NEWS: The Birthday Cake Oreo Blizzard, Dairy Queen's Blizzard of the Month for January 2015

It's been a while since Dairy Queen has been able to capture our attention with a new Blizzard Treat, but it looks like that will change come January 2015. That's the slated release date for the creation above: The Birthday Cake Oreo Blizzard - Oreo cookie pieces, confetti frosting with sprinkles.

READER REVIEW: Steve's Review of Dairy Queen Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Blizzard

Growing up in the Midwest I always enjoyed Dairy Queen's soft-serve ice cream, but since moving down to the deep south it's a treat I've been missing. Thankfully, Baton Rouge recently got a new DQ brazier, so I decided to sample a blizzard. And since it's been awhile since I had one, rather than going with one of the new holiday mixes, I chose an old favorite, the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Blizzard.

This blizzard doesn't look like much, as you don't get the big swirl of whipped cream sitting on top like you do with the newer designer flavors. But what you do get is pretty impressive to the taste-buds, because the name of this treat doesn't lie: It's DQ's good soft-serve vanilla base with a generous helping of real Reese's Peanut Butter Cups blended in.

It's a pretty basic concoction but one that is hard to mess up, and DQ hits the mark: The blending process is neither to rough nor too fine. It is rough enough such that you get real chunks of the peanut butter cups to sink your teeth into, but also fine enough that much of the peanut butter centers get thoroughly blended into the vanilla base, giving an overall affect of eating chunks of these delicious cups in a peanut butter base ice cream rather than a vanilla one. This effect was enhanced by my requesting that the server add some of the peanut butter sauce DQ uses for other concoctions into my blizzard. This probably added 100 calories to the 740 listed for a medium-sized version. I was also tempted to pay more for extra peanut butter cup mix-ins, but was glad I didn't, as the standard concoction was served to me with more than enough peanut butter cups. The net result was about 10 minutes of bliss as I downed the tasty blizzard.

Where Steve Found It: Dairy Queen (Baton Rouge, LA)
Grade: B

REVIEW: Dairy Queen Pumpkin Pie Blizzard (October 2013 Blizzard of the Month)

I’ve been a little preoccupied all month, hence the lack of reviews, but I found some free time on the first day of the month to check out Dairy Queen’s Blizzard of the month for October: Pumpkin Pie. This combination of pumpkin pie pieces blended in creamy vanilla soft serve crowned with whipped topping and nutmeg sounded like the perfect way to reward myself after a strenuous leg workout with plenty of heavy squats and lunges. Since starting this blog last year, I’ve been waiting for someone to churn out a product that does the pumpkin pie ice cream concept justice. Turkey Hill’s version with a cinnamon graham cracker swirl was the best I’d had, but I'd still seen plenty of room for improvement. After driving down the street to my local Dairy Queen and seeing the picture on the drive-thru sign, I went ahead and splurged for the medium.

I paid my $3.69 plus tax and pulled around to await my 770-calorie introduction to the fall season. The cup handed to me by the attendant was by far the best-looking Blizzard I’d received to date. It even looked better than the one on the advertisement; something that rarely happens. All the components were easily identifiable and had been left thick and chunky. The whipped topping dusted with orange nutmeg made this one of the most aesthetically pleasing ice creams I’ve photographed. Perhaps the most surprising part of all were the large concentrations of actual pumpkin pie filling. This also happened to be one of those cups that made it practically impossible to taste the vanilla base by itself. My best option was to just dig right in the way Dairy Queen had intended and that's what I did.

As expected, there was no lack of texture in this one. The pumpkin-infused, vanilla soft serve envelopes the light whipped topping, thick pumpkin pie puree and the same crunchy pie crust pieces that we’ve seen in their Lemon Meringue Pie and Banana Cream Pie Blizzards. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what component contributes the most, but they result is an easy A. My Dairy Queen always seems to impress with the amount of mix-ins they include in my cups, but this one was just outrageous. I would be willing to say the ratio of soft serve to pumpkin pie pieces was close to even. This also managed to come off as the most authentic pumpkin pie flavored ice cream I’ve had; largely because it’s mostly made up of pumpkin puree and pie crust squares. Hopefully, like the S’mores Blizzard from summer, Dairy Queen will keep this one around all season instead of just this month. With that said, it would still be nice to see this same concept and over-the-top mix-ins used by a super-premium ice cream company.

