Tag: Dairy Queen

REVIEW: Dairy Queen Caramel Drumstick with Peanuts Blizzard

Denis

Dairy Queen Caramel Drumstick with Peanuts Blizzard Cup

What is it?

Dairy Queen’s Caramel Drumstick with Peanuts Blizzard is proof that whoever decides the new Blizzard flavors used a bunch of vacation time recently because this “new” treat isn’t really that new. It’s similar to the Nestle Drumstick Blizzard we reviewed a couple years ago with Drumstick pieces and peanuts, except this version adds caramel (and drops the Nestle name). DQ is also offering a Drumstick Blizzard without caramel.

How is it?

I gave the original Drumstick Blizzard a 9-rating, and the addition of caramel to this version is an improvement, so the laws of math dictate that I must give this a perfect 10!

Dairy Queen Caramel Drumstick with Peanuts Blizzard Top

I’d also like to congratulate the DQ person who greenlit this flavor for getting maximum results with minimal effort, which is something I strive for every day. This might not be how it actually happened, but I can’t help thinking the Chief Executive of Blizzards was on a beach in Tahiti when his or her phone rang. It was DQ headquarters asking what the next new flavor was going to be. Now this person didn’t get into their position without being a quick thinker, so they pretended like all kinds of extensive research and focus group interviews went into this new flavor, even though all they did was add caramel to that Drumstick Blizzard from two years ago. OK, maybe that’s not how it went, but the results are wonderful just the same.

Dairy Queen Caramel Drumstick with Peanuts Blizzard Choco Chunks

The best parts of this Blizzard are the Drumstick pieces, which are waffle cone squares covered in chocolate. The cone pieces remained delightfully crunchy inside their little chocolate blankets and the peanuts, which were pulverized into tiny morsels, added a bit of a different texture and a subtle but welcome saltiness. Then the caramel jumps in and hits you with a rich, creamy sweetness that makes this one of my all-time favorite Blizzards.

Anything else you need to know?

This flavor appears to just be a late addition to the DQ Summer Blizzard Menu rather than officially being named the July Blizzard of the Month (even though it was launched on July 1). So this flavor will probably hang around until at least the end of August.

Conclusion:

Dairy Queen Caramel Drumstick with Peanuts Blizzard Spoon

Even with Blizzards that I really enjoy, I can usually come up with at least a minor gripe or a suggestion to make it just a little bit better. In this case, I really can’t, and I’ll be sad to see this one go, whenever that might be.

Purchased Price: $4.49
Size: Small
Rating: 10 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (Small) 690 calories, 33 grams of fat, 22 grams of saturated fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 45 milligrams of cholesterol, 250 milligrams of sodium, 82 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of dietary fiber, 66 grams of sugar, and 16 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Dairy Queen Caramel Fudge Cheesecake Blizzard

Karen 4 Comments

Dairy Queen Caramel Fudge Cheesecake Blizzard Spoon

Cheesecake is a relatively new presence in my life. That may seem strange, but you have to understand: for most of my life, I was firmly on Team Chocolate. If I had the opportunity to get dessert at a restaurant, I got the chocolate cake. If I was getting ice cream, I got chocolate ice cream with hot fudge, and so on. It’s really only over the past year or so that I had the important revelation that that chocolate is not always the best choice in every scenario. Stuck in a diner recently, eating a bone-dry chocolate layer cake, I realized that the moist cheesecake would have been a much better choice.

Granted, my first forays into ordering cheesecake since then invariably took the form of chocolate cheesecake, but that was all part of the process: Baby steps, baby steps.

All that said, I don’t go out for dinner that often, so I don’t have too many opportunities to explore my new interest in tangy dairy delights. Enter Dairy Queen’s Caramel Fudge Cheesecake Blizzard, an opportunity to enjoy cheesecake in a different format without having to break the bank on a trip to The Cheesecake Factory. Unfortunately, this Blizzard doesn’t sate the cheesecake craving as well as I would have liked.

