REVIEW: Chick-fil-A Frosted Coffee

If there’s a third rail of fast food menu boards — a single item deemed too risky to sell consistently — it might just be coffee flavored milkshakes.

Think about it: you can get a green minty Shamrock Shake at McDonald’s, a Dr Pepper-flavored shake at Burger King, and about seven billion milkshake flavors at Sonic, but none of them coffee.

You can get frappes and frozen lattes and all sorts of sugary, cold coffee “drinks” at most chains, but with the exception of a few outliers in which coffee is really just a supporting flavor — like Arby’s Jamocha Shake and Wendy’s discontinued Coffee Toffee Twisted Frosty — coffee remains untouched when trending closer to the shake side of menus.

Why coffee-flavored shakes are so underrepresented has got to be among the greatest mysteries of all time, especially since 64 percent of Americans drink at least one cup of coffee a day.” What the hell, fast food companies? Do you not want to sell milkshakes or what?

Chick-fil-A’s new Frosted Coffee is not quite a milkshake, but it’s damn near close. And it’s damn near delicious.

If you’re a coffee snob but have never had Chick-fil-A’s iced coffee before, you’re missing out. Not quite as bitter as Starbucks, but much more sophisticated and full-bodied than McDonald’s, it could definitely pass for an independent coffee shop’s brew. Well, at least it could pass for better than fast food coffee. That flavor is apparent as soon as you take a sip of the Frosted Coffee. It has a robust-but-not-really dark flavor that conjures up images of happy farmers in some Latin America country.

Not that into coffee? Great, neither am I, which is why I’m happy to report a milkshakes worth of Chick-fil-A soft-serve Icedream goes a long way into making this much more a dessert than a breakfast. The combined flavor is a good deal lighter and refreshing than just the coffee itself. And combined with the rich milky notes and sweetness, the shake-drink-frappe hybrid might as well just text the family of the late Dave Thomas and be like, “What’s up, Wendy? We made a better coffee Frosty than you ever did.”

Chick-fil-A’s Frosted Coffee is awesome, but it would be even more so if it got the full milkshake treatment and was a bit thicker and came with whipped cream (but not a cherry, because, you know, coffee and cherry sounds gross).

While it’s thick enough to eat with a spoon, annoying little pools of coffee crop up as you make your way down in the container, which makes me think that some kind of additional thickener wouldn’t kill the purity of the experience. The flavor is definitely there; now they just gotta up the texture a bit and you have a fast food dessert item that at least two-thirds of us caffeine-dependent Americans want.

Why don’t more fast food companies hit the ground running with coffee-flavored milkshakes? I don’t know. Most have already taken the first step with Frappuccino-like beverage, and Chick-fil-A has added a much needed leap by adding ice cream. Here’s to hoping it sticks around well into summer.

(Nutrition Facts – small – 240 calories from fat, 55 calories from fat, 6 grams of fat, 3.5 grams of sat fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 20 milligrams of cholesterol, 160 milligrams of sodium, 41 grams of carbohydrates, 38 grams of sugar, 7 grams of protein, 25% DV calcium..)

Purchased Price: $2.69
Size: Small
Purchased at: Chick-fil-A
Rating: 8 out of 10
Pros: Sophisticated and full-bodied coffee flavor in the guise of a milkshake. Smooth, creamy, sweet soft serve balances the coffee’s flavor perfectly. Not watered down with any syrups or off flavors. Milkshake-like appeal at only 240 calories.
Cons: ould be richer and more indulgent. Begs for whipped cream. Fair-trade farming propaganda.

16 thoughts to “REVIEW: Chick-fil-A Frosted Coffee”

  1. Pretty much my thoughts exactly. The flavor is fantastic. But the texture is where it loses points. It either needs more ice cream or it just needs to be blended better. The one I had seemed to be layered. Like I’d get a layer that was similar to a coffee flavored frosty and then I’d get an icy, watery coffee flavored slurpee concoction. The slurpee texture would be a major turnoff if the coffee flavor wasn’t so delicious. 8 out of 10 is a good score but if they take this back to the test lab for a minor tweak, this could be a must have 10.