Where I Found It: Dairy Queen
Grade: A

READER REVIEW: Emily's Review of Dairy Queen's Pumpkin Pie Blizzard

Ever since I saw Dairy Queen’s Blizzard Battle advertised for the month of September, I have been craving both the Pumpkin Pie Blizzard as well as the Apple Pie Blizzard but have always ended up fulfilling my ice cream fix at the local Handel’s instead. However, when The Ice Cream Informant offered a coupon to try either blizzard, I could not turn down the incentive. As a big blizzard fan and a raging chocoholic, ordering something other than the Chocolate Extreme or Heath with added brownie seemed unfamiliar. Yet, with my coupon in hand, I settled on the Pumpkin Pie blizzard based on the rave reviews circulating since last year.

My local Dairy Queen seems to often skimp on the toppings yet, to my excitement, this blizzard was different. Making my way through the tall layer of nutmeg-dusted whipped cream that topped the cup, I was pleased to find my spoon-full loaded with bits of piecrust. The crust added just the right crunch to perfectly compliment the soft-serve generously loaded with pumpkin puree. The overall flavor of the soft-serve was had a pleasant pumpkin overtone but was not overdone. The nutmeg spices seemed to tie everything together, creating an authentic pumpkin pie experience in ice cream form. While I thoroughly enjoyed the Pumpkin Pie Blizzard, in my opinion it still falls far short of the S’mores blizzard from the summer. That being said, I would still give this blizzard a B rating.

Where Emily Found It: Dairy Queen
Emily's Grade: B

REVIEW: Dairy Queen Apple Pie Blizzard (Blizzard of the Month for September 2014)

Earlier this month we were contacted by Dairy Queen to promote this month's Blizzard of the Month, the all new Apple Pie Blizzard: delicious cinnamon apple with cinnamon pie pieces blended with creamy vanilla soft serve and garnished with whipped topping and cinnamon sprinkles. They've paired this pie themed Blizzard up with an old favorite, the Pumpkin Pie Blizzard. Between these two, they're asking consumers to pick their favorites. Last year, we ranked the Pumpkin Pie Blizzard among the best we'd ever had, giving it a the coveted grade A rating. When we were handed our Apple Pie Blizzard above, it seemed as the competition might indeed be a close one.

Plunging the signature red spoon through the tall layer of whipped cream dusted with cinnamon, we grabbed a bit of everything on the way out. The airy whipped topping quickly faded away to the cinnamon apple infused soft serve sitting below, something we've never seen from Dairy Queen. Adding the ideal amount of crunch and cinnamon sugar spices, the bits of pie crust ties everything together. While we enjoyed the Apple Pie Blizzard, it couldn't live up to the high bar set by the Pumpkin Pie version.

Where I Found It: Dairy Queen
Grade: B

REVIEW: Dairy Queen Choco Covered Cheesecake Blizzard (September 2013 Blizzard of the Month)

After back-to-back unsuccessful visits to my local Dairy Queen in search of September’s Blizzard of the Month earlier on Monday and Tuesday, I was finally able to get my hands on the Choco Covered Cheesecake Blizzard earlier today. Cheesecake based ice creams have always seemed to score well with my particular palate so the combination of creamy cheesecake pieces, rich cocoa fudge and decadent choco chunks in creamy vanilla soft serve sounded pretty satisfying.

Seeing as it was only lunchtime, I went with their small. Even though a large would have set me back 1220 calories, my cup only contained 690. Unlike some of the other Blizzards I've received in the past, the Choco Covered Cheesecake Blizzard wasn't cascading over the edges. Considering I was in the car, this was actually appreciated as I've had plenty of creamy vanilla soft serve spill all over my seats before. The most glaring detail I notice about this Blizzard is that, despite featuring a vanilla foundation, the rich cocoa fudge added in during the blending process (and still stuck on the inside of the cup), has transformed this into an entirely new flavor.

