Wednesday, June 1, 2011

McDonald's "NEW" Rolo Mcflurry
a.k.a. that didn't go so well


[New for 2011, seen 2012, gone 2013 >>> returning May 24 to Sept 11, 2017]
Yeah, I'm going to be upfront about this one, this review didn't go so well and I don't feel very well right now. Oh, I know, I should start from the beginning.

Adam from GrubGrade mentioned the new Rolo McFlurry was coming and I knew I had to try it. I like Rolos, that make a nice once in a while snack, but I don't keep them in stock because I usually just blow right through them. McDonald's across the country seem to have gotten the jump on things and released on May 27th. Hoping my local McD's would do the same yesterday, I rushed off only to be disappointed. I was content to wait a few more days when a certain someone on a certain island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean pops up with a review this morning. Oh the jealousy! I must rectify this immediately.

I finally made it out to lunch, tried running a few errands (both fails), decided to head back to the office when I spied a different McDonald's. Hmmm, I think we need to give it a try.... YES! Success! There's a big picture on the menu for the new limited time only McFlurry. I quickly rushed in line and grabbed my treat.

Now Marvo was complaining about not getting enough caramel.... well, I had the opposite problem. I swear, it felt like I got a double helping of it or something. That, or my server was terrible at blending because the second half of my McFlurry lacked both rolo bits and sauce and was effectively plain softserve. (not that it doesn't happen at DQ, it's just not as drastic).

Let me reiterate: Mine was highly over sauced. Keep in mind that this isn't regular caramel but the sugary rolo version of caramel. My sweetness threshold is pretty high and I can run with the best of them, but it's been well over an hour and I still feel nauseous from how sickeningly sweet this treat was. Actually, treat might be the wrong word, "future weight reliever" might be a better term. Maybe I'm sick, only time will tell, but this was borderline foul. I wish I had either stopped after the second bite or at least known to mix the whole treat before I preceded.

Oh man, even thinking about this treat is unpleasant, but I will try for just a little bit longer. There was a fair amount of Rolo bits to start, a scattering of a few large chunks with mostly small, thinner chunks spreading out a fairly even crunch factor. I couldn't tell if they used regular rolos or some kind of rolo like shell hunks, or possibly both.

There was definitely an aftertaste, but it was a mix of sub par chocolate flavor and some sickeningly sweet vibes that just wouldn't go away. I'd say I wanted a coke to wash it down, but oh, that would be more sugar.

If you like Rolos, and if you are very careful, I won't be offended if you give this treat a try. On the other hand, if you wind up chucking this at the nearest person who runs a red light, you're probably better off.... wait, I'm probably not suppose to advocate that. Point being, your reaction is your own fault, you have been warned that it might get ugly.

Verdict?  sickening
Buy Again?  I'm afraid!

Second Thoughts: As poorly made as I found my Rolo McFlurry, more than enough people are enjoying them. It's really luck of the draw on this one, but unfortunately my first experience was so bad, I can't even force myself to go back.

2012 Update: My wife had one and really enjoyed it. Apparently hers was well mixed!

OTHER NEWS:

The Dairy Queen June 2011 Blizzard is the Brownie Blizzard ... again. You may recall it as the September 2010 blizzard or the June 2009 blizzard (when I reviewed it).

Chocolate Hazelnut is the Cold Stone Creamery Gold Cone flavor of the month.

Dunkin Donuts has a new Frozen Hot Chocolate Treat, but I'm not sure how I feel about a drink that is basically a chocolate coolatta.

Baskin Robbins June flavor is Toffee Pecan Crunch which is chocolate ice cream with a smooth caramel ribbon and packed with pecans and Heath Bar pieces. That actually sounds good.

19 comments:

  1. Everything about this sounded intriguing, but the more "glowing" reviews I read, the more I want to stay away from it.

    McDonald's has problems blending their McFlurry's in general (I've never had one that was even close to perfect), so it's no surprise they have problems with this one. They need to work a little harder on training to get people to mix these right because when you just end up with plain soft serve at the bottom, it SUCKS.

