried strawberries are a nice garnish.
The Mango Pineapple Refresher was the weakest of the bunch. The mango and pineapple flavors don’t really come through enough, but the strawberry popping boba at the bottom do add an extra dimension to the beverage.
The Blackberry Passion Fruit Refresher is a solid member of this lineup. The blackberry and passion fruit flavors are bold enough to pair with the lemonade base, and the freeze-dried dragon fruit itself adds a bit of texture and viscosity to the refresher.
If I’m picking a refresher to drink again, it’s probably going to be Blackberry Passion Fruit.
The Omnicosm founder. Snackology, Popculturology and The Cold Open writer. A Rochester, N.Y., native now living in the Washington, D.C., area. Won’t pass up a Genny Cream Ale.
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