Review: McDonald's Red Bull Dragonberry Energizer Is The Grimace-Looking Beverage We've Been Waiting For

Up until now, getting caffeinated at McDonald's has been all about the coffee. And while coffee may be the perfect beverage to have alongside an iconic Egg McMuffin, having just that one singular option on the menu leaves some customers wanting more. Well, the wait is over, and the energy drinks have arrived with the McDonald's Red Bull Dragonberry Energizer.

The drink consists of a classic can of Red Bull with blue raspberry flavoring (how did this become a flavor, anyway?) topped with freeze-dried dragon fruit and served over ice. It has 80 milligrams of caffeine and sounds bubbly, fruity, and fun — but how does it really taste? You don't know until you try it for yourself, so I wasted no time getting my hands on McDonald's first leap into the world of energy drinks and I am here to spill all the proverbial tea. Will McDonald's Red Bull Dragonberry Energizer be the new drink of summer, or is it going to end up on a list of fast food flops? Read on to find out.

Some recommendations are based on firsthand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer.

These drinks were provided by McDonald's as a part of publicizing its new release. While The Takeout didn't foot the bill, I still used my own judgement to describe and review the drinks, doing my best to leave any bias aside.

The factors I took into consideration were largely about flavor — if you're going to make a drink with Red Bull, ideally whatever you add to it will improve upon the experience of drinking a Red Bull, whether that be in flavor, texture, or how it's served.

On first appearance, the Dragonberry Energizer is indeed eye-catching. A teal base, deep-purple center, and almost neon polka-dots of dehydrated dragon fruit pieces, it feels like a mermaid at sea (or like Grimace in a cup). You almost don't want to stir it and ruin the look, but stir it you must, or else all you'll taste is Red Bull.

The blue raspberry flavor is subtle — you still predominantly get the bubblegum, sour candy tartness of the classic Red Bull (its iconic flavor originated from a Thai energy drink) along with a zingy level of carbonation. The blue raspberry seems to complement the base flavor of the Red Bull, building on the sweet and sour flavors with more fruitiness, a touch more sugar, and the intriguing nuttiness of dehydrated dragon fruit. It is definitely a bit sweeter than a plain Red Bull, but not as cloying as I was afraid it might be based on the color.

The dehydrated dragon fruit bits are the kicker here that, just like with Starbucks' Dragonfruit Refresher, add a little crunch to each sip that compels one to continue coming back for more. They make this drink a winner, improving on a basic Red Bull not just with flavor but with texture, and the fruity pieces stay crunchy even as the drink sits and the ice melts.

The McDonald's Sugar-Free Red Bull Dragonberry Energizer is made with a zero-sugar energy drink, and looks and tastes largely similar to the original. There is a distinct electricity to this drink more than the other one, and a note of medicinality that tends to come with sweeteners like aspartame used in many diet sodas. It's a sweetener that put Diet Coke fans into a bit of a panic when the World Health Organization labeled it "possibly carcinogenic," and is a subject of controversy amongst fans. Some people swear that sugar-free Red Bull tastes better or identical to the original flavor, while others argue that it coats the tongue with a chemical-like residue and ruins the whole drink.

Whether this is true for you is largely dependent on personal preference and health restrictions. For me, I did not enjoy the flavor of the sugar-free Dragonberry drink as much as the original, and would opt for real sugar over the odd flavor of its substitutes.

My main question before trying McDonald's first energy-drink collab was whether it would improve on a plain Red Bull — and it did. Sometimes adding flavored syrup and other ingredients to an already well-loved product can ruin the original, but in this case the blue raspberry flavoring matched the tartness of Red Bull very well, and the dehydrated pieces of dragon fruit brought a lovely texture and balance.

There are some foods you might not realize give you caffeine, but with this drink we know for sure there's 80 milligrams, about as much caffeine as a cup of instant coffee. You're not going to be overly buzzed from sipping this Dragonberry drink, but you can enjoy each bubbly, crunchy, fruity sip knowing your day is about to get energized.