19 CosMc's Drinks, Ranked Worst To Best

Mcdonald's has recently opened a brand new chain called CosMc's which focuses on coffees, teas, and other specialty beverages. The first location of this new chain opened in December 2023, in Bolingbrook, Illinois. Additional locations are set to be rolled out in 2024. Centered around an intergalactic theme, CosMc's menu features a variety of new and exciting drinks not available at your local McDonald's. While you eagerly wait for a CosMc's to open near you, I've gone ahead and tried its new drink selections in the meantime to give you a sneak peek at what's to come.

Ranging from surprisingly refreshing to insanely sweet, the new CosMc's drink menu feels like it was designed to appeal to any flavor preferences under the sun. With each drink being so different, you're sure to find one that appeals to you. But for the sake of ranking, we've decided to judge drinks based on overall flavor and uniqueness. It feels as if CosMc's new menu has pulled inspiration from craft coffee shops, boba shops, and tea houses to create an intergalactic flavor explosion. The hype for this new location is already through the roof — when I went to get our drinks early on a rainy Saturday morning, I waited in line for an hour. Get ready, because most of these 19 different drinks are out of this world and not what you'd expect to find from a McDonald's franchise.

If you're a fan of the familiar sweet tea found at regular McDonald's locations, you're going to hate this. In a menu filled with sickeningly sweet beverages, the self-proclaimed "sweet" tea seemed to lack sugar. Not only was the drink deceptively unsweet, but the tea itself was watery and felt weak. It tasted more like bottled versions of sweet tea you may find at a convenience store as opposed to authentic, Southern, homemade sweet tea.

Compared with CosMc's other zany and flavorful drinks, there's nothing really special about this sweet tea. I can't even say it had a refreshing factor to it. If you're looking for an incredibly lightly flavored sip, then this may be up your alley. Perhaps the batch of tea I had was weak or at the bottom of the barrel, but overall the sweet tea was surprisingly disappointing. If you're craving a sweet tea you're better off just going to McDonald's instead.

This drink seems like an odd combination of coffee beverages. Typically if you order a cold brew you're looking for the smooth, rich flavors of a black iced coffee. If you order a frappe, you're probably looking for a sweetened, frozen coffee beverage that makes your caffeine feel more like a milkshake than an actual coffee drink. The Cold Brew Frappe is not sweet, rich in flavor, or smooth. It was incredibly bitter on the first sip, and by the fourth sip, it tasted more like water than coffee. It lacked the sweetness you'd expect from a frappe and did not have a strong coffee flavor.

If you're looking for a frozen drink with no sweetness, you might enjoy this, but if you're a cold brew or frappe fan, other beverages give you a better experience for both of these. The cold brew frappe feels like a new take on your typical coffee frappe but falls short in the flavor department.

The Mocha Latte at CosMc's is painfully average. While it does have a subtle mocha flavor, it's not quite as rich as you'd want a mocha latte to be. This drink may have done better if sampled fresh and hot, but by the time I drank it, the texture was quite watery. The chocolate flavor was nice and not overpoweringly sweet but did not bring that comforting flavor you typically find in other versions of the drink.

Ultimately the ranking of the Mocha Latte came down to it being just below average on a menu filled with above-average drinks. It was not a memorable mocha, and the espresso flavor was a bit bitter as well. You can get a better mocha latte at other coffee shops. There was a thin layer of whipped cream that had melted into the drink by the time the photo was taken, but I did taste it before then. The whipped cream brought some much-needed sugar to the drink but ultimately didn't save it. 

This drink is unique, and it brings flavor, but it's hard to pinpoint what exactly that flavor is because the Sour Cherry Energy Burst is painfully sour. Imagine liquifying the sourest candy you know and adding popping pearls with even more sour flavoring, and you'll get close to what this tastes like. This drink had a slushy texture, meaning most of its flavoring came from syrup. Sipping this immediately made all sides of your mouth pucker in pain. When the popping pearls burst, you'd get another hit of the sour acidity.

This drink is not for the faint of heart (or mouth), but if you happen to be an extreme sour lover who also happens to be a caffeine fiend, this may just be your new favorite drink. It was refreshing and gave you a burst of energy, which makes sense as it's marketed like an energy drink. But whether this burst of energy came from the caffeine or the visceral reaction to the sourness is unclear.

CosMc's S'mores Cold Brew is fine, and that's the best word I'd use to describe it. It was pleasantly sweet but did not have much s'mores flavor. When I took a sip I was hoping for notes of chocolate and marshmallow, maybe even honey for the graham cracker flavoring. Instead, it just tasted like a cold brew with simple syrup. The cold brew has a nice flavor and the syrup did complement the drink well, but it was not as flavorful as I wanted.

The cold foam on top of this drink had melted into the beverage by the time the photos were taken, but I sampled it before then and was pleasantly surprised by how tasty it was. However, once that cold foam is gone, the drink is slightly lackluster, and there isn't quite enough cold foam to last you a significant amount of time. On top of the cold foam were toffee crunch sprinkles that gave it a little extra sweetness. The S'mores Cold Brew is made for cold brew lovers who want just a little extra sugar in their drink without it feeling overboard.