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  2. i kinda feel bad for mentioning marvos review earlier to you aha=p

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  3. @IE: DQ isn't perfect, but they are way ahead of McD's.

    @Nick: strangely enough, both you and Adam brought it up, I think we all have Rolos on the brain.

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  4. IE said it. Thanks for taking one for the team, Dubya. I'be never liked Micky D shakes, so I think I'll skip this. I tend to favor ahrd ice cream. I may check out the new Baskin Robbins Flavor of the month for my treat this weekend.

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  5. Jesus! I would have probably throw up after eating that... At first I thought you'd be raving, but I guess not? Oh well, blizzards are way better than McNasties :P

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  6. aha it's just not everyday you see rolos used as mix ins. Even with the risk of feeling sick I still have an urge to try it and I have no clue why

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  7. First off, thanks for the link. Secondly, it bothers me that there isn't consistency between all the McDonald's with an item like this. I'm pretty sure the McDonald's fries here look and taste the same as the fries in Montana or in South Carolina, so why can't that be for a Rolo McFlurry?

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  8. @Dubba: I really feel that I have to say this again. Get an Oreo McFlurry before these other versions ruin their reputation completely. Give that one a chance, and if you don't like it, I will graciously accept that.

    @Adam: The shakes from McDangle have never been good for anything other than... well... I can't think of anything.

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  9. Oh dear this doesnt sound good, I hate it when something is so sickly sweet that you get the aftertaste from it for hours afterwards...it looks pretty sickly!

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  10. Unless this nasty treat had chicken in it, it was foul, not 'fowl.'^^

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  11. Sorry. That sounds horrible. I have a low sugar threshold so any combo of ice cream and caramel would produce an undesirable effect in me. I used to enjoy McD's vanilla triple thick shakes, but I last had one in 2008.

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  12. @Marvo: No idea, the mcflurry on fat guy's food blog looked even worse then mine.

    @Julien: I'm sure the oreo is fine, it's pretty hard to mess that up :)

    @anonymous: considering how I felt when I wrote this review, I'm shocked that's the only type I made (I will fix)

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  13. I love a good train wreck so I went and bought a small Mc Flurry last night, and like yours Dubba the caramel was all on top and on the lid which I tried to lick off the lid causing a tongue bleed :( The bottom was all vanilla. It wasn't bad because ice cream and Rolos can never be bad, but it wasn't good or something I'd get again..God I hate to say it but you were right on this one!

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  14. The problem with the rolo mcflurry is that I believe it has nothing to actually do with rolos, it's just a brand licensing thing.

    You've experienced it - they drop chocolate pieces in and squirt an un-premeasured amount of caramel in.

    The caramel is the same caramel they use on other desserts.

    Consistency is not at all in this thing - and it is a lot to ask for considering the expense and messiness of standardizing the amount of caramel.

    M&Ms and other mix-ins are simple - the machine dispenses one serving. One of these McFlurries is no different from the next. The Rolo, is way different.

    BUT....it's still my favorite McFlurry :)

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  15. all they do here is m&m, reese's or oreo... the only one I kinda like is m&m's, the rest are sick. I've no idea why they don't carry more flavors. When the rolo flavor was out I loved it. Now I always go to DQ if i want an ice cream fix, much more flavors.

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    Replies
    1. be thankful you have reese's in there, most I see are oreo and/or m&m. How hard can it be to store candy?

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  16. My local McDonald's (Main Street near Terminal Ave in Vancouver, BC) thinks the Rolo McFlurry is made with chocolate sauce. I told them it's supposed to be Caramel but the night shift manager says no, it's chocolate sauce. I can't believe these people have never eaten a real Rolo candy. It annoys the hell out of me but it actually tastes better with the chocolate so I'm conflicted.

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  17. This was my absolute favorite thing in the world ever! I don't know why no one likes it. Sad it got discontinued :I

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  18. McDonald's needs to deliver a consistent product, that's why many of us were frustrated.

    There's always hope it will come back at some point!

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