You might be wondering why I only reviewed McDonald’s new Blackberry Passion Fruit Refresher and not the other two beverages in the newfangled product line. Well, that’s because the other two flavors — Strawberry-Watermelon and Mango-Pineapple — were totally sold out. Gee, who would’ve thought THESE things would’ve been such a smash hit in the foothills of north Georgia?

It’s pretty obvious what McDonald’s is going for with these Refreshers, and it’s especially clear with the Blackberry Passion Fruit mix. It looks like a Starbucks drink, it smells like a Starbucks drink, and it’s almost priced as much as a Starbucks drink — but can Mickey D’s really beat a certain Seattle coffee monolith at its own game?

Well, the short answer is … nah, at least as far as the Blackberry Passion Fruit Refresher is concerned.

The product is definitely a McNovelty. The beverage is anchored around a lemonade base with a deluge of blackberry flavoring stirred into it. And not only do we get a dose of passion fruit syrup, but we get more passion fruit on top of it. As in, the extra passion fruit is literally frozen in humongous chunks of ice, like an esoteric fruit version of Captain America or something. It’s not exactly something I’d expect to ever see at McDonald’s, but hey, we all went through our experimental art phase at some point.

I guess my biggest issue with the drink is the use of the term “Refresher.” I see that, and I instinctively think something sweet, or at least a bit syrupy on the taste buds. This Refresher, however, is surprisingly stout and bitter, even for a lemonade-based beverage. The blackberry and dragon fruit flavorings aren’t terribly harmonious here, and they don’t really gel all that well with the lemonade. The first couple of sips were definitely a culture shock for me. Indeed, I had to pinch myself to make sure I was on Ronald’s turf and not trying a sample at Teavana.

Thankfully, your tongue does get acclimated to the beverage the more you drink it. I suppose if you’re in a certain mood and you’re pairing it with some very specific meal, it would be a bang-up drink. This is something you delicately sip while in a study, listening to Cocteau Twins, and not something you’d want to reach for in the fridge right after mowing the lawn. And it definitely does not go well with pancakes, if anybody asks.

Perhaps saying I was “disappointed” by this Refresher is too harsh. It’s not a bad drink at all, and I can see how some people might really dig it. Alas, the mixologists at McDonald’s look like they still have some reformulating to do before they get this specific recipe right. You can almost taste what could’ve been here, and with a bit more tweaking, it definitely could’ve been a Starbucks-tier offering.

As it is, it’s merely alright. It does look pretty cool, though. Even if they didn’t mean to, this thing is TOTALLY Grimace-coded.

Purchased Price: $3.99
Size: Large
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 270 calories, 0 grams of fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 75 milligrams of sodium, 66 grams of carbohydrates, 59 grams of sugar, 0 grams of fiber, and 1 gram of protein.

McDonald’s might have its equivalent to the Baja Blast with its newfangled Sprite Berry Blast. And no, it’s not just because both fast food beverages have the word “Blast” in their names.

Sprite Berry Blast is part of a trio of new McDonald’s craft sodas, which also includes a “Dirty” Dr. Pepper variant and an “Orange Dream” Hi-C remix, which presumably tastes a lot like a melted Creamsicle. The Sprite Berry Blast item is definitely the most unique of the three, and in some ways, it’s also the most ambitious. I mean, it’s not like you can get foamy, blue raspberry-flavored Sprite anywhere else, especially in a 20-ounce bottle at the nearest convenience store.

The drink’s aesthetics are undeniably cool. The beverage has a nice cerulean tone, sort of a cross between Mountain Berry Blast Powerade and Windex. And with the swirls of cream at the top of the cup, it totally looks like a cloudy photo of Earth taken from the Hubble Telescope or something. For extra ephemera value, my cup also had a McTie-In to this year’s World Cup, in case you were wondering which group stage contests were taking place in Atlanta later this year. Visually, it screams “Summer 2026.”

