{"id":16892,"date":"2014-05-26T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-26T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theimpulsivebuy.com\/wordpress\/?p=16892"},"modified":"2023-09-04T21:39:54","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T07:39:54","slug":"review-mcdonalds-horchata-frappe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theimpulsivebuy.com\/wordpress\/2014\/05\/26\/review-mcdonalds-horchata-frappe\/","title":{"rendered":"REVIEW: McDonald\u2019s Horchata Frappe"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"McDonald\u2019s<\/a><\/p>\n

Horchata is a white-ish drink often seen in Mexican restaurants in those giant beehive-shaped containers. It\u2019s pronounced or-chah-tah, and it\u2019s really fun to say. Try it. Or-chah-tah. Or-chah-tah. Sorry, cellar door. There\u2019s a new best word. It should be a celebrity child\u2019s name, except if people don\u2019t know how to pronounce it correctly and it was a girl, it kinda looks like it starts with \u201cwhore.\u201d It\u2019d probably work ironically, like a boy named Sue. Yeah, probably. \u201cHorchata Cruise.\u201d \u201cHorchata West.\u201d Let\u2019s all make a pact. We all agree to name our first (or next) born \u201cHorchata.\u201d Reading this review is an implicit binding contract. Too late, you started already. It\u2019s done.<\/p>\n

Back to the drink. While regional variations exist, the version I am familiar with tastes like it\u2019s made of rice, sometimes steeped in nuts, with a healthy dose of cinnamon up on top and over ice. The refreshing beverage goes particularly well with tacos and burritos, though you\u2019re eating tacos and burritos. You could say garbage water goes particularly well with tacos and burritos. Ever had a Jarritos with Mexican food? It\u2019s way too sweet. But still had that burrito. So it\u2019s still a win. Not just a win. A Seahawks over Broncos win. Though I will say, the first time I drank horchata I thought it tasted a little like watered-down milk.<\/p>\n

McDonald\u2019s is taking advantage of the fact that Southern California\u2019s immense Hispanic population and pumping out a McCafe coffee version of the horchata drink. Additionally, I noticed that between the hours of 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., if you buy one frappe, you get another free. They\u2019re calling it a \u201csocial hour.\u201d I remember reading somewhere that McDonald\u2019s d\u00e9cor is made to be unpleasant, because they have such a strong brand and they know we will all eat at the restaurant, but they want you to leave quickly so they can serve more customers. Make up your mind, Ronald. You want book clubs and Algonquin roundtable meetings between two and five, but when I cannonball into the Play Place ball pit you tell me to \u201cput back on my shirt.\u201d How do you know I\u2019m not just an overgrown eight year-old? Stop putting hormones in your meat.<\/p>\n

The horchata frappe is pretty decent, but it\u2019s complicated. Imagine the taste of rice and nuts. Not the most in-your-face flavor bombs. But coffee? Coffee is the beast of the taste world. They use coffee in lab tests to reset smell-buds. I think they use coffee to defeat Godzilla in that new movie. Everybody rolls around in coffee grounds and it can\u2019t smell humans anymore. It would overpower poor Nuts and Rice. Thus, there is little coffee flavoring in the frappe. It\u2019s basically an horchata milkshake. And you know how cold tends to strangle certain flavors?\u00a0Cold is so powerful I think that\u2019s how they defeat Godzilla in that new movie. They freeze dry the lizard.\u00a0This frappe is cold. Real cold. And honestly a lot of the flavor in the drink is overpowered by how numbingly cold it is. <\/p>\n

Near the end of the frappe, when the whipped cream melts into the liquid and the ice is drank away, there is the real drink. It was in there the whole time, like a loved one possessed by the devil. It has a light cinnamon-vanilla flavoring (the drink is made with vanilla syrup), and maybe a small hit of rice-milk flavor, like barely detectable. It does not taste like it\u2019s been steeped in nuts. You know what\u2019s been steeped in nuts, though? I\u2019ve held your hand this far. Write your own joke.<\/p>\n

The attempt at subtle flavoring is admirable on McDonald\u2019s part, and it was a pretty nice treat at a good price point. It\u2019s thick like a milkshake so it might be hard to sit there and wait for it to heat up to the exact point when it would be ideal to drink it for maximum flavor. Maybe that\u2019s why two to five is social hour. It takes three hours to get peak frappe. Like standing on a boat at 5 a.m. on vacation watching glaciers fall apart. <\/p>\n

With the whipped cream mixed in, the fats boosted the flavoring and I would recommend trying to get a side of whipped cream or bringing your own can. That recommendation extends to all restaurants, however. I\u2019m not sure this flavor is going to be launched nationwide but the unfamiliarity of horchata will probably keep it a regional item. But when she’s old enough, you can put Baby Horchata on a plane for a birthright quest to grab it, if it\u2019s still around.\u00a0<\/p>\n

(Nutrition Facts – Unavailable on website or anywhere else.)<\/small><\/p>\n

Item:<\/b> McDonald\u2019s Horchata Frappe
\nPurchased Price:<\/b> $2.89
\nSize:<\/b> Medium
\nPurchased at:<\/b> McDonald\u2019s
\nRating:<\/b> 6 out of 10
\nPros:<\/b> Interesting, pleasant flavor. Works well in frozen treat format.
\nCons:<\/b> Coldness overpowers the subtler horchata flavoring. Not enough rice, nutty taste.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Horchata is a white-ish drink often seen in Mexican restaurants in those giant beehive-shaped containers. It\u2019s pronounced or-chah-tah, and it\u2019s really fun to say. Try it. Or-chah-tah. Or-chah-tah. Sorry, cellar door. There\u2019s a new best word. It should be a celebrity child\u2019s name, except if people don\u2019t know how to pronounce it correctly and it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1440],"tags":[1477,1481],"class_list":["post-16892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-fast-food","tag-mcdonalds"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":70198,"url":"https:\/\/www.theimpulsivebuy.com\/wordpress\/2025\/05\/23\/starbucks-iced-horchata-oatmilk-shaken-espresso-review\/","url_meta":{"origin":16892,"position":0},"title":"REVIEW: Starbucks Iced Horchata Oatmilk Shaken Espresso","author":"Heather","date":"May 23, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Horchata is such a fun word, isn't it? 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