The FDA suggests that the average American consumes a total of 2,000 calories per day. But what if I told you that America's worst drink, in terms of nutritional information, has more calories than that? Yup. Meet all 2,010 cals of the PB&C shake from Cold Stone Creamery.
Men's Health recently named the chocolaty indulgence the "Worst Beverage in America," with more than 153 grams of sugar and 131 grams of fat. My first reaction: Wow, that's a lot of freakin' fat. My second reaction: How far is the nearest Cold Stone?! Sure, it may be the worst for you -- but the concept of smooth rich chocolate and peanut butter just sounds so delicious.
So how's this sugar-filled beverage measure up? Read on.
First things first: It's important to note that I did not drink this entire Gotta Have It, 24-ounce milkshake alone. Thank you to my lovely coworkers for your support. I know it was an annoying task.
I went to my local Cold Stone and ordered the item just like I would order anything else. The employee serving me didn't seemed fazed. I thought to myself: I wonder how many people he serves this to every day... Does he realize he's essentially an accomplice in enabling me to commit a health crime right now?
I then watched as he globbed the shake's ingredients into a blender: What looks like an estimated entire cup of peanut butter, several cups of their chocolate ice cream, and skim milk to top it all off. I laughed at the skim milk part. And just when I thought my excitement couldn't build anymore as the blender did its magic, he started singing the Whitney Houston classic "How Will I Know," and I bopped along.
The Whitney wannabee handed me the shake and sent me toward the cash register. When I told the next Cold Stone employee that I wanted to share the bev and I needed five more cups, she was shocked. In fact, that expression translated to my shake-tastic artist as well, who asked if I wanted to order another one so everyone had some. I laughed, said no thanks, and thought, 400 calories each is enough, for now.
With that, I ventured back to The Stir headquarters to dive in. At first sight, you would hope that for more than 2,000 calories, the drink would be bigger. Hell, for 160-plus grams of fat, I'd want to be sipping straight from some sort of bucket for at least two hours.
One thing's for sure: While this may be America's 'worst' drink, calorie-wise, it surely isn't in terms of taste. The shake itself is more chocolate-y than peanut butter-y, but delicious nonetheless. It wasn't overpowering, and we enjoyed the consistency. And even though it was a great afternoon delight, I just can't comprehend why anyone would pick this over the mounds of healthier options on the market.
There are a whole lotta other things I'd rather do with my daily caloric intake than drink one single shake. You know, like eat 13 vanilla soft serve cones from McDonald's, for starters. And although I do love a good run, this shake isn't worth the 20-mile run the average person would have to complete to burn it all off. Thanks, but no thanks.
For only $6.52 (in New York City, anyway), you too can try the "Worst Beverage in America"! The question is: Would you?
Have you tried Cold Stone's PB&C shake? What did you think?
Written by Emily Abbate or CafeMom's blog, The Stir.
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