The blending of the fudge swirl has replaced the usual flavor you’d expect with a rich, chocolate-filled finish, and even though the vanilla winds up a little lost; this is still one I preferred over the norm. Dairy Queen chose to once again incorporate one of their most frequently used mix-ins: their decadent choco chunks. As they have before, these give each bite a bit of crunch before getting to the other ingredients; much like the shell of an ice cream bar. In this case, the crackle of the choco chunks is a precursor to the cheesecake pieces to come.

Unfortunately for me, the highlighted component of this Blizzard creation was a bit over blended during the production process and because of that, I had only a few cheesecake squares that made it through to the end. The only benefit of this was that each bite was brimming with bits of creamy cheesecake that added that familiar tang to the finish. The sizable chunks broke down much slower than anything else and added an intense, authentic cheesecake taste that really worked well with the chocolate infused vanilla soft serve. This was one was right on the cusp of receiving an A, and maybe with more whole cheesecake pieces, or if I hadn’t experienced how good the S’mores variation could be, this could have broken into the upper echelon.

Where I Found It: Dairy Queen
Grade: B

READER REVIEW: Bob's Review of Dairy Queen's Choco Covered Cheesecake Blizzard (September 2013's Blizzard of the Month)

Dairy Queen's Blizzard of the Month for September is Chocolate Covered Cheesecake which is "Vanilla Soft Serve, Creamy Cheesecake Pieces, Rich Cocoa Fudge, and Decadent Chocolate Chunks". When I saw the workers mixing this up, they made sure they sold you nothing short of what is to be expected in this Blizzard. Huge chunks of cheesecake bites, a few scoops of chocolate chunks and then topped with fudge and topped with the vanilla soft serve before being blended.

From the appearance, this looks nothing different than a normal Blizzard, but it's hard to even notice that it has a vanilla base. In my opinion, this would probably be better with a chocolate base given the chocolate and fudge mixed into the Blizzard with the cheesecake pieces there for extra taste. As I cracked into my first bite, you could taste the fudge overpowering the vanilla base, making it like a mocha kind of a base. Because of the broken chocolate pieces, which reminded me of the small fudge flakes in the nutty caramel swirl Ben and Jerry's pint, it had a nice texture.

As I got a few bites into this blizzard it really started to shine. Once you get past the top layer and a few of the cheesecake pieces, which have a rich taste and a very soft/chewy texture (unlike some pints of Ben and Jerry's, which have rock hard mix-ins) these are very nice and reminded me of how soft the brownies are in Tons of Brownies from 2nd St. Creamery. What I found pretty funny was every once in a while you get a moment reminiscent of Graeter's when you get some chocolate pieces that were not fully mixed by the Blizzard machine and grow as large as a quarter. Huge pieces of chocolate that remind me of a Hershey Bar blended into the overall mixture create a satisfying treat.

Overall, I was pleased. Considering this is from Dairy Queen, which is soft serve, this was not bad at all. Was it their best? No, I would not say so because everyone has different taste buds. Some people would love to have peanut butter cups added in here, or some enjoy cookie dough mix-ins, etc., but for a cheesecake lover and a chocolate lover this is something you cannot pass up. Speaking for myself, if this had a chocolate base and Reese's peanut butter cups this would be an easy A, but for now, I will have this sitting at a B+ because it was good, but not overpowering/overwhelming. Then again, coming from Dairy Queen and a whopping 690 calories for a small Blizzard, you have to put all the factors together. Good mix-ins, a rich taste, and nothing mediocre about this at all. Everything was tasted (fudge in the base, vanilla hint of the real base, big chocolate chunks, and tons of cheesecake pieces that stick out of the ice cream).

Where Bob Found It: Dairy Queen
Bob's Grade: B

REVIEW: Arby's Salted Caramel Shake

After stopping by my local Dairy Queen to pick up this month’s featured Blizzard Treat, I was disappointed to see they were only offering the S’mores and Lemon Meringue Pie options from last month. On my way back home, I passed an Arby’s and remember hearing about the new Salted Caramel Shake they were offering. When their road sign advertisement confirmed my suspicions, I quickly turned in to try and salvage my unsuccessful attempt to secure the Tripleberry Brownie Blizzard. According to Arby’s, “What time is it? Time to indulge. Taste our decadent, creamy Salted Caramel Shake topped with whipped cream and a sprinkle of Hawaiian Sea Salt.” I paid my $2.99 plus tax and then watched the drive-thru attendant make my order.