I’m not sure how I’d describe the taste of the cream. I guess it has a little Cool Whip flair to it, but it tastes sweeter than the stuff you normally get doused on top of your coffees at Starbucks. The mouthfeel is great, kinda nailing the perfect balance between soupy and chewy. It doesn’t add as much to the overall flavor as you might expect, but it’s certainly a nice way to begin the beverage experience.

I went into this product expecting “Sprite, only artificial-blueberry flavored.” But that’s not exactly the case. Really, it doesn’t taste like traditional Sprite at all — more like a super sparkly, ultra crispy raspberry ginger ale. It goes down very smooth and every now and then you pick up a noticeable but subdued citrus kick. It’s like the fully evolved Pokémon version of a Blue Raspberry Slush Puppie — in pure liquid form.

There’s sort of a misconception out there that all blue raspberry beverages taste the same. But this one really does have a distinct profile and personality. I kept trying to gauge in my head which flavor was predominant — i.e., is it more Sprite or blue raspberry? — but that’s a fool’s errand. The mishmash of the two flavors is so harmonious that it indeed feels like an all-new drink and not just another slight retread of something we’ve already drank a billion times before. This isn’t Pepsi Blue all over again; it’s a totally different type of beast. It’s certainly sharper than most McDonald’s beverages; it almost feels like a non-alcoholic version of a blueberry daiquiri cocktail.

This is a Sprite spin-off for people who don’t necessarily like Sprite. If you like pina coladas and/or dancing in the rain, I suspect this stuff is right up your alley.

Purchased Price: $3.19
Size: Large
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 390 calories, 7 grams of fat, 0.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 120 milligrams of sodium, 84 grams of carbohydrates, 82 grams of sugar, 0 grams of fiber, and 0 grams of protein.

The promotion for McDonald’s KPop Demon Hunters asks you to pick a meal to pick a side. Those two sides are The HUNTRIX Meal versus The Saja Boys Breakfast Meal. If you have no idea what the previous sentence means, I suggest going to the Wikipedia page for KPop Demon Hunters to get yourself caught up, which is what I had to do because I know the music, but I do not know the movie.

But is it a hard choice? If you compare the two, it seems easy to pick a side. The Saja Boys Meal comes with just a Sausage McMuffin with Egg covered in Spicy Saja Sauce, hash browns, and a small soft drink. The HUNTRIX Meal, meanwhile, is a spread of 10-piece Chicken McNuggets with two special sauces — Hunter Sauce and Demon Sauce — Ramyeon McShaker Fries, and a medium drink. Both meals come with photo cards of the characters, but the HUNTRIX Meal offers so many more flavors. It’s not even a contest.

That said, while the HUNTRIX Meal offers more flavors, the two McNugget sauces taste suspiciously similar to previous ones. Let’s start with the Hunter Sauce, which McDonald’s describes as a sweet and slightly spicy sauce that blends chili, garlic, and pepper. I swear it tastes like one of the limited-time dipping sauces McDonald’s offered within the past three years, though I can’t pinpoint which one. It’s a pleasant, sweet, and peppery sauce with a mild kick. Tasty, but the Demon Sauce was more intriguing.

Your eyes aren’t deceiving you, and my iPhone’s nearly four-year-old camera isn’t messing with the colors — the Demon Sauce really is purple. If you’re wondering how it got its pretty purple pigment, the ingredients list butterfly pea flower extract, fruit juice, and vegetable juice. The color brings back memories of those Heinz EZ Squirt ketchups from the ’90s, available in green, blue, pink, and purple.

It tastes almost exactly like my favorite McNuggets sauce, Hot Mustard — which still exists, though not everywhere, I think. So it’s no surprise I prefer it over the Hunter Sauce. The only differences between the Demon Sauce and standard Hot Mustard are the color and the heat, with the Demon Sauce building spiciness the more you eat.

Finally, the Ramyeon McShaker Fries feature a savory blend of soy, garlic, sesame, and spices. The flavor reminds me of the seasoning packet from a bag of instant noodles, so McDonald’s did a solid job of replicating ramyeon flavors. There’s a strong soy sauce note throughout, though I was a little surprised there wasn’t any heat — ramyeon is typically known for being spicy. The seasoned fries were enjoyable, but not enough to make me miss them when they’re gone or to buy them à la carte while they’re still around.

