Review: McDonald's - Caramel Mocha

New to McDonald's McCafe lineup, the Caramel Mocha is just a Mocha (espresso, steamed milk, and chocolate syrup) but with the addition of caramel syrup, topped with whipped cream and a caramel syrup drizzle. You can choose either nonfat or whole milk (2% and soy not available).

My local McDonald's recently decided to price all of their McCafe beverages the same from the Frappes to the Smoothies to the coffee-based drinks. Even the Hot Chocolate. Prices are $2.29 for a 12-ounce small, $2.79 for a 16-ounce medium, and $3.19 for a 20-ounce large (that's tall, grande, and venti respectively in Starbucks speak).

Rich. Decadent. These are not words I would use to describe the Caramel Mocha. I would use words like middling, and maybe decent. It's pretty syrupy tasting like maybe if you put Hershey's chocolate syrup and a Kraft caramel in your latte.

My whipped cream and caramel drizzle were conspicuously missing.

The caramel flavor is not buttery like Starbucks' caramel, but there is a strong caramel flavor to the drink which also makes the Caramel Mocha fairly sweet. There's a fairly strong coffee flavor, but the chocolate is rather muted.

Ultimately, I would choose the Starbucks' Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate for 50 cents more over McDonald's Caramel Mocha every time (you can always add a shot of espresso if you need that hit of caffeine or coffee flavor, though it would cost more).

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Nutritional info - McDonald's Caramel Mocha - 16 oz
Calories - 290 (Calories from Fat - 100)
Fat - 12g (Saturated Fat - 7g)
Sodium - 180mg
Carbs - 39g (Sugar - 38g)
Protein - 8g