When I was a kid, we never had Oreos in my house. This wasn’t because my parents had a no-sweets policy, but because the pantry was well-stocked with similar Hydrox sandwich cookies instead.
But while Hydroxes actually predate Oreos by a whole four years, it’s the latter that went on to international fame and fortune. It’s a pretty similar tale to that of Dairy Queen’s Blizzard, which has been largely overshadowed by McDonald’s McFlurry, a nearly identical dessert of ice cream mixed with cookies or candy that came out more than a decade after Dairy Queen’s original.
So while the double imitation of an Oreo McFlurry might seem completely derivative, starting next month in Japan there’s a tasty bit of innovation you can look forward to, as McDonald’s Japan is bringing back matcha Oreo McFlurries.
Previously offered in the spring of 2013, the temptingly Japanese dessert is a mix of rich vanilla ice cream, crushed Oreos, and matcha green tea sauce. It’ll be making its long-awaited return to McDonald’s menus on September 3, priced at 276 yen (US$2.70), and will be available only until early October.
When served as a stand-alone beverage in Japan, matcha is usually accompanied by extremely sweet traditional Japanese confectionaries. In contrast, mixing it with Oreos is a decidedly modern twist that should deliver a double punch of bitter notes from the matcha and cookies’ chocolate portion. We can’t wait to try it, and since Dairy Queen no longer has branches in Japan, McDonald’s won’t have to worry about its rival deciding turnabout is fair play and releasing a Hydrox hojicha Blizzard.
Source, image: Narinari