I heard about the Jack in the Box bacon milkshake in the newspaper yesterday, so it became my mission to try it out. They were running a special on their new BLT cheeseburger, so I got one of those as a meal deal and upgraded to the shake. I guess if I was really out for bacon in everything, I could have swapped out the fries for the bacon cheddar potato wedges.
To make sure I got the full bacon experience, I tried out the shake first. I was concerned that if I had the bacon flavor from the burger in my mouth, I wouldn’t be able to taste the shake. I was wrong. Even on a clean palate, I could not really taste anything bacony about the shake. It tasted like a regular vanilla shake. Once in a while, I could get a hint of a slight smoky flavor, but the alleged bacon taste was so understated that it was practically invisible. Ckucke said he could taste the bacon right away in his shake. I thought for a moment that maybe mine was suffering from Micronesian workmanship, but after trying a spoonful from Ckucke’s cup, I found both shakes to be identical. I guess my ability to detect fake bacon flavor is diminished.
It really is fake bacon flavor. According to the newspaper article, the flavoring syrup is made from smoking/caramelizing vegetable-based ingredients including soy sauce. There is no actual animal product, so it is safe for religions that prohibit the consumption of pork, and for people whose dietary choices or requirements preclude animal products.
The BLT cheeseburger was also underwhelming. The meat, cheese, and bacon were fine, but the lettuce was wilty yellow-white chopped low-bidder lettuce, and the tomatoes were unripe. Just look at the picture! It doesn’t look at all appealing – no less appetizing. My particular burger was suffering a little from poor workmanship as the pickles were all concentrated on the last part of the burger I had, so the flavor balance was all messed up. In general, the burger was overall a little too salty and very ordinary.
Give the shake a try just because, but maybe give the burger a pass.
Indifferent
One-and-a-half out of four dissatisfied monkeys
$7.38 USD plus sales tax
I definitely will not be having it again.