The tall plastic cup was drizzled with a thick, golden caramel sauce and then filled to the brim with the milkshake mixture. He then added a substantial amount of whipped topping from an unmarked aerosol can and finished the whole thing with a sprinkle from a pink saltshaker before placing a domed lid on top. The entire shake contains 680 calories, but as I would soon find out, I wouldn’t even get close to finishing this one. With minimal effort, the beige colored base quickly came up through the straw and into my mouth. Not only did this lack the density of a thick, hand-spun shake from much of the fast food competition, but the flavoring caught me completely off guard.

Instead of the salted caramel I had been expecting, I picked up more of a strawberry vibe; strikingly similar to the small strawberry shakes I used to get occasionally as a kid. The salty component had been sprinkled on top of the “whipped cream” so it couldn’t be incorporated with the shake itself and the caramel was still sticking to the side of the cup (even after I poured the rest of the shake into the trash) and failed to contribute at all. Lastly, the poor, foamy excuse for whipped cream on the top did little to enhance the misguided flavorings underneath. While this may have looked nice from the outside, this was one of the worst frozen desserts I’ve had in some time.

Where I Found It: Arby's
Grade: F

REVIEW: Zaxby's Birthday Cake Milkshake (Limited Edition)

Whenever we’re talking fast food fried chicken, Zaxby’s is always near the top of my list. While I’ve been getting chicken fingers and crinkle fries there for years, I was recently turned on to their desserts by way of the Banana Pudding Milkshake. More recently, they decided to bring two additional flavors to their lineup: Birthday Cake and Chocolate Cookie. The Birthday Cake Milkshake was originally released back in 2010 as a celebration of the company’s 20th year in business, but was recently reintroduced by popular demand. This offering is made up of a festive cake batter-flavored milkshake mixed with multicolored sprinkles and finished off with chocolate whipped topping. After ordering, pulling around and paying my $2.99 plus tax, I was ready for my first sip.

I was given a tall plastic cup with a clear plastic top to prevent the chocolate whipped topping and vividly colored sprinkles from spilling over the sides. At 860 calories for the entire shake, this could be fit into some people’s daily diets, but I only ended up enjoying about half before things got too runny and melted to continue. After plunging my long plastic spoon through the airy, chocolate whipped topping; I pull out some of the yellow tinted ice cream hiding below the surface. The base is much sweeter than a standard vanilla, possesses a distinct cake-batter flavoring and isn't thick enough to hinder you from easily sucking some up through a straw. In order to enhance the texture, Zaxby’s has included plenty of the same brightly colored sprinkle circles used on top to the base. These add a bit of crunch and a more authentic birthday cake feel, but not much else.

The chocolate whipped topping sitting above the cake-batter base is a nice play on the traditional whipped cream you’d find on most shakes and, although it’s light in color and texture, the flavors are rich and mesh well with the ice cream and sprinkles. When combined in a bite with the other two ingredients, Zaxby’s Birthday Cake Milkshake settles at a C. Some actual birthday cake pieces would have really sent this shake to the next level, but until then, I'll take the Banana Pudding version over this one. I plan on checking out the Chocolate Cookie Shake soon, so we'll see which is the best of the three current options.

Where I Found It: Zaxby's
Grade: C

REVIEW: Dairy Queen Chips Ahoy! Blizzard (Blizzard of the Month for August 2014)

After skipping out on last month's Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Pie Blizzard, we couldn't resist checking out the Blizzard of the Month for August. Dairy Queen's Chips Ahoy! Blizzard contains Chips Ahoy!® chocolate chip cookies, chocolaty topping, and choco chunks blended with creamy vanilla soft serve and would set us back 1300 calories for our large cup, or about the same as an entire pint of super-premium ice cream. We can usually tell which Blizzard Treats are going to be successful based on looks alone and this one looked extra enticing as the drive-thru attendant handed us our oversized order.

