{"id":17659,"date":"2014-09-25T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-09-25T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theimpulsivebuy.com\/wordpress\/?p=17659"},"modified":"2023-09-04T21:40:58","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T07:40:58","slug":"review-mcdonalds-purple-sweet-potato-mcshake-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theimpulsivebuy.com\/wordpress\/2014\/09\/25\/review-mcdonalds-purple-sweet-potato-mcshake-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"REVIEW: McDonald&#8217;s Purple Sweet Potato McShake (Japan)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/theimpulsivebuy\/15333582661\" title=\"View 'McDonald's Purple Sweet Potato McShake (Japan)' on Flickr.com\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"393\" style=\"display:block; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3876\/15333582661_9640069da1_z.jpg?resize=640%2C393&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"McDonald's Purple Sweet Potato McShake (Japan)\" width=\"640\" title=\"McDonald's Purple Sweet Potato McShake (Japan)\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>When I dream I often come across magical dream items I wish existed in real life. If only I could Inception myself or have a dream thief Inception me (That thought makes me all warm and tingly) so these mystic items could be extracted into reality.<\/p>\n<p>I mean, imagine if you could have a guitar that doubles as a television remote. Then you wouldn\u2019t have to stop playing for a moment to turn the channel! Or a toothbrush that simultaneously flosses your teeth and then rinses your mouth with Listerine. Sure it sounds dangerous, and it probably is, but you\u2019d still want one. I know I would.<\/p>\n<p>So when I encountered McDonald\u2019s Purple Sweet Potato McShake on a walk through Osaka, I bit myself as hard as I could on the hand to make sure I wasn\u2019t dreaming. Pinching yourself is so outdated. Get with the dream times, people! The milkshake was real (as was the blood running down my hand and arm) so I wasted no time in going in and getting one.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<i>Irasshaimase!!!<\/i>\u201d said the workers. <\/p>\n<p>Expect to hear this whenever you walk into just about anywhere in Japan. One time I swear I heard a toilet say it to me as I entered a restroom.<\/p>\n<p>After using my pathetic routine of pointing at the item I want and saying \u201cthis one, please\u201d in Japanese and the magic dream item extraction began. Now I know purple sweet potatoes are a real thing, but come on, when do you ever see one of them? I\u2019m close to 30 and I have yet to encounter one, so to me this is as magical a milkshake as there is.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/theimpulsivebuy\/15336757525\" title=\"View 'McDonald's Purple Sweet Potato McShake (Japan) 2' on Flickr.com\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"514\" style=\"display:block; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2944\/15336757525_3a35f11ae8_z.jpg?resize=640%2C514&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"McDonald's Purple Sweet Potato McShake (Japan) 2\" width=\"640\" title=\"McDonald's Purple Sweet Potato McShake (Japan) 2\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The color was very off-putting. It is a vibrant purple, which is really confusing because you think it will taste like black raspberry, or grape, or just something that is purple, yet the shake is similar to a traditional sweet potato with the orange center. It not only tastes like one, it tastes like one that has been buttered. I shit you not.<\/p>\n<p>McDonald\u2019s was able to replicate this Thanksgiving staple without being overly rich. A welcome surprise. The shake is not triple-thick like the ones in America, so you don\u2019t have to worry about any \u201cGod Damn It All The Shake Won\u2019t Come Through the Straw\u201d frustrations. It\u2019s a tad thinner than I usually like my milkshakes but the flavor more than made up for it.<\/p>\n<p>Now I personally love buttered sweet potatoes, so for me this shake was amazing but I could see some people not liking it just because it doesn\u2019t seem like a milkshake flavor that is meant to be.<\/p>\n<p>The one real obstacle you have with this milkshake is the psychological game it plays with you. Imagine if you were given a milkshake that appeared to be vanilla but in fact it tasted like strawberry, or a chocolate-seeming milkshake that in fact tasted like butter pecan. Can you say, \u201cmind fuck?\u201d I can! It\u2019s actually fun to say, rolls off the tongue really well. Give it a try!<\/p>\n<p>So to amplify the MF experience, I drank the milkshake while walking through the famous <a href=http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/D?tonbori>Dotonbori<\/a> area in Osaka, which is filled with all sorts of crazy mechanical crabs, electronic signs, and numerous oddities, not to mention the thousands of people walking about trying to decide which delicacy to try.<\/p>\n<p>If you had told me, \u201cHey, Trev, you\u2019re tripping balls right now,\u201d I wouldn\u2019t have disagreed with you. I would\u2019ve been angry at you for slipping me something, but only for a minute, because what\u2019s the point in getting angry?<\/p>\n<p>Now I can\u2019t tell you to hop on a flight, go to Japan and get this McShake because\u2026wait, no, I can tell you whatever I want. So go book a flight, preferably leaving tomorrow, fly into Tokyo or Osaka, get the McShake and then do whatever else you want.<\/p>\n<p>If you don\u2019t speak Japanese, no worries! A combination of pointing, the words, \u201cI don\u2019t understand,\u201d and crying will get you through most situations. <\/p>\n<p><a href=http:\/\/wiredinjapan.blogspot.com\/2009\/03\/do-your-best-ganbatte.html><i>Ganbatte<\/i><\/a>!<\/p>\n<p><small>(Nutrition Facts &#8211; (Editor\u2019s Note: I\u2019d like to put the nutrition facts here, but I don\u2019t know where it is on the McDonald\u2019s Japan website.))<\/small><\/p>\n<p><b>Item:<\/b> McDonald&#8217;s Purple Sweet Potato McShake (Japan)<br \/>\n<b>Purchased Price:<\/b> 195 yen<br \/>\n<b>Size:<\/b> Medkum<br \/>\n<b>Purchased at:<\/b> McDonald\u2019s Japan<br \/>\n<b>Rating:<\/b> 8 out of 10<br \/>\n<b>Pros:<\/b> Actually tastes like a sweet potato. Buttery flavor is delicious and a minor miracle. Being in Japan. Being incepted. <br \/>\n<b>Cons:<\/b> Milkshake is a tad thin. Dollar to yen confusion. Irasshaimase gets old fast. Shake is a real mind fuck.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When I dream I often come across magical dream items I wish existed in real life. If only I could Inception myself or have a dream thief Inception me (That thought makes me all warm and tingly) so these mystic items could be extracted into reality. I mean, imagine if you could have a guitar [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"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":[1477,1536,1481],"class_list":["post-17659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-fast-food","tag-japan","tag-mcdonalds"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15510,"url":"https:\/\/www.theimpulsivebuy.com\/wordpress\/2013\/10\/15\/review-mcdonalds-baked-sweet-potato-pie\/","url_meta":{"origin":17659,"position":0},"title":"REVIEW: McDonald\u2019s Baked Sweet Potato Pie","author":"Adam","date":"October 15, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Do you remember the great pumpkin shortage of 2011? 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