McFlurrys vs Storms

Author: Klau S.

Often considered the more premium dessert options available at their respective joints, the McFlurry and Storm typically provide improvements upon the solid base of soft serve ice cream. Both joints are constantly releasing new and exciting flavours, while also offering solid, always available options.

S Tier

Choc Custard Pie McFlurry
Locations Reviewed: Warwick, Westminister, Malaga, Girrawheen
Thoughts: What some (mainly just me) may consider the greatest option available on the entire McDonald's menu, the Choc Custard Pie McFlurry felt as though it was divinely crafted. This McFlurry as expected, contains pieces of a Choc Custard Pie mixed into copious amounts of soft serve. I've seen them pick the pie pieces out of a refrigerated container before, and you may be thinking, “Wouldn't it be better if the pieces were warm?”, the answer is in fact no. The semi-solid state of the pie's filling creates an amazing contrast with the smoothness of the ice cream and this texture just isn't replicated with a fresh pie (speaking from experience). All of this is without mentioning one of its greatest attributes - this McFlurry comes with hot fudge sauce. I think every McFlurry should come with this sauce as a default since it really breaks up the monotony of plain soft serve you typically find in the middle of the dessert. This McFlurry is no longer available at the time of writing, but it's a must try once it returns from the heavens.
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KitKat McFlurry
Locations Reviewed: Girrawheen, Kingsway
Thoughts: Delightful. The KitKat McFlurry has everything that makes a good soft serve dessert - different textures, flavours and a sauce. Flavour wise, the baseline is effectively a chocolate sundae given they use the same sauce. However, the included crushed KitKat chunks do provide a small additional Nestle-chocolate flavour. This dessert's strong point is 100% it's textures though, with every bite consisting of the softness of the icecream, the coarseness of the KitKat dust, and the crunchiness of the KitKat pieces. It's an absolute party in the mouth.
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Storm inspired by Skittles
Locations Reviewed: Innaloo, Malaga, Girrawheen
Thoughts: This Storm feels like the culmination of a proper lengthy development cycle - there was clearly a lot of effort put into this, and it has paid dividends. It's easily the sweetest item on this list, but for those that have a sweet tooth like myself, that makes it or the more delicious. Anyway, they've nailed both the Skittles taste and aesthetic with this dessert. The strawberry lemon syrup is found throughout the dessert and I would say tastes pretty accurate to what Skittles taste like. It also becomes a nice pink mixture as you reach the end, which doesn't really add anything but is pretty cool. The rainbow squishy chews (their recreation of a Skittle for a dessert setting) go really well with the sauce and provide a similar flavour profile. I really enjoy their texture as well, they're a kind of hard chewy jelly which contrasts the softness of the soft serve quite nicely. It all comes together in a delicious dessert that feels and tastes far superior to almost every other option on this list.
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Choc Custard Pie McFlurry
Locations Reviewed: Warwick, Westminister, Malaga, Girrawheen
Thoughts: What some (mainly just me) may consider the greatest option available on the entire McDonald's menu, the Choc Custard Pie McFlurry felt as though it was divinely crafted. This McFlurry as expected, contains pieces of a Choc Custard Pie mixed into copious amounts of soft serve. I've seen them pick the pie pieces out of a refrigerated container before, and you may be thinking, “Wouldn't it be better if the pieces were warm?”, the answer is in fact no. The semi-solid state of the pie's filling creates an amazing contrast with the smoothness of the ice cream and this texture just isn't replicated with a fresh pie (speaking from experience). All of this is without mentioning one of its greatest attributes - this McFlurry comes with hot fudge sauce. I think every McFlurry should come with this sauce as a default since it really breaks up the monotony of plain soft serve you typically find in the middle of the dessert. This McFlurry is no longer available at the time of writing, but it's a must try once it returns from the heavens.
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KitKat McFlurry
Locations Reviewed: Girrawheen, Kingsway
Thoughts: Delightful. The KitKat McFlurry has everything that makes a good soft serve dessert - different textures, flavours and a sauce. Flavour wise, the baseline is effectively a chocolate sundae given they use the same sauce. However, the included crushed KitKat chunks do provide a small additional Nestle-chocolate flavour. This dessert's strong point is 100% it's textures though, with every bite consisting of the softness of the icecream, the coarseness of the KitKat dust, and the crunchiness of the KitKat pieces. It's an absolute party in the mouth.
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Storm inspired by Skittles
Locations Reviewed: Innaloo, Malaga, Girrawheen
Thoughts: This Storm feels like the culmination of a proper lengthy development cycle - there was clearly a lot of effort put into this, and it has paid dividends. It's easily the sweetest item on this list, but for those that have a sweet tooth like myself, that makes it or the more delicious. Anyway, they've nailed both the