The first layer was made up of a handful of broken chocolate chip cookie bits and plenty of chocolatey topping that hadn't managed to make its way inside the creamy vanilla soft serve. As usual, most of the mix-ins were left on top so the first few bites were by far the best, but the inclusion of choco chunks kept things texturally interesting from top to bottom. The cookies were crumbly, crunchy and full of the pre-packaged chocolate chip cookie flavoring that we'd expect from Chips Ahoy! There's no doubt that some freshly baked cookies would have enhanced the overall experience, but like many others, Dairy Queen knows they sell a lot of their products based on the brand name of their mix-ins alone and Chips Ahoy! falls right in line with this approach. While this can't touch front runners like the S'mores Blizzard, this version was still able to obtain a B, but we'd still rather have a nice pint of super-premium for the calories.

Where I Found It: Dairy Queen
Grade: B

Dairy Queen's Blizzard of the Month for August 2013 is Tripleberry Brownie with Choco Covered Cheesecake Coming Soon After

One of our readers recently tweeted at us letting us know about the the upcoming Blizzard of the Month for August 2013: Tripleberry Brownie. This combination of strawberry, raspberry and blackberry puree with chewy brownie pieces and choco chunks in creamy vanilla soft serve sounds like a refreshing summer flavor worth checking out. According to our insider, "I've tried just plain vanilla mixed with the triple berry purée (it's the same as the smoothies & Juliuses) and it tastes like black raspberry Ice cream! Very delicious."

My review of the Tripleberry Brownie Blizzard can be found HERE!

We were also forwarded promotional posters unveiling another new Blizzard creation: Reese's Choco Covered Cheesecake. Hopefully this one will be released sooner rather than later.

REVIEW: Krystal Nutter Butter MilkQuake

Krystal may be known for their slider-style, fast food burgers, but last week they introduced a new MilkQuake (their version of a milkshake) that had me wishing they had a location in my city. In addition to their standard selection of chocolate, strawberry and vanilla shakes, this most recent addition revolved around Nutter Butter cookies. I had come to terms with the fact that I probably wouldn’t get to try this one before it’s limited edition status was up. Then fate intervened. On my way to a business meeting in South Carolina, I found myself sitting at a red light right across from a Krystal location. Without hesitation, I whipped my car in the entrance and placed an order for the Nutter Butter MilkQuake. According to their website this is how they make this new creation, “Take classic NUTTER BUTTER cookies. Add rich, creamy ice cream. Blend until awesome. That's all it takes to make the amazing new NUTTER BUTTER MilkQuake, and a trip to your local Krystal is all it takes to try it.”

After paying my $2.99 plus tax, I was given a large plastic cup (the only size they offer) and a long red straw. Like many other fast food establishments, the first few inches of this MilkQuake was all whipped cream. Unlike others however, this thick whipped cream felt more authentic than some of the artificial looking toppings I’ve found from the competition. Although this shake wasn’t particularly photogenic, it tasted far better than it looked. The consistency of a Krystal MilkQuake is heavier than most, which makes it pretty difficult to suck up through the straw until it melts down a bit. The base is made of a sweet, powerful peanut butter ice cream that allows the flavors of the peanut butter cookies involved to come to the forefront. The Nutter Butters have been blended up enough to ensure you won’t find any larger chunks (which I would have appreciated) and add a gritty, crumbly texture along with the taste of actual cookies. After enjoying this shake so much, I’d love to see what a super-premium ice cream company could do with the same concept.

Where I Found It: Krystal
Grade: B

NEWS: Dairy Queen Brings Back the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Pie Blizzard for July 2014

Starting on Monday, June 30th 2014, Dairy Queen will be bringing back the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Pie Blizzard Treat. According to Dairy Queen, "full of yummy Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and real pieces of graham cracker pie crust, this Blizzard Treat is a chocolatey, peanut-buttery summer delight." We look forward to checking out this creation as well as receiving Reader Reviews from some of our followers!