The standout of the HUNTRIX Meal was the Demon Sauce, for its striking purple color and its Hot Mustard flavor. But despite that being the only true standout, I still think the HUNTRIX Meal is far more interesting than the Saja Boys one. So I guess I picked a side — I’m Team HUNTRIX.

Purchased Price: $12.19*
Size: Medium
Rating: 6 out of 10 (Hunter Sauce), 9 out of 10 (Demon Sauce), 6 out of 10 (Ramyeon McShaker Fries)
Nutrition Facts: (w/medium Diet Coke) 930 calories, 54 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 70 milligrams of cholesterol, 1915 milligrams of sodium, 88 grams of carbohydrates, 5 grams of fiber, 14 grams of sugar, and 28 grams of protein.

*Because I live on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, things are a bit pricier here. You’ll probably pay less than I did.

After globetrotting through Canada and several European countries over the past few years, McDonald’s Big Arch has finally landed in the US for a limited time. Okay, there was a layover at the McDonald’s headquarters restaurant in Chicago last year. Either way, it has more passport stamps than me, and now it’s available to everyone across the country.

The highly anticipated burger features two quarter-pound beef patties, white cheddar, slivered onions, crispy onions, pickles, lettuce, and a Big Arch Sauce on a toasted sesame and poppy seed bun.

Just opening the box and seeing that bun made this feel like an elevated experience. I’m used to the standard sesame seed bun on most McDonald’s burgers, but the black poppy seeds gave it a premium feeling. They don’t add much flavor, but they make a strong first impression.

Think of the Big Arch as the Big Mac’s younger, but more sophisticated sibling — a Big Mac that went abroad, and came back to the States more refined, mature, and cultured, and clearly hit Planet Fitness three times a week while it was away. Its size alone makes the Big Mac look, well, less big. Though for all its refinement, it still has the bad habit of leaving toppings scattered across the bottom of the clamshell box, just like its older sibling.

As for the flavor, it’s Big Mac-ish, thanks to the familiar combination of beef, pickles, onions, lettuce, and cheese. The creamy, slightly sweet Big Arch Sauce reminds me of French dressing with the tang dialed back, and it works beautifully with the pickles and onions, much like Big Mac Sauce does. The crispy onions add a pleasant crunch and a mild onion bite, though I’d say the slivered onions do most of the heavy flavor lifting. The white cheddar is milder than the orange American slices in a Big Mac, but its cheesiness still comes through among all the other toppings. Although there’s a lot of beef, every ingredients shares a bit of the spotlight, making each bite well-balanced, and I can taste why this burger was a hit abroad.

While it tastes great, the Big Arch isn’t something I’d order regularly if it became a permanent menu item. At 1,020 calories and as the most expensive burger my local McDonald’s currently offers, it’s firmly in splurge territory. If it were brought back periodically, like the McRib, I’d order it every time it returns.

It’s also worth asking: does it actually need two patties? The photos in this review are from the second Big Arch I ordered, which I had to purchase because the first one I bought had only one patty. Even with just one, I walked away completely satisfied with the meatiness and the overall flavor. A single-patty version would bring both the price and the nutrition numbers down to something far less intimidating, and, just like the Quarter Pounder, McDonald’s could always offer a double-patty version for those who want more meat.

Either way, McDonald’s Big Arch is a delicious burger, and I’m glad I don’t need to pull out my passport to try one.

Purchased Price: $8.99*
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 1,020 calories, 65 grams of fat, 25 grams of saturated fat, 3 grams of trans fat, 175 milligrams of cholesterol, 1,760 milligrams of sodium, 59 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 15 grams of sugar (including 10 grams of added sugar), and 53 grams of protein.

*Because I live on a rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, things are a bit pricier here. You’ll probably pay less than I did.