McDonald’s is stepping into the handcrafted beverage arena with three new refreshers. I was lucky enough to visit McDonald’s Global Headquarters last week for an early taste test; before we get into what I thought, let’s cover a few finer details of the McDonald’s refreshers ahead of the May 6th launch date. All three refreshers can be made with lemonade or water, depending on preference; the samples I reviewed at MHQ were made with lemonade. Since all three drinks feature either popping boba or freeze-dried fruit pieces, these refreshers will be served with the same new “sip lid” as the trio of dirty sodas launching alongside them.
Something else worth noting is that all three of these refreshers contain a solid dose of caffeine: 65mg in a regular and 80mg in a large. While the caffeine content varies by size, it won’t change if you order these refreshers sans ice to try and get a few extra sips from ole’ Ronald. Per my time in the test kitchen and a McDonald’s franchise owner over on Twitter, the ice is added last–makes sense for a drink line made with such fine-tuned ratios and recipes.