A lot of the time, fast food chains follow the same trend at the same time. A few years ago, every big chain was putting a lot of money into their crispy chicken sandwich line. After that came the tenders, wraps, and desserts that were only available for a short time. This year, drinks are all the rage. But not just any drinks. Layered, photogenic, strongly flavored drinks that look more at home on a TikTok feed than on a paper tray liner.
McDonald’s has been putting more effort into this than most. After shutting down its test version of CosMc’s earlier this year, the chain quietly added some of those menu items to its main menu, like boba refreshers and cold foam dirty sodas. Just this year, six new drinks came out, and the company said they would be making more. The change is clear, and it shows that McDonald’s is paying more attention to drinks than it has in years.
The most recent move might be the bravest one. A new drink called the Red Bull Dragonberry Energizer is being made by McDonald’s and Red Bull. It has layers of Red Bull, blue raspberry syrup, and freeze-dried dragonfruit pieces. It comes in both regular and sugar-free varieties. It’s the first time in the US that Red Bull has been on a McDonald’s menu, but it might not be the last because of how this goes.
The drink came out in Australia along with a Red Bull Peach Boost Energizer. It looks like MacDonald’s stores in Australia are also selling regular Red Bull cans. It’s still not clear if any of that applies to the rollout in the U.S. McDonald’s hasn’t announced an official launch date for domestic locations yet, but social media posts from people saying they work at different locations suggest that some stores may already have it. A wider release is expected around the middle of August.
What you’d expect the Dragonberry Energizer to taste like: sweet, strong, and leaning hard into that candy-like berry flavor that Red Bull is known for. What’s surprising is that the blue raspberry syrup doesn’t get sucked up by the sharp taste of the energy drink. It’s fine that the dragonfruit pieces are mostly just for looks. No one is putting this order in for the fruit. It’s the kind of drink that can be a treat once in a while or a pick-me-up in the middle of the day. If you usually drink Red Bull, the McDonald’s version is a little more interesting than just opening a can.
The two of them seem to be interested in more than just one drink together. Fast food chains are becoming more and more aware that drinks are a high-margin, high-loyalty category. Starbucks became a huge business in part because customers could make their own drinks. Dunkin’ has been trying out different energy drinks for a while now. Taco Bell opened its Live Más Café. Another company that seems to be going after the same area is McDonald’s. They are using Red Bull to bring in customers who might not normally think of a McDonald’s drive-through as their first stop for an energy drink.
This could grow into a bigger line of products. It’s also possible that it stays a limited-time offer and quietly goes away. In either case, the partnership really does show where the fast food industry is going. Even though the burger wars are still important, the drink wars might be more fun to watch right now. McDonald’s just chose a well-known opponent.
