REVIEW: Dunkin’ Raspberry Watermelon Refresher

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If you need a refresher on Refreshers, they are Dunkin’s line of caffeinated, fruit-flavored cold drinks. They were first introduced in 2020 with a green tea base that remains a steadfast option, but over the years, coconut milk and lemonade variants have been rolled out as well, and all three are available to accompany this summer’s newest flavor, Raspberry Watermelon.

I’ve loyally tried every Refresher so far, and typically if I order one without explicitly specifying the base I’d like, it comes with green tea by default. I was planning to leave the base for this review up to fate but was pleasantly surprised when the Dunkin’ employee asked me which base I’d like. While I’m a huge fan of milky drinks, the coconut milk can be overpowering even for me, and the green tea can be a bit too mild (probably because I’m a slow drinker and the flavor doesn’t hold up great when melted ice cubes water it down, which may not be a problem for most people), so lemonade struck me as the perfect option here. Plus, what could be more fitting to celebrate some overdue warm and sunny weather in my city?

My drink was a gorgeous deep reddish pink, a trait that I assume the green tea variant shares, though coconut milk Refreshers are inevitably cloudier and white-tinged. The pretty color seemed like a positive sign, and my first sip proved me right; this Refresher was as fruity and vibrant as I would expect from its vivid hue. The flavor was impressively cohesive. I find that sometimes when a drink is made up of two different flavors, one dominates the foreground while the other just appears in the aftertaste. But I couldn’t pick the raspberry and watermelon apart here, and I really enjoyed the way they mingled. Both fruits are sweet and juicy, and so is this drink. Yet, like a raspberry, it also had an identifiable tartness, which was evened out by the smooth mellowness of watermelon. The end result was an appealing candy-esque quality that never veered too sharply into overly sour territory.

The lemonade bolstered the tartness, of course, but it did so in a wonderfully balanced way. This may seem like a small difference, but I was glad that this definitively tasted like a lemonade-flavored raspberry watermelon drink rather than a raspberry watermelon-flavored lemonade. The only element of its flavor that I can’t speak to is how it tastes once the ice cubes start to melt because this was just so tasty that, for once, I gulped it down too quickly to find out! And, in case anyone was doubting this drink’s energy boosting powers, I can confirm that I was feeling quite sluggish before my purchase but left the sipping session feeling refreshed indeed.

If you appreciate jewel tone colors, zippy fruit flavors, or feeling like you’re slurping down the essence of summer no matter the weather, “water” you waiting for? Don’t blow this flavor a raspberry; it would make a fine choice for your next refreshment.

Purchased Price: $3.89
Size: Small
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 160 calories, 0 grams of total fat, 0 grams of cholesterol, 20 milligrams of sodium, 40 grams of total carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 38 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Van Leeuwen Limited Edition Arizona Green Tea Ice Cream

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In this chaotic world, it seems like there are only a few things you can rely on, but next time you feel caught up in a vortex of uncertainty, swirling, swirling, swirling toward uncontrollable, unpredictable change, just remind yourself of one comforting consistency: A can of Arizona iced tea still costs only 99 cents.

Yes, that seafoam-green-and-pink-floral mainstay of every convenience store beverage section is reliable, but that’s not to say it isn’t up for new collaborations. Enter Van Leeuwen, the people who brought you such weirdly tantalizing ice cream flavors as Hidden Valley Ranch and Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, with its new limited edition Arizona Green Tea Ice Cream. The base is green tea-flavored with honeycomb mix-ins.

Dressed in inviting packaging that perfectly represents Arizona’s iconic aesthetic, the ice cream base itself is, well, more rustic-looking. It is an earthy mixture of pale gray, brown, and mint green, bumpy with golden honeycomb bits. Think guacamole or the skin of a cartoon witch.

Don’t let this deter you because this ice cream is made for green tea fans. The green tea flavor is strong, but never too earthy. Some bitterness remains in the aftertaste, but overall the flavor is successfully tempered by the balanced, creamy base. (If you have never sampled Van Leeuwen’s products, let me double-underline the word “creamy.” The brand is known for its French-style ice cream, which uses extra egg yolks to achieve a rich consistency.) The flavor and smoothness remind me of a quality matcha latte.

