Shwetha Sundarrajan is a journalism major and writes “This is the Shwe” for The Daily News. Her views do not necessarily reflect those of the paper.
It is March, the month of St. Patrick's Day, March Madness and of course, the beloved Shamrock Shake from McDonald’s.
As an avid mint flavor fan, I love the Shamrock Shake. It’s perfectly minty, straddling the fine line between tasting like toothpaste and being too sugary. The shake is loved by many, so much so that McDonald’s has been bringing it back every March since it is original debut in 1970.
So what is in the Shamrock Shake that keeps customers hooked on the minty green drink? According to McDonalds, the shake is made up of low-fat vanilla ice cream, shamrock shake syrup and whipped cream. A medium Shamrock Shake has approximately 78 grams of sugar, which is two-and-a-half times more sugar than the recommended amount of added sugar per day. Regardless, it’s never wrong to indulge once in a while.
Despite the Shamrock Shake’s avid popularity, there are still some people who vehemently hate it. I just want to ask them — Why? It’s perfectly creamy, minty and sweet. It doesn’t taste like toothpaste, and it doesn’t have that weird toothpaste-esque crunch that some ice creams or minty sweets have.
I’ve gotten all the classic rebuttals from Shamrock Shake: “it tastes like toothpaste,” “it’s not even sweet,” “it’s too spicy!” That last one doesn’t even make sense, honestly.
To those people, I say this: I think mint is wonderful. I understand if it’s not your cup of tea, and that’s fine. I’m not trying to make anyone a mint convert. But don’t hate on mint. It’s been a classic, all-natural flavor and scent that’s been around for centuries. It’s not a fake, artificial flavor like blue raspberry that was concocted in a lab.
Mint flavor is extracted from various species of the mint plant, such as peppermint and spearmint, and has been in culinary recipes for centuries. Not only is it used in cooking, but mint has also been used as a flavoring additive, or as a fragrance in many scents and cosmetics. You may not realize it, but either your food or deodorant probably has mint extract in it.
So to all those haters out there, think for a moment before you shun mint. That peppermint essential oil you put into your diffuser to improve concentration? That’s a type of mint. So why not be more accepting when peppermint or spearmint is in food?
The Shamrock Shake isn’t that bad. Just give it a try. After all, it only comes around once a year. It couldn’t hurt you that badly.
Contact Shwetha with comments at ssundarrajan@bsu.edu