McDonald's Finland Debuted A New Shake With A Surprising Color

It's entirely likely that if you walk into a McDonald's outlet while traveling abroad, you may find yourself staring at a menu that looks nothing like the one back home. With over 38,000 outlets spread over 100 countries around the world, McDonald's adapts its menu according to a country's culture and eating habits.

So, the chicken nuggets and cheeseburgers that are famous in the U.S. may very well be missing from the menus of McDonald's in other countries. Mexico, for example, has Mexican burritos and McMuffins, whereas Singapore serves apple pies, chocolate pies, and curry sauce. French outlets dole out macarons and croissants, Australian outlets make toasties and hot cross buns, and Japanese outlets whip up teriyaki burgers with a selection of sauces unlike any other.

But it's not just the food that's different. Even McDonald's beverages vary around the world. British McDonald's pours an enviable selection of coffees, you'll only find the pineapple-flavored Goombay Punch at McDonald's in the Bahamas, and McDonald's outlets in Japan once sold a seasonal purple milkshake made from purple sweet potatoes. Once again, McDonald's has three new beverages and desserts that are grabbing everyone's attention, but they are only available in Finland (via Brand Eating). Most notably, however, fans can't get over the color of one particular drink on the menu.

According to Brand Eating, McDonald's Finland has three peculiar new items on its menu. The first, a Monster Freak Shake, is inspired by the famous Cookie Monster from "Sesame Street." Although not technically a freak shake (because it's surprisingly light on the toppings), the blue-colored, cookie-flavored drink comes topped with whipped cream and crushed Oreos. There's also the Lazy Sundae Deluxe, with a strawberry lime sauce swirled into vanilla soft serve, finished with whipped cream and bits of meringue. But these aren't the drinks catching people's attention.

New on the Finnish McDonald's menu is a shake that is a plain gray in color — thanks to a licorice-flavored syrup. While gray doesn't usually make food or drinks look particularly appetizing, the licorice shake seems to have fans excited. Redditors are loving the sound of a dessert made with the aromatic flavoring, and some wish it would make its way to the U.S. One fan in particular was disappointed by the lack of rotation in the American McDonalds' shake menu: "I wish McDonald's would get rotating shake flavors. The only special shake they have is the Shamrock Shake." Though McDonald's does frequently update its McFlurry flavors Stateside, the user is right: There's certainly no shake as novel as this licorice variety going around.