McDonald’s has rolled out a new drink at its restaurants after weeks of testing it out at some of its locations.
What Is McDonald’s New Drink?
Not many people noticed, but McDonald’s has been taking a new beverage for a test drive at select restaurants since March 2023.
The drink was listed as “premium lemonade” at all test locations. These restaurants were also serving the usual Minute Maid brand lemonade that is available at nearly every McDonald’s.
According to AllRecipes, the premium lemonade is made from lemon juice concentrate, lemon pulp, cane sugar, water and natural flavors. The Minute Maid version, on the other hand, is comprised of high fructose corn syrup, modified food starch and Yellow 5.
McDonald’s lemonade in a glass
So, yeah, a little closer to the real thing. Apparently, the premium lemonade was popular enough that McDonald’s is ready to make it a nationwide menu item.
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“Featuring real lemon juice, bits of lemon pulp and real cane sugar and handcrafted by our beverage experts – we’re serving up some citrus-ly good flavors,” McDonald’s said in an announcement about the drink’s nationwide release.
What McDonald’s Lemonade Means For Other Chain Restaurants
McDonald’s has already dropped the “premium” from the drink’s name and is now simply calling it “lemonade.” It will reportedly replace the Minute Maid lemonade that was previously served in restaurants.
Industry website Quartz has declared “lemonade wars” among chain restaurants with places like Wendy’s, Arby’s and Chick-fil-A already serving several varieties of the drink.
For now, McDonald’s is only offering lemonade with no additional flavors. Quartz has listed the drink’s prices as:
- Small: $2.73
- Medium: $2.98
- Large: $3.44
McDonald’s prices are often set by each franchisee and can vary by location.
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