Kotas Reviews the Arbys Caramel Apple Milkshake

Arbys has been trying out a few new things lately, such as their current "We have the Meats" promotion, and the horror of the "Meat Mountain" sandwich. Arbys has always been the "quirky" member of the fast food family, with their surprisingly addictive roast beef sandwiches and their curly fries and potato cakes and so forth. In my youth, they were also the only fast food restaurant to offer more than the holy trinity of milkshake flavors (chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry) with their Jamocha option. Recently, the Arbys near my house has been doing a "flavor of the month" advertising campaign, which intrigued me enough to stop by and pick up this month's star. Welcome, to the Caramel Apple Milkshake.

Dun, dun, duuuuuuuun.

I've always liked Arbys myself. The food is different enough from the usual hamburger fare to let it stand out, but the trappings are familiar enough that I don't avoid it simply because it is different. My unabashed love of potato cakes doesn't hurt either. Still, not every milkshake flavor can be a crowd pleaser. Let's see what it looks like!

Just screams deliciousness, doesn't it?

It smells a lot like caramel, with a few apple-ish overtones to remind you of the apple portion of the caramel apple label. The color is essentially a slightly..uh...browner version of the Jamocha shake, but you ain't ordering a milkshake for its aesthetic qualities at an Arbys now are you? The taste is almost exactly like what I think you should get if you pureed a Russell Stover Caramel Apple candy sans chocolate.  The flavor is very strong, if not as apple-y as I would like, and not overwhelmingly sweet, which is nice. I really like this flavor, actually, but if you do not like caramel, stay the heck away. It also is not something I would want in a large portion, as the flavor overwhelms the taste buds after a bit.

On the FACE Rating System, this gets a solid 2 smiley faces. It is delicious, but it is not an every day flavor. It is a fantastic seasonal flavor and if you like caramel and apple, give it a whirl.