McDonald’s McCafe line has become a bit of a monster.  With more beverage varieties than you can shake a stick at, its easy to become lost in the shuffle when new choices hit the menu.  My best bet, is to roll through the drive-thru every once in a while and see if there’s any “New” stickers next to the items.  Sure enough, yesterday I came across the Caramel Hot Chocolate. With there already being a Carmel Mocha, it was only a matter of time until the Carmel Hot Chocolate, or as I call it, the kiddie Mocha, would rear its ugly head.

Sporting a manageable $2.29 price tag for a small, and still having the appearance of a high quality beverage you’d get at Starbucks for an arm and a kidney more, its hard to argue with the premise of McCafe.  The idiot proof nature of the one button press barista machine, makes it so that even Bilbo Jenkins and Patricia Mayonaise could make these drinks with the consistency of the Pirates missing the playoffs.

Getting skim milk instead of the fat bearing whole, makes this beverage a very manageable 4 grams of fat and 240 calories in a small.  As I’ve noted in the past, with the Peppermint Hot Chocolate, from McCafe, the beverage has had a tendency to be sweeter than your grandma’s rhubarb pie dipped in molasses.  Sometimes too sweet, ain’t neat.

After waiting for what seemed like a new moon’s time for the drink to be delivered through my window, I had the little devil in my hands. As you can see, despite the to-go nature of my drink, someone still had the presence of mind to lather up the top with a splooge of whipped cream and enough caramel syrup to cover a short stack at IHOP.

This hot chocolate was frothier than a rabid dog.  With enough head to cause a milk moustache moment or two.  I think this turned out to be a positive with most hot chocolate ending up looking like chocolate water, it felt like this beverage actually had some substance to it.  The caramel flavor hit me like ten pound brick to the jaw.  Overpowering and almost overbearing, this drink definitely isn’t for someone who could take or leave caramel.  It was pretty sweet, and really tasted more like caramel than hot chocolate, but still a pretty decent sip.

McCafe Caramel Hot Chocolate: 2.5/5

~Andrew
@atkpitt12

McCafe Caramel Hot Chocolate (Small):