Oh, the Shamrock Shake. Ever since it’s inception in 1970, we’ve eagerly awaited it’s return to McDonald’s restaurants every year. It’s only available from early-February until mid-March, but this delicious mint-flavored, St. Patrick’s Day-themed milkshake is like the first glimpse of spring. It’s arrival is proof that winter is almost over and the warmer, slightly-more-sunny days of spring are right around the corner. Then, like a creamy, emerald Keyser Söze, it’s gone.
For some McDonald’s loyalists, this frozen potion in a plastic cup isn’t enough. They like ordering alternate versions off of McDonald’s “secret menu” — at this point, the alt-shake has become legend, McD’s version of “animal style” fries from In-N-Out. Now, McDonald’s has announced that they’ll be adding the secret menu items to the actual menu. Also, it’s not just going to be the mint show at Mickey D’s. Get ready for chocolate to be added to the Shamrock Shake equation.
In fact, there will be four new chocolaty Shamrock Shake varieties on the menu. You can still get the original Shamrock Shake with a sprinkle of green sugar crystals over the tried-and-true whipped cream and cherry. Then there are the Chocolate Shamrock Shake (half chocolate shake, half Shamrock Shake), the Shamrock Chocolate Chip Frappe (mocha frappe that is blended together with Shamrock Shake syrup), the Shamrock Hot Chocolate (hot chocolate with Shamrock Shake syrup) and the Shamrock Mocha (chocolate mocha with Shamrock Shake Syrup).
Like any new product, the new versions of the Shamrock Shakes are slowly being rolled out at McDonald’s restaurants across the country. The only questions are: Where will we possibly find the time to try them all and how many crunches will we need to do to burn off the calories? Because there will be a lot of calories. Tasty, minty calories.