As the name would imply, this drink is sour. Not quite as overwhelmingly sour as the Sour Cherry Energy Burst, but still a bit too sour for the average taster. The drink's hibiscus flavor comes from a berry hibiscus kombucha powder, and as a kombucha lover, I was ready to love this drink. And while I did detect notes of kombucha, they felt out of place and overwhelmed by the flavor of the lemonade.

This drink was a fun color and the slice of lemon on top was a nice touch, but the puckering effect was still a bit too intense to be able to enjoy it on the regular unless you're a sour fanatic. CosMc's lemonade does shine through in this drink. It's pleasant and refreshing and offers a much-needed balance to the other elements. Sadly, you don't experience many other flavors besides sour in this beverage.

This was another drink I wanted to like more than I did. There was nothing all that bad about the Churro Frappe — it just lacked flavor and sweetness. It did have a very light cinnamon flavor, but it wasn't quite as sweet as its dessert inspiration. The cold brew frappe base is used in this blended beverage, and unfortunately, the bitterness from it slightly overpowers the other flavors. Don't order this expecting an abundantly sweet treat, but if you like your typical coffee frappes, you may end up enjoying this.

The whipped cream topping with a cinnamon dusting was delicious, and once stirred into the drink, it brought back some of the sweetness it was missing. This frappe was a bit watery in comparison to other frappes on the market, but it was still overall a pleasant drink. Just not one that truly stands out among the others.

With tropical and spice in the name, I was unsure of what to expect with this one. It was a bit tart, a bit sweet, and unusually earthy in flavor. This drink was unlike anything I've tried before, but not in a necessarily great way. Later I discovered that the spice factor in this drink was derived from chili peppers. You don't taste chilies, and you don't really get spice in the sense of heat. Instead, the spice comes across more like an earthy blend of herbs and cooking spices infused with lemonade.

There is probably a unique group of people who will love this drink. That spice flavor added a whole new dimension of taste you'd never expect from a lemonade. If there was more of that spice-forward flavor this drink might work a little better. As it is, the spice feels more like an aftertaste and you're not really sure what the flavor is. But the Tropical Spiceade is refreshing and worth trying at least once.

This is another drink that falls in the funky category of flavors you may have never experienced before. The turmeric flavoring is earthy and a bit smokey. The blend of the spices and the espresso goes together surprisingly well — it almost tastes like a less sweet version of a pumpkin spice latte. There is a hot version of this drink that is admittedly slightly better. But the iced version still holds its own on the menu. While it's not that sweet, that works for this drink since the turmeric spice blend adds a ton of flavor to the mix.

Where this drink falls a bit short is that the turmeric flavor comes across quite differently cold than hot. But it's still overall pretty yummy, and the light yellow color is aesthetically pleasing. This drink feels tailored towards a crowd that is looking to explore other options outside of your typical chai tea latte, and this delicately spiced beverage is a great option for that.

The Chai Tea Latte at CosMc's was surprisingly good. The restaurant's chai is not overpoweringly sweet and you can really taste the different warming spices that go into making the drink. The latte was creamy and comforting and didn't have any noticeable aftertaste or lingering flavor notes. This is the kind of drink you would carry around on a walk during a cool fall day.

The Chai Tea Latte captures the mission of CosMc's, which is to provide your brand-new favorite afternoon pick-me-up. While it's not quite your traditional chai, it still remains true to its source material. Compared to other chai lattes on the market, this one's a bit above average. Chai latte lovers will love this new option, and if you're looking for a hot drink that gives you total fall vibes year-round, this may be the beverage for you.

The hot version of the Turmeric Spiced Latte is slightly superior to its iced counterpart. There's something about the hot version of the drink that brings out more of those spice notes and creates a comforting drink that warms you from the inside out. The hot Turmeric Spiced Latte also had some pleasant hints of citrus that were not detectable in the iced version.

The creamy blend of turmeric, espresso, and milk creates a savory drink perfect for the colder months. Another unique aspect is the dusting of black pepper sprinkles on top. The black pepper works to bring out more of the turmeric flavor and instantly gives you that tasty, spicy punch from the first sip. The black pepper sprinkles are not featured on the cold version of the drink, and I think they're what really elevates the hot version. If you love savory spice flavors, you should absolutely opt for the hot version of the Turmeric Spiced Latte.

This drink is wild, fun, and a unique beverage experience. Its sour pear flavor is accompanied by a sweet whipped cream and fizzy popping candy. This is like the slushy version of Pop Rocks and it's very yummy. It tastes like the snow cones you can get in any beach town, but with more pizazz. Not only is this drink tasty, but it's fun to look at too. The bright pink hue is as fun as the flavors, making for a great treat.

The Popping Pear Slush does have a very intense sweetness to it, so you probably wouldn't order this as a thirst-quenching beverage. It toes the line between dessert and drink, landing more on the dessert side of the divide. You need a pretty strong sweet tooth to fully enjoy it before the sugar content starts to feel overwhelming and you need to put it down.

