My mother recently enrolled in the 23andMe ancestry service, and I found out I’m about 3% more Irish than I had initially thought.
I wasn’t sure how I’d get over the fact that my entire life had been a giant lie, but luckily for me, the news coincided with the annual release of McDonald’s Shamrock Shake – a treat that’s probably as authentically Irish as I am. I’m about 8%.
To me, late-February/March is Shamrock Season. The winter holidays are all done, Baseball isn’t starting for another month, and there’s not much happening other than the rebirth of the single greatest item McDonald’s has ever offered.
I said it. I’m standing by it.
While I fully intend to have about 12 Shamrock Shakes over the next few weeks, I had to put the O.G. on hold and try the new Oreo Shamrock McFlurry first.
Mashed up Oreo? Shamrock infused vanilla soft serve? That weird McFlurry spoon!? How could I pass that up?
They couldn’t possibly improve on perfection, could they?
If I were rating on looks alone, we’d be talking about a 3 out 10 review. I honestly think the guy took a couple of spoonfuls for himself before he handed it to me. It was a mess.
That classic Shamrock Shake green doesn’t pop as well in a McFlurry. I guess the Oreo cookies had something to do with that, but it still wasn’t as fun. I also thought I’d get it served a cool little clear cup, but I just got a sloppy blob of mint chocolate chip ice cream in a non-festive paper cup.
But ya know what, looks, like the lifelong belief in your family’s genealogical history, can be deceiving.
If you like the Shamrock Shake, there’s absolutely zero reasons you won’t like this McFlurry.
It’s as if they made a Mint Oreo-flavored ice cream. They use regular Oreo cookies, but it may as well have been the Mint ones.
The Oreo cookie pieces were nice and fresh, but the best parts were the little bits of crème dispersed throughout. I feel like that texture often gets lost when Oreo is used in ice creams. They really popped here. Between the crispy cookie pieces, the soft serve, and those little chalky yet chewy crème pieces, it made for a perfect blend.
If I had one minor complaint, it would be that the mint was slightly subdued compared to a classic Shamrock Shake. I would’ve loved one more pump of syrup to compensate for the Oreo additive, but it didn’t ruin the experience at all. The touch of chocolate and crème flavor was a tasty twist on the norm.
Hot fudge topping was also offered (which may have been an extra charge), but I skipped it, fearing it would overpower the Shamrock and Oreo flavors. This doesn’t need more chocolate.
So yeah, I had little doubt about the Oreo Shamrock McFlurry. It’s legit.
I still prefer drinking my Shamrock Shakes, but this is close.
My test results conclude that the classic Shamrock Shake is about 3% better than the Shamrock McFlurry. Get em both. It’s Shamrock Season.
Purchased Price: $3.59
Size: Regular
Purchased at: McDonald’s
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 560 calories, 17 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, .5 grams of trans fats, 45 mg of cholesterol, 260 milligrams of sodium, 93 grams of carbohydrates, 71 grams of sugar, and 12 grams of protein.
