McDonald's Grimace Birthday Shake Review: It Doesn't Taste Like Berry

McDonald's is constantly pumping out new promotions and limited-time items. The latest promotion has fans divided. In a new attempt to market a new item through nostalgia, the fast food giant is pulling from its classic stable of characters and specifically our love for the big purple guy himself, Grimace. It's time to celebrate the shake-loving monster's birthday!

Introduced as a shake-stealing villain in his first incarnations, Grimace has become one of the burger chain's lovable mascots. Notably, he likes to celebrate his birthday with McDonald's food and friends, but like many of you, we can't say we knew that fact until the Grimace's Birthday Meal promotion hit this week. 

Yes, that's right. Grimace is celebrating yet another birthday and this shake fiend has whipped up a brand new creation for the world to enjoy. It's known as the Grimace Birthday Shake and you can get one in a medium size with a meal that includes fries and either a Big Mac or 10-piece McNuggets.

Naturally, our curiosity got the best of us and we had to try this brand new flavor (and color) of shake. We had low expectations for this purple dairy concoction but ended up pleasantly surprised. Even if we are still not quite sure what it was supposed to taste like, here is our review of what the Grimace Birthday Shake reminded us of most. 

The Grimace Birthday Shake is purple like Grimace. Isn't that all you need to know? This may be an instance of a company trying to stoke your curiosity in a less-is-more type of approach. Nobody knows what the Grimace shake is going to taste like until they try it. Even doing some digging on the McDonald's site for the Grimace Birthday Meal doesn't quite give satisfactory answers to the question of what it tastes like — even if it technically tells you what is in it. 

According to the site, the shake's ingredients include reduced-fat vanilla ice cream mixed with Grimace Shake syrup and topped with whipped cream. Simple as that. In the syrup, however, there are many ingredients on the list including sugar, water, corn syrup, glycerin, modified food starch, citric acid, potassium sorbate, and sodium benzoate. None of those ingredients actually tell us which fruit this shake is meant to taste like, so we had to order one ourselves.

There are actually two ways to get your hands on the Grimace Birthday Shake. You can, of course, order the Grimace Birthday Meal on the app or at the counter. However, if you simply want the shake a la carte, then you'll have to visit your local McD's and ask the cashier for it on its own.

We went to a McDonald's in Brooklyn and asked for a medium Grimace Birthday Shake. We paid $4.49 plus tax for this single item, which will be on the higher end of what you're likely to be charged due to the region. This is a slight upcharge from the regular shake flavors at the location the shake was purchased at. 

To answer the question of the day at last, we have to talk about what this purple milkshake tasted like. Upon first taste, we definitely detected a berry flavor but were mostly surprised by how the sweetness and richness of McDonald's ice cream took over. Ultimately, this actually worked in the Grimace shake's favor and we ended up drinking the whole thing. 

After giving it a few more sips, the best comparison point for the Grimace Birthday Shake in terms of flavor would have to be the fake fruity flavor only found in breakfast cereal. We felt like the shake tasted like Fruity Pebbles most of all; maybe close to something like Crunch Berries if that's where your sugary cereal nostalgia lies. The fruit flavor in the Grimace shake is mighty artificial tasting and it's difficult to pinpoint even a single actual fruit flavor, be it grape or blueberry — they just aren't there. 

But as a McDonald's shake? We actually thought the whole thing was pretty darn good, due to the fact that the berry flavor was not overwhelming. If it was even a bit stronger this would have been going in the trash after a few sips, but as it stands, the Grimace Birthday Shake is a fruity and nostalgic limited-time option that's certainly worth checking out.