While the base is good, I don’t think I’d like it as much without the honeycomb mix-ins. Scattered in small pieces throughout the base, the honeycomb – which is candy in the toffee family, often made by boiling together sugar with honey, corn syrup, or golden syrup – is crispy, crunchy, and coated in sticky syrup. While the syrup tastes like honey, I believe it is the tapioca syrup referenced in the product’s ingredients list. (Honey is not listed as an ingredient.) Besides adding a delicious pop of texture and flavor, the honeycomb pieces work well with the green tea base. When eaten together, the bite has an extra boost of sweetness that reminds me more of a sip of Arizona iced tea than a matcha latte. I wish there had been way more honeycomb per serving.

Van Leeuwen Arizona Green Tea Ice Cream pays dutiful homage to the flavors of Arizona iced tea and is mostly successful. Fans of the stuff may wish for a more pronounced honey vibe throughout the base, but anyone who loves green tea will want a scoop. While Van Leeuwen can’t match the 99-cent bargain of an Arizona iced tea, a five dollar bill and an extra stop in the freezer aisle are small prices to pay for this limited edition treat.

Purchased Price: $4.98
Size: 14 oz
Purchased at: Walmart
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (per 2/3 cup): 270 calories, 16 grams of fat, 10 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 95 milligrams of cholesterol, 130 milligrams of sodium, 28 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 27 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein.

REVIEW: Sonic Strawberry Shortcake Snowball Slush Float

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Sonic sells Strawberry Shortcake Snowball Slush Floats now, and I gotta tell you, they’re a mouthful.

Sonic. Sells. Strawberry. Shortcake. Snowball. Slush. Floats.

Yeah, that’s literally a mouthful. Sally should ditch the seashells and lace up some roller skates. I’m sure there’s a Sonic drive-in near her sea town.

How fast can you say that? Because I honestly get a little tripped up at “shortcake,” which will be a running theme of this review.

Sonic sells Strawberry Short—ah!

Yeah, I can’t get past that without slowing down. Brain freeze before the brain freeze, right? Anyway…

The S5F consists of “strawberries and a sweet shortcake flavor all swirled into an icy slush. Topped with a snowball of ice cream and sugary snow crystals.”

The float starts with a huge plop of vanilla ice cream sprinkled with crystalized sugar, which really got the snowball off and rolling. Not sure why simply adding a little generic sugar helped the ice cream, but man, was it good. I mean, it’s ultimately unnecessary and quickly gets swallowed up in the rest of the float, but those first couple of crunchy spoonfuls were awesome.

Once I dug around the ice cream blockade a little, I got into the nitty-gritty of the float, which was the strawberry and shortcake (?) flavored slush.

I don’t know why this threw me off so much, but I don’t understand which flavor was doing what here. Don’t get me wrong, I really liked it, but the shortcake flavor just seemed to exist as its own entity, which I couldn’t pinpoint. I thought I was gonna get a bunch of actual cake at the bottom, but no, an air of cake was just there, emanating.

Sonic’s site simply calls it “shortcake flavor,” with a picture of a generic powdery swirl underneath it. The ice cream isn’t cake flavored, and the cake pieces never came.

Why are there no genuine cake pieces in this thing? They toss stuff like that into floats and shakes all the time. I thought for sure that was gonna be a lock.

Whatever, I’m overthinking it because this genuinely tasted like a strawberry shortcake. The syrupy pieces of real strawberry blended in popped, and that strong unexplainable angel’s food cake flavor powder tasted real to me.

So, I guess this is simply crushed ice, strawberry, cake flavor swirls, and vanilla ice cream. Let’s go with that. Hey, it works. It reminded me a lot of Little Debbie’s Strawberry Shortcake Rolls, which recently got an ice cream spinoff, so I definitely need to try that.

Even without real cake, I’d recommend this. I’d also recommend just dumping it in a bowl and eating it like ice cream if you can. Half the float is too thick for a straw, and I didn’t think mine was layered all that well. You could even toss some actual cake in the bowl, like Sonic should have.

Oh, and a small one is plenty. You’ll be more than satisfied unless you were really hoping for cake pieces. Ok, that’s enough of that.

Sonic sells Strawberry Shortcake Snowball Slush Floats. Got it.

Purchased Price: $2.79
Size: Small
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 280 calories, 9 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 30 milligrams of cholesterol, 105 milligrams of sodium, 48 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 41 grams of sugar, and 3 grams of protein.

REVIEW: McDonald’s Grimace’s Birthday Meal feat. Grimace’s Birthday Shake

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Happy 52nd Birthday, Grimace!

