A&W Dropped 3 New Frozen Drinks & After Trying Them All There's One I'd Re-Order

The views expressed in this Opinion article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Narcity Media.

A&W's latest launch is a trio of frigid slushies, all of which contain root beer, and some of which sounded delicious — so naturally, I had to try them.

Launched on May 29 and available only at A&W locations with a Brew Bar, these three root-beer-infused concoctions are as intriguing as they are chilly. There's the Frozen A&W Root Beer, which is exactly what it sounds like: frozen root beer, from A&W. Then, there's the Root Beer Sweet Cream Shake, which is mixed with "the rich creamy addition of sweet cream" according to a press release.

Finally, they announced an intriguing-slash-disturbing Root Beer Mocha Shake, which features not only sweet cream but also cold brew coffee.

Can you guess which one I was the least looking forward to putting in my mouth?

The Mocha and Root Beer Shakes from A&W.Aashia Bose | @aashxa

I tasted and scored the three frosty concoctions on a five-point scale of goodness, giving the best-tasting item an official vote of confidence from my senate of one, which should be enough to convince any Montrealer to drive on down to the nearest A&W Brew Bar, just like I did.

Frozen A&W Root Beer: 3/5

On first taste of the first beverage, it was clear that texture was not going to be an issue. We all know the deep psychological distress of drinking a slushie that doesn't have a good flavour-to-ice relationship; you end up with a chunk of tasteless ice particles and several mouthfuls of pure sticky corn syrup. Thankfully, A&W's formula is pretty excellent: the slushies stayed, well, slushy throughout the tasting, and I wasn't left with any disappointing unseasoned slush at the end.

A small size of the A&W Frozen Root Beer.Aashia Bose | @aashxa

This drink tasted like root beer for sure, but without the fizz of carbonation and with the added dilution of the ice, the flavour ended up being disappointingly mild. The ice consistency, very importantly, was quite nice: small, round bits of crunch that didn't take away from the drinkability of the beverage.

That said, it wasn't particularly stellar. If you like root beer, you'll probably like this. If you don't like root beer, like my partner (who I dragged along on this sipping soirée), "having it frozen makes it better."

I suspect that the lack of strong root beer flavour may have contributed to her enjoyment of it.

Root Beer Sweet Cream Shake: 1.5/5

You may be told this has root beer in it, but your taste buds won't believe you. This shake tasted like almost nothing, like a marshmallow with no personality, like a mild vanilla soft serve mixed with frozen water. Not very compelling.

A small size of the A&W Sweet Cream Shake.Aashia Bose | @aashxa

My partner had literally nothing to say about this drink, which honestly speaks volumes. Like the volumes of underwhelming white nothingness we imbibed that day.

Root Beer Mocha Shake: 3.5/5

At this point, I was starting to feel like I had ordered a flight of beers, and that's objectively pretty funny. To me, this flavour was the IPA of the set: it sounded barely drinkable, but I had to try it anyway to save face.

In a shocking turn of events, this ended up being my favourite drink of the day. You get some coffee flavour and some cream flavour, and the tiniest hint of a root beer coming through underneath the still-overwhelming mildness. This one was like an echo of a Frappuccino, and both myself and my co-tester would have expected a stronger note of coffee.

A small size of the A&W Mocha Root Beer Shake.Aashia Bose | @aashxa

As I continued to drink all three at the same time like the inhuman creature I am, this drink grew on me. Of all three new products, I'm the most likely to order this one again.

Over time, though, it became harder to distinguish this from the sweet cream shake, which is a good sign for that drink but a bit of an unfortunate reality for the mocha version.

The verdict

The Root Beer Mocha Shake, despite initially seeming by far the grossest, came out solidly on top, with the sad little Sweet Cream Shake in a definitive last place.

If you're looking for something a little more refreshing and interesting than a regular root beer, and you like mild flavours and light brain freeze, you can't really go wrong ordering a classic Frozen Root Beer.

Where can you buy the new A&W drinks?

The Mocha and Root Beer Shakes from A&W.

Aashia Bose | @aashxa

The A&W frozen beverages are only available at locations that have a Brew Bar, which includes a handful of spots on the island of Montreal. The Brew Bar offers coffee drinks as well as two varieties of smoothies, alongside the three new frozen drinks reviewed in this piece.