Friday, July 3, 2015

F'real Cotton Candy Milkshake


[By Nick] Okay, this is the last post from when I was in Harrisburg. You see, this was more of an impulse buy. Apparently, everything closes in PA at 9pm and I couldn't get an ice cream fix like I wanted. So I stopped at Sheetz to get a snack when I stumbled across a f'real machine.

F'real Cotton Candy Milkshake
"Freshly spun cotton candy heaven"

Looking at all the options, the limited edition tag on this one caught my eye. I mean, I'm a sucker for anything new or limited and this was my first time using one of these machines.

You have options for thickness when using it but I opted to go with the standard option. In all honesty, I had some trouble using it at first. Everything was going smoothly until I had to remove the shake. It took quite a bit of force and I thought I was going to throw my shake all over the store with the effort I was putting into it.

With the shake removed, the shake smelt very strongly of cotton candy. It's the undeniable, sweet, sugary state fair aroma I'm quite fond of. Taking my first sip, this shake is a bit thicker than I was expecting from a machine. This is a very good thing actually. I can only imagine how thick it would be if I had chosen the maximum thickness level.

The flavor is a lot more restrained than I was expecting with the smell being so strong. It actually reminds me of Ben & Jerry's Cotton Candy Ice Cream only drinkable and missing the little mix-ins. This is a very well executed shake. It's not too sweet like cotton candy can be and is very drinkable. Thankfully it's thick enough to require me to take breaks in between sips. There's also enough sweetness to satisfy those childhood cravings without putting you into a sugar coma.

This one definitely has me intrigued to try more of the f'real options. Any recommendations and do all of the machines have a death grip when trying to remove your shake?

Verdict?  A more mild take on cotton candy
Buy Again?  I'd try it again while it's around, maybe try the less thick option.

*possible cross contamination from nuts, soybeans, wheat and eggs

8 comments:

  1. When the new Quick Check opened in my area, they gave discounts using this machine. I got the Reeses peanut butter cup shake and holy crap was it amazing! Never had any problems operating the machine, maybe that was just a bad cup?

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  2. It isn't just you having difficulty with the shake machine Nick! Last summer the local convenience store had this type of machine and people were so excited about it. No one had very much luck with it though and I notice the machine has been removed.

    Happy early 4th of July to both you and Dubba!

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  3. Become a big fan of this machine since it showed up at our recently renovated Conserv Fuel gas station. So far, most impressed with the frozen cappuccino, which is less sweet than most gourmet coffee drinks, but packs a big energy punch. The smoothies are quite good as well. Shake wise, I've tried the Chocolate Malt and Reese's, both of which tasted very clean and real. I'm impressed by the short ingredients list, as well. Look forward to trying more. Glad to see this product featured.

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  4. I gave my first machine a try. They were out of this one. I liked the cookies and creme one. I did less thick, could have liked regular better. I bent it at an angle, had a hard time getting it out.

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  5. Haven't tried Freal because some places charge $3.49 for those dinky cups and I'd be afraid the machine wasn't thoroughly clean. You can't see what's up inside it and don't know if or when it was properly sanitized.

    Safeway usually has half gallon of good ice cream on sale for $2.99 to $3.99, so I won't take the food poisoning risk. Just dump vanilla ice cream into your home blender with flavored syrup, Kool-Aid or fruit and take it from there. You'll get a lot more for your money and no hidden germs to make you sick.

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  6. Cotton candy the very very best howcome i cant find it this year? Very upsetting

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  7. The machines are very clean and safe to use. The newer machines with the touch screen do not require an employee to clean them. The blending chamber has high powered water jets that blast hot water onto the blending parts. This process takes place after every blend and periodically during slow times. At a set time every night, the machine shuts itself down for 15 minutes to perform a self sanitizing cycle were it uses super heated steam to kill any germs that are in the machines. The older machines do require an employee to clean and sanitize them, but it will not allow a customer to blend a drink if the machine has not been cleaned in 24 hours.

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  8. Thank you for the info! I had read an article about how the latest generation of machines was self cleaning, but wasn't sure how prevalent they were.

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