You know spring is get along when you start seeing those offbeat advertizement for McDonald ’s Shamrock Shake . This minty milkshake has been a staple of thefast - food giantsince 1970 , outlast other McD ’s icons like the McRib ( 1981 ) and Chicken McNuggets ( 1983 ) .
In honour of this long - lasting delicacy , we ’re diving into the chronicle behind this iconic minty green milkshake .
History of the Shamrock Shake
While the Shamrock Shake made its official debut back in 1970 , it was actually dreamt up in 1967 by a Connecticut McDonald’sowner and operator Hal Rosen , who created the unripe shake to celebrate St. Patrick ’s Day . The shake debut on McDonald ’s fare three years later on .
Those sports fan who count back lovingly on the trill might remember that the frozen sweet was n’t always a minty green delight . Surprisingly , in its first iteration , the Shamrock Shake was morecitrusy in flavor . Back then the Shamrock Shake client sip down on was a vanilla ice ointment mashup with lemon / limesherbetand vanilla syrup . ZERO mint .
Three years after that shake was introduced , McDonald ’s did by with the sherbet altogether and trade it as a bare vanilla shake with green food for thought coloring .
In 1983 , a pregnant milkshake moment occurred in fast - nutrient chronicle ( OK , we ’re getting silly here ) when McDonald ’s officially added mint flavor to the recipe , always solidify the Shamrock Shake as a one - of - a - kind — albeit momentary — addition to the menu . Why did McD ’s wait more than a decade before determine toshakethings up with this minty flavor ? The world may never know .
Minty or not , from the second of its arrival , the Shamrock Shake prove to be a monolithic hit . Sales from the 1974 shake even pay for Philadelphia ’s very firstRonald McDonald House .
OK, But How Does It Taste?
McDonald ’s has a room with its ice cream and the Shamrock Shake is no exclusion . It ’s smooth and creamy with a distinct - but - not - overpowering minty savor . Plus , it ’s topped with whipped cream . Who does n’t love whipped cream ? And this affair has been a success for over 50 years , so McDonald ’s is apparently doing something right .
Part of what they ’ve done right is marketing ( and charity ) . On St. Patrick ’s Day in 2010 , for instance , the " World ’s Largest Shamrock Shake " ( it was 24 - base [ 7 meters ] tall)was underprice into the Chicago Riverin honor of a $ 10,000 contribution to help oneself establish a new Ronald McDonald House in Chicago ( see icon below ) .
When it comes to ingredients , the shake is surprisingly simple : vanilla reduced fat shabu cream , Shamrock Shake syrup ( whatever that is , though we make bold it includes some leprechaun magic ) and strap light cream .
If you ’re watching your weight or sugar uptake , though , do n’t lease the concentrate juicy ice cream and light cream put one over you . A small Shamrock Shake come in at 460 calories with 13 full grams of avoirdupois ( 8 gramme of saturated avoirdupois ) and a banging 63 grams of sugar . The large is even worse at almost 800 nutritionist’s calorie and 112 grams of sugar . Yikes !
When Can I Get It?
Like most good things at McDonald ’s ( theMcRib ! ) , you could onlygrab the Shamrock Shake once a yr — generally between early February right up through at leastSt . Patrick ’s Day . ( That ’s part of what makes it so pop . )
But the Shamrock Shake did n’t become anationaltreasure until McDonald ’s make up one’s mind that every state in the U.S. deserved it — that was in 2012 . Before then , the shake ’s cult come jonesing for one had to use McDonald ’s Shamrock Shake Finder app ( yes , there was an app for that ) to track down the localization of every undivided Shamrock tremble - attend to McDonald ’s eating house in the U.S. lecture about dedication !
Throughout its runnel , the Shamrock Shake has takenmany different tastes and forms : the Shamrock Chocolate Shake , the Shamrock Chocolate Chip Frappé , the Shamrock Mocha , the Shamrock Hot Chocolate and an highly short - lived Shamrock Sundae .
McDonald ’s added a new twist on the lover favorite in 2017 : the OREO Shamrock McFlurry . You ’ll be capable to get it again this year , too .