I have to admit; Grimace doesn’t look 52 years old. It’s like he’s the Paul Rudd of McDonaldland. (By the way, Paul Rudd is older than Grimace.) To celebrate the occasion, McDonald’s is offering for a limited time Grimace’s Birthday Meal that features your choice of either a Big Mac or 10-piece Chicken McNuggets, fries, and a limited edition shake that’s inspired by the big guy’s color and sweetness.

Look, if you’re reading this, you probably know what a Big Mac, Chicken McNuggets, and McDonald’s fries taste like. So let’s spend the rest of this review on Grimace’s Birthday Shake, which I wonder if Grimace has actually had because wouldn’t it be like eating himself since, according to McDonald’s, he’s “the embodiment of a milkshake”?

Anyhoo, since Grimace represents a shake, one of the mysteries about it was, “What shake flavor is he?” Well, we now might have an answer. Grimace’s Birthday Shake has a delightful blueberry flavor that reminds me of the fruit at the bottom of a blueberry yogurt but a little more intense. It’s mostly sweet, and at some points I thought it was reaching the level of being too sugary, but there’s also some tang to it. I also think this blueberry flavor would be great in an Oreo McFlurry. Maybe do that for Grimace’s 53rd birthday, McDonald’s? For now, I’ll just dip my fries into it, which is surprisingly good.

If there’s one issue, it’s that in order to get it, I have to purchase Grimace’s Birthday Meal. Look, I get it, money, demand, growth, customer traffic, valuation, shareholders, Hamburglar’s constant bail, yadda yadda yadda. But the only barrier to getting the shake should be a broken or currently being cleaned soft serve machine and not wondering if I want to eat several hundred calories to suck up a few hundred purple calories. Although I admit, it’s worth it the first time because that’s how tasty the shake is. But I don’t want to do it every time.

Purchased Price: $13.19* (meal)
Size: Medium shake
Rating: 8 out of 10 (shake only)
Nutrition Facts: (shake only) 580 calories, 15 grams of fat, 9 grams of saturated fat, 0.5 grams of trans fat, 60 milligrams of cholesterol, 170 milligrams of sodium, 97 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 75 grams of sugar (including 62 grams of added sugar), and 12 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.

REVIEW: Arby’s Americana Roast Beef Sandwich

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I don’t eat at Arby’s often, but I have to admit there’s a reason it’s known for its Classic Roast Beef Sandwiches. The texture and flavor of the beef are so perfect that I will joyfully eat the sandwiches plain, and I always loved it when my parents would bring home a bag of them. And I say that as someone who generally goes for meatless or poultry options.

For the summer, Arby’s has brought us the Americana Roast Beef Sandwich, which includes seven elements: roast beef, red onion, sesame seed bun, American cheese, tomato, shredded lettuce, and burger sauce. I assume they call it “Americana” because those are classic toppings for an all-American cheeseburger.

I shouldn’t need to explain the vegetables to you (although if you’re a regular reader of a junk-food site, maybe I do). No one eats American cheese expecting it to be a gourmet experience, and this cheese was no different.

As for the burger sauce, if you had offered me a sample of it on its own and asked me if I wanted it on my sandwich, I probably would have said no. It has a tanginess, probably from mayo and mustard, that wasn’t that appealing to me by itself.

Although I was underwhelmed by the cheese and the sauce on their own, I quite enjoyed the sandwich as a whole. The cheese and the sauce provide the right texture and keep the sandwich from getting too dry, and the flavors work well with each other. The vegetables bring a welcome freshness. You’re probably not going to Arby’s if you’re looking for something that tastes and feels fresh, but I appreciated the veggies here. And the roast beef is exactly what you would hope and expect from Arby’s. The bun, as usual, is a benign but passable vehicle for the other elements.

I actually had one of these before I committed to reviewing it, so I went back for another one. And after I ordered my sandwich, the cashier told me there was a deal for two for seven dollars. I might have to go back and get that deal for lunch and dinner one day. So it’s good enough for me to want to eat it more than once!

Is the Americana sandwich better than the Classic? I wouldn’t say so, but it is a refreshing variation.

Purchased Price: $5.19
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 493 calories, 221 calories from fat, 25 grams of fat, 10 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 70 milligrams of cholesterol, 1459 grams of sodium, 43 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of fiber, 10 grams of sugar, and 27 grams of protein.

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