Wendy’s Has 6 New Frosty Treats on the Menu (and I Ranked Them All, for Science)

• What It Is: vanilla or chocolate Frosty with caramel sauce
• Price (small): $3

As someone who used to order the caramel sundae from McDonald’s on the reg (may she rest in peace), I was excited to try this alternative, since the former was discontinued. However, the sauce was pretty thin and bland, and reminded me of runny, bottled caramel that you find at the supermarket. I wish it had a thicker consistency, stickier feel and saltier flavor.

• What It Is: vanilla or chocolate Frosty with strawberry sauce
• Price (small): $3

Taste-wise, it was almost identical to the retired strawberry sundae from McDonald’s (which was my favorite fast food dessert of all time…but I digress). In terms of texture and appearance, it was thinner and pinker in color. This one seemed to melt faster than the others, but I loved that there was a pool of sauce at the bottom of the cup for ample distribution. 

• What It Is: vanilla or chocolate Frosty with chocolatey brownie batter sauce
• Price (small): $3

I’m not a hot fudge or chocolate sauce person, so I didn’t anticipate this being my top choice of the category. But this pick genuinely tasted like brownie batter: salty, grainy, chocolatey but not too sweet, slightly cocoa-y and bitter. I loved the crisp grittiness of the brownie bits. It was also the thickest sauce of the three and got even thicker as it sat on the cold base.

• What It Is: vanilla or chocolate Frosty with caramel sauce and crunchy toffee pieces
• Price (small): $4

This caramel just…didn’t do it for me. The sauce sort of just vanished into the Frosty, and I’d imagine it’d be basically undetectable with a chocolate base instead of vanilla. However, I loved the texture and generous amount of the toffee bits, although I wished they were saltier and more flavorful.

• What It Is: vanilla or chocolate Frosty with chocolatey brownie batter sauce and Oreo cookie pieces
• Price (small): $4

The Oreos played up the saltiness of the brownie batter, but it got soupy very fast. Generally speaking, I feel like the Frosty base is too thin to be blended like a Dairy Queen Blizzard or McFlurry, so the eating experience of the Frosty Fusions isn’t ideal (read: definitely order them in the store or drive-thru instead of ahead via app to prevent it from being melted from the start). That said, the flavor of this one was balanced, chocolatey and on point.

• What It Is: vanilla or chocolate Frosty with strawberry sauce and strawberry-flavored Pop-Tarts Crunchy Poppers pieces
• Price (small): $4

I liked this strawberry Frosty treat better than the Swirl. Since the sauce was blended into the base, it offered more sweet-tart, fruity flavor in every bite. Everything being mixed in made for a more even, consistent eating experience. As for the crunchy toppings, the Pop-Tarts bites were cereal-y, sweet and very crisp.