This drink was light, refreshing, and had a charming cooling effect due to the mint flavor. Green tea and mint are just a naturally wonderful combination, and the addition of the tart and sweet blackberry flavor really helped to balance the drink. While this may not be the most intensely flavored drink on the menu, it still stands out as being better than average. The fresh flavors and delicate tasting notes made for a great iced tea.

However, the major flaw in this drink is the dried blueberry addition. These freeze-dried blueberries taste like stale, sour cardboard. Maybe you're not meant to actually eat these, but the flavor permeates the entire drink, and with every other sip you get a hint of these blueberry monstrosities. The freeze-dried blueberries also feel out of place considering there are no other blueberry notes in the beverage. If you order this tea, I'd recommend asking them to hold the blueberries.

This is the frappe experience you've been looking for at CosMc's. The frappe was creamy and sweet, with prominent chai notes still poking through. It was made extra special with the inclusion of sweet popping boba that gave the drink extra bursts of sweetness the other frappes were missing. CosMc's chai products are surprisingly good, and if you're hankering for a frosty chai drink on a hot summer day, this one will absolutely do the trick.

Where this drink starts to become too much is the sweet popping pearls. After a while the texture of the frappe and the pearls start to combine to create a weird mouthfeel that you're not sure really works together anymore. The pearls don't hold their form that well in the drink, leaving you with soggy sacks of what were once popping pearls in the bottom of your cup.

This drink has the exact level of sourness any drink on the menu should have, and while sour flavor is not advertised in the name, it's one of the best elements about this slush. It's perfectly sweet and sour and unexpectedly thirst-quenchig. A lot of the drinks on CosMc's menu don't feel like beverages you could order every day because they're almost too flavorful, but the Pomegranate Hibiscus Slush is not one of them.

The floral flavor from the hibiscus really shines through in this drink and helps keep the flavoring feeling light. You could order this drink any time of day and enjoy it. It almost comes across tea-like in flavor, making for an interesting beverage. Out of all the slushes, this one was the best by far and definitely worth trying.

Not only does this drink taste great, it also does some good for you as well. In addition to a refreshing, fruity tea flavor, the drink also features a vitamin C shot to give you an extra dose for your day. The ginger flavor is the most distinct one in this beverage, but that's not a bad thing. It's lightly spicy and helps to tone down the sweetness of the other components. The zing of the ginger helps with any bitterness you might get from the green tea. The added slice of lemon on top is a nice touch and adds to this drink's appeal.

If this drink has a downside it would be the inclusion of the freeze-dried blueberries. Maybe it was just the batch of berries being used that day, but the stale flavor from the freeze-dried fruit seemed to taint everything around it. The ginger was able to keep most of it at bay, but notes of those blueberries still came through and distracted from the drink.

This drink transports you to a serene beachfront where you're relaxing in a lounge chair and enjoying the ocean breeze. It's seriously that refreshing and delicious. The drink is nice and tart in a similar way to a tangerine or green apple. There is some sweetness from the punch flavor, but it is very mild and mostly works to keep the tartness from becoming overwhelming. The freeze-dried strawberries are far better than the freeze-dried blueberries and give the beverage an almost freshly-blended strawberry flavor as they rehydrate.

A special component of this drink is the pre-workout shot. This is not very well advertised on the menu, so be cautious when ordering if you have sensitivities to caffeine. This drink doesn't seem like an ideal pre-gym beverage, as it's fairly sugary and wouldn't be that great before a major sweat session. But if you're just looking for a tasty caffeine boost, then this drink is for you.

This shake is delicious. It tastes exactly like an orange creamsicle in milkshake form. The name spells out exactly what you're getting from this drink, and everything is executed perfectly. The milkshake is indulgent without being too rich and doesn't struggle with being sickeningly sweet either. It's a perfectly balanced shake that makes for an easy sweet treat. The citrus notes are popping in this milkshake, giving it a burst of freshness that keeps it from feeling too heavy.

There's a time and place for drinking a milkshake and while this shake is delicious, it isn't necessarily a beverage you could order at any time. And as far as uniqueness goes you could find a similar version of this out there somewhere in the world, but CosMc's version is hard to beat.

This embodies exactly what CosMc's mission is: offering a nice afternoon pick-me-up drink. This was easily the most refreshing beverage we tried, and the CosMc lemonade is delicious. It genuinely tastes like a homemade lemonade and strikes the perfect balance of sour and sweet. The other flavor in this drink is yuzu, an Asian citrus fruit with a floral sweetness to it. Yuzu is not a super common ingredient in America, so this beverage is a great first introduction to it.

When I saw the sour in the name of this drink I was a little scared based on the other sour experiences so far. While there is some sourness to it, it's nowhere near as potent as the other drinks. This drink has an acceptable amount of sourness while still being delicious. I would absolutely order this drink every day and never grow tired of it. I predict that this will be the drink of the summer once it rolls out everywhere.