Upon opening the bottle, you are greeted by a strong "chocolate syrup" scent, augmented by a thick liquid with a dark brown, chocolate look. Think about the consistency of a think milkshake and you get the right idea.

I must say that I was surprised by the good taste of Oh Yeah! Chocolate. The texture is very smooth and creamy. As for the flavor, it is quite sweet and VERY chocolatety. Imagine that you are drinking a milkshake at the same time someone is continuously pouring in even more chocolate syrup. Yeah, it's that level of chocolate experience. There's a slight aftertaste correlated with the artificial sweeteners used (Ace-K and sucralose), but it wasn't as bad as most diet drinks.

Oh Yeah! Chocolate Milkshake
Filtered Water, Diafiltered Skim Milk, OhYeah! Proprietary Protein Blend (Milk Protein Concentrate, Whey Protein Concentrate, Calcium Caseinate), Sunflower, Safflower and/or Canola Oil And Less Than 2% Of: Cocoa Processed With Alkali, Vitamin & Mineral Blend (Potassium Citrate, Magnesium Phosphate, Sodium Phosphate, Potassium Phosphate, Sodium Ascorbate, Ferric Orthophosphate, Zinc Amino Acid, Tocopheryl Acetate, Biotin, Vitamin A Palmitate, Niacinamide, Phytomenadione, Potassium Iodide, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Chromium Chloride, Copper Amino Acid, Cyanocobalamin, Sodium Molybdate, Sodium Selenite, Folic Acid, Cholecalciferol, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Thiamine, Manganese Sulfate), Lactase, Natural And Artificial Flavors, Cellulose Gel, Cellulose Gum, Acesulfame Potassium, Datem, Sucralose, Xanthan Gum, Salt.

A full bottle of Oh Yeah! packs 220 calories, 9 grams of fat, 15 mg of sodium, 540 mg of potassium, 7 grams of carbs (3 grams of sugar), and the aforementioned 32 grams of protein. It's also lactose free.

While I'm not a protein shake kinda guy — I usually walk right past them at the gym — I have to admit that Oh Yeah! Chocolate Milkshake was a delightful experience that surprised me. If you are looking for a tasty ready-to-drink nutritional option, I'd put this flavor into consideration.

The Shamrock Shake was brought to market by McDonald's in the 1980s. It essentially is a vanilla shake with some mint flavoring brought out around St. Patrick's Day. For a while it was sold alongside a ice cream sundae with mint-flavored topping as well. It was a big deal back then; not so much today.

McDonald's went out of their way to advertise the shake, including using the McDonaldland characters. In one commercial, Ronald McDonald and Grimace meet Uncle O'Grimacey, an "Irish" character whose entire purpose was to promote the coming of Shamrock Shakes:

More adult-oriented advertising was also used to promote the St. Patrick's Day favorite:

Over time, it's been rumored that the formula for the Shamrock Shake changed, with Internet opinion hinting that the flavor now is worse than the original. I never had the chance to try an original version, so I cannot personally confirm if that's the case.

Today, Shamrock Shakes are harder to find. They are no longer widely promoted by the Golden Arches, and their distribution does not seem to be universal. Fortunately, I was able to find one at a nearby McDonald's location… so I ordered the small (12 oz.) version.

The color of the shake is white with a hint of green. Unless you take the time to mix the green "mint" syrup into the vanilla shake, it remains primarily white. As for the flavor, it starts out mintish, more along the lines of a mouthwash like Scope. It's tolerable and hints that "yes, this shake is supposed to be mint." However, the aftertaste is where things go bad, evidencing the syrup/powder flavoring used in the mix. It's just not very good at this point. Overall, the mint experience is weak, and combined with the poor aftertaste, the Shamrock Shake is really something that should not be partaken beyond the first few sips.

As for what's actually in this thing, the official nutritional information from McDonald's website itemizes the following:

Vanilla Reduced Fat Ice Cream
Milk, sugar, cream, nonfat milk solids, corn syrup solids, mono- and diglycerides, guar gum, dextrose, sodium citrate, artificial vanilla flavor, sodium phosphate, carrageenan, disodium phosphate, cellulose gum, vitamin A palmitate.

Shamrock Shake Syrup
High fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, water, sugar, natural flavor (plant source), xanthan gum, citric acid, sodium benzoate (preservative), yellow 5, blue 1.

The 12 oz. drink that I had contains 420 calories (yikes!), including 6 g of saturated fat, 40 mg of cholesterol, 125 mg of sodium, and 72 g of carbs.

Overall, I'm not impressed with the current Shamrock Shake experience. Maybe it was great back during its early years, but no so much today!