Dairy Queen Caramel Fudge Cheesecake Blizzard Top

First, the ice cream has little chocolate bits in it, giving the Blizzard a cookies-and-cream flavor to start with. I really liked this, and had to keep stopping myself from just inhaling the thing in a few gargantuan bites. Once I slowed down enough to breathe, I realized that the Blizzard had two other components: little fudge squares filled with caramel and tiny cheesecake wedges. The fudge squares were prominent, while the cheesecake pieces were rather rare. DQ definitely could have been more generous here.

Dairy Queen Caramel Fudge Cheesecake Blizzard Fudge

It was satisfying to get one of the fudge squares in my mouth and dissolve the fudge coating to get to that unctuous, slightly salty caramel inside. Unfortunately, the same was not true of the cheesecake: the wedges (or little balls, as they sometimes were) started out bland and finished with a fairly weak cheesecake aftertaste. I don’t know if the flavor was too mild or if it was just hard to discern the cheesecake flavor in the middle of tons of chocolate-packed ice cream, but it wasn’t robust.

Dairy Queen Caramel Fudge Cheesecake Blizzard Cheesecake

However, the real problem was not with any of the mix-ins but with the blend overall. Try as I might, I couldn’t get this Blizzard to feel like a coherent dessert. There was the fudge-and-caramel component, then there were the little blobs of cheesecake, and the two didn’t seem to have anything to do with one another. The flavors just didn’t seem to marry. Maybe it’s too much to expect the ingredients to all sing harmoniously in a Blizzard, which is all about “Let’s take ice cream and dump random things into it!”, but I couldn’t get past it.

I enjoyed the treat, but Dairy Queen just hasn’t fully conquered cheesecake yet, and if I’m going to take time out from my busy chocolate schedule to get something else, that something else had better be stellar.

Purchased Price: $4.89
Size: Small
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 660 calories, 27 grams of fat, 17 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 85 milligrams of cholesterol, 420 milligrams of sodium, 97 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 78 grams of sugar, and 15 grams of protein.

Click here to read our previous Dairy Queen Blizzard reviews.

REVIEW: Dairy Queen Oreo Dirt Pie Blizzard

Denis 15 Comments

Dairy Queen Oreo Dirt Pie Blizzard Cup

What is the Dairy Queen Oreo Dirt Pie Blizzard?

It’s one of the new flavors on the Dairy Queen Summer Blizzard menu, and it mixes two old favorites – Oreo cookie pieces and fudge crumble – with gummy worms, which, as far as I can tell, is a first-time-ever DQ ingredient. They create the treat that seems to be served at every 5-year-old’s birthday party.

How is it?

Dairy Queen Oreo Dirt Pie Blizzard Top

The DQ website claimed that I will “delight at the fun surprise of finding gummy worms sprinkled throughout.” I was skeptical. I do indeed like Blizzards, but getting delight, fun, and surprise from one seemed a little much. Except that it wasn’t. I did not expect the gummy worms to be distributed throughout, but they were. And I expected some of them to be decapitated and mutilated by the Blizzard machine’s whirring steel thingy (that’s probably not the official name). And yet all the gummy worms were fully intact. I was a bit surprised by the size of the worms, though, as they were rather small and perhaps more accurately could be described as gummy grubs.

Dairy Queen Oreo Dirt Pie Blizzard Worm

As for the taste, it was about as close to delight-fun-surprise as you can get from a Blizzard. Oreo cookies have long been one of the most popular Blizzard ingredients, so I’m assuming you know what Oreo and DQ soft serve taste like. Oreo is good, of course, but it’s the other two parts that make this one sparkle. The fudge crumble did its job to amp up the chocolatey taste of the cookies, and the gummy worms were a perfect addition. If you’ve mixed gummy bears, worms, or any gummy animal of your choice into ice cream, you know that the cold can rob the gummies of their gumminess and make them unpleasantly hard. That didn’t happen here, and the gummy worms were plentiful, chewy, and had distinctly different flavors. I can’t really tell you precisely what those distinct flavors were because gummy flavors are hard to describe, other than fruity-berryish. Can anyone really say what flavor a red gummy is compared to a green one? I think not.