    1. Yours was just about as awkward as mine. But it was darn delicious. Like the best vanilla iced coffee I’ve ever had. I’d look to seeing them improve it.

  2. I’m a huge of of DQ’s moolatte and it sounds like these are similar which is nice.

  3. I thought it was pretty good as well and your review was pretty spot on. The reason I personally don’t prefer coffee flavored milkshakes (or frappucinos), is because when I’m usually in the mood for coffee is when I need a caffiene boost. I feel like those drinks usually are so diluted with other stuff I don’t get energy, -I feel full and tired! That’s what I was expecting from this, but surprisingly I felt pretty energized after drinking it, so I wonder the caffiene content. I was happy it was still a bold strong coffee flavor without too much sweetness. I agree with texture, it could have been more icy and less like a frosty consistency.

  4. I love it just the way it is!! I have no problem with it separating because I just keep stirring it! (Just as I would a milkshake). To me, it needs no super sweet whipped cream, it is fabulous on its own! My new favorite treat!

  5. So bummed!!! Loved it and was excited it wasn’t just a vehicle for mounds of whipped cream. Just pure yummy cold coffee yumminess. BUT I am so disappointed to learn its contains 38 Grams of SUGAR!!! Equivalent of eating 1 1/2 Snicker Bars!! And that is just for the small size, don’t want to even know for medium and large!
    ?

  6. This thing is so good I went searching the internet to find out why I have had it two days in a row. The coffee flavor is so good because they use cold-brewed coffee with the added bonus of being from THRIVE farmers in central America.

    “The sale of each cup of coffee provides direct revenue to the THRIVE Farmers network of family farmers in Central America. The farmer-direct platform allows the farmers to earn up to 10 times more than farmers earn in traditional revenue models.” –from chik-fil-a website

    I seriously lost my mind over my first one yesterday. I agree that it needs whipped cream, well not NEEDS exactly but I like it. They will add it upon request and don’t charge extra. I’m perfectly fine with the texture. Milkshakes are not the best thing to wash down food with. I normally get water for my food so my milkshake is a little melty anyway by the time I get to it. I like that it is thin enough to drink with food and has none of that too-cold crunchy ice in it. 10/10 for me.

  7. I love the frosted coffee, texture and all. I will be heart broken when it becomes unavailable. Please keep it all summer. It has become my summer drink.

    1. They have announced that, by popular demand, they are going to keep it on the menu! ?

  8. I love it just the way it is. It’s refreshing with its icy texture. I don’t want a coffee favored milkshake if I ever do can always go to McDonalds for a milkshake concoction with coffee favoring. I want an icy treat with real coffee.
    Yes it does separate depending on air temperature but I don’t mind that, I just get some great tasting coffee from the bottom of the cup. Yes it is a bit weak. But it is not a deal breaker. If they start making it like their milkshakes (which are great) I won’t be buying. Please keep it just the way it is.

  9. Perfect. Absolutely perfect. I do love coffee flavored ice cream and coffee flavored milkshakes and frappes and iced coffee. I love them all very much. But this is different and wonderfully in its own category. It’s just creamy enough without being into the milkshake range, but definitely more like a super soft icee texture. And its sweetness level is on point. You can drink the whole thing nearly nonstop and you won’t end up with that too-much-sugar gross stomach feeling that milkshakes love to come with. So to me, this is perfect. Please do not change it. It’s the best already!

  10. I think the texture is perfect. A bit more liquidy than a shake, less calories than a shake. It’s more refreshing than a shake. It is more like a frap. They always add whipped cream for free when I order. I just ask.

    My only gripe is that it drips down the cup and out of the lid every time. It’s worth it though.

  11. I did not like it. It tasted like it had freeze dried coffee with hot cocoa powder and some sort of sugar free sweetener.

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