REVIEW: French Fryz Pumpkin Milkshake

Although I haven't had much time to truly dedicate to the blog as of late, I've kept the reviews coming by picking up some fast food options every so often. While looking for a way to cool off with a friend recently, we stumbled upon this local, burger joint called French Fryz. We were tipped off by a family member and thought it would be a perfect to time to try it out. They offer a full line of burgers, fries, hot dogs and even salads, but we came for the shakes. French Fryz claims that these 1950’s style milkshakes are made with real Breyer’s ice cream that I assume is only available commercially these days since they've made the switch to frozen dairy dessert. While my friend opted for the chocolate, I couldn’t resist the temptation of trying their pumpkin. It had been a few seasons since I’d seen anything featuring any type of Fall flavoring, so I was anxious to see if French Fryz could satiate my off-season craving.

When the cashier handed me my cup, I was excited to see that not only was there a heaping scoop of actual ice cream sitting on top of the handspun shake, but they had also added a dash of pumpkin pie to the top layer. They had blended the ice cream just enough that it could be sucked through the straw with minimal effort while still retaining a dense feel. Despite the fact that my first sip was free of the concentrated spices on top, there was still plenty of flavoring to let you know exactly what you were dealing with. The familiar taste of pumpkin was immediately embraced by my taste buds and easily surpassed the performance of most other milkshakes available on the go. The flavoring was so delightful that I couldn’t wait until I finished before trying the actual ice cream on top. With the high concentration of spices coating the entire scoop, this was even more incredible than the actual milkshake. With some pie crust pieces or whipped cream topping blended in, this could have easily gotten an A.

Where I Found It: French Fryz (Skyland, NC)
Grade: B

REVIEW: Sonic Drive-In Peanut Butter & Bacon Shake

Last week sometime, I had a reader leave a comment on one of Blizzard reviews suggesting that I check out some of the shakes from Sonic Drive-In. Ironically enough, a new one had just opened up a few miles away so I headed to check it out just a few days later. As I scanned over the 25 different real ice cream milkshakes they offer as part of their Summer of Shakes promotion, one really jumped off the page. I’d heard of bacon-infused sweets on television a few times and online, but hadn’t encountered the combination firsthand. Although there were a lot of worthy opponents in their lineup, I couldn’t let the opportunity to try real ice cream mixed with rich peanut butter and real bacon into a thick and creamy shake, finished with whipped topping a cherry pass me by.

Since I was a bit scared of getting stuck with a huge cup of something I wasn’t too fond of, I went with the small size. After looking at the outrageous nutrition facts when I got back home though, I’m glad I did. My small only set me back 760 calories, but the large portion ballooned all the way up to 1720 calories and a whopping 118 grams of fat (including 275% of your daily recommended value of saturated fat). After pulling up to one of the drive-in stalls, placing my order and waiting for a few minutes, the server roller-skated out to my car and exchanged my $2.09 for my cup. Like many other fast food shakes I’ve gotten, this one came topped with a plastic lid filled with whipped cream and a maraschino cherry. As I removed the lid and scraped off the mound of whipped cream, I could see big smears of creamy peanut butter still sticking to the side of the Styrofoam cup from the blending process; as well as little bits of actual bacon.

My first few sips of the thick, real ice cream milkshake were interesting to say the least. The sweet peanut butter comes first and provides a dense, heavy flavoring to act as the foundation. Peanut butter is featured in a ton of flavors that combine sugar and salt, but none can compare to the way the grease from the bacon affected the taste. These little strips came together with the nuttiness of the ice cream to create an experience you won’t find just anywhere. Perhaps it was just the novelty of the idea, but I found myself really enjoying it for a bit. Before I was even halfway through though, I reached the law of diminishing return. The bacon and peanut butter played well together for a few minutes, but soon felt too heavy to palate any longer. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of this shake came from the concentration of bacon sitting on the bottom of the cup. It looks like Sonic should suggest more blending for this particular flavor. From here on out, I’ll probably save the bacon for breakfast or burgers and not in my ice cream.

A normal bite on top. My last bite on the bottom.

Where I Found It: Sonic Drive-In
Grade: D