Anything else you need to know?

Dairy Queen Oreo Dirt Pie Blizzard Mix

This might be a record-breaking Blizzard in the calorie department. According to the DQ website, a large version of this clocks in at 1,520 calories. That tops all other Blizzards currently on the menu and is more than 50 percent higher than the large Butterfinger Blizzard at 970 calories. I guess that is to be expected when you take a standard Oreo Blizzard (1,140 calories for a large) and then add in fudge crumble and a bunch of gummy worms. But this one is worth the extra calories.

Conclusion:

I’m hoping that DQ tries more gummy items in its Blizzards, as I also liked the Sour Patch Kids Blizzard from a few years back. Just disregard my comment about this one containing gummy grubs and not gummy worms, and I bet you will like it.

Purchased Price: $4.49
Size: Small
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (Small) 810 calories, 33 grams of fat, 15 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 45 milligrams of cholesterol, 410 milligrams of sodium, 116 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of dietary fiber, 86 grams of sugar, and 15 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Dairy Queen S’mores Shake

Karen 6 Comments

Dairy Queen S mores Shake Cup

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.

Dairy Queen S mores Shake Top

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.

Dairy Queen S mores Shake Straw

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:

Dairy Queen S mores Shake Angle

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.

REVIEW: Dairy Queen Mint Brownie Blizzard

Denis 2 Comments

Dairy Queen Mint Brownie Blizzard Cup

What is the Dairy Queen Mint Brownie Blizzard?

It’s the March Blizzard of the Month with brownie pieces, choco chunks, and mint flavor combined with Dairy Queen vanilla soft serve. It’s not technically new, as DQ had the more accurately named Choco Mint Brownie Blizzard with the same ingredients back in 2012. But I don’t remember what I had for breakfast today, or even what day it is, so I’m counting this as new since there’s no chance of me remembering if I’ve had it before.

How is it?

Classic, simple, and really good. This Blizzard is not extreme or outrageous like some past combinations, and DQ even made the name more basic than the last time it was offered. Even though it includes three common Blizzard elements, they all work together perfectly.

Dairy Queen Mint Brownie Blizzard Brownie

The brownie pieces are amazing creations that can maintain a perfect chewy texture even while bathing in ice cream. I assume one of the words I cannot pronounce in the list of ingredients on the DQ website is responsible for that. Then the choco chunks add some crunch to go with the soft brownies, and the mint flavor is complementary instead of overpowering like in some mint ice cream treats. Mint is not even one of my favorite flavors, but I still enjoyed this Blizzard and will miss it when it’s gone.

Anything else you need to know?

Dairy Queen Mint Brownie Blizzard Closeup

I originally thought it would be easy to order this Blizzard any time of year because DQ always has mint flavoring, brownies, and choco chunks available. It turns out I was wrong. According to the never-wrong internet, DQ stopped making mint flavoring available year-round in 2015, so now they only have it sporadically when there’s a Blizzard containing it. It makes me wonder if somewhere there’s a big warehouse full of DQ mint flavor just waiting for the chance to be called into action. Clearly, I have too much time on my hands to sit and wonder about such things.

Conclusion:

I’m not going to tell you to run to DQ to get this Blizzard. Running is hard, and I don’t want you to get tired. But this one is worth picking up, or even overpaying a delivery service to bring it to you.

Purchased Price: $4.99
Size: Medium
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (Medium) 910 calories, 35 grams of fat, 22 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 65 milligrams of cholesterol, 380 milligrams of sodium, 137 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of dietary fiber, 110 grams of sugar, and 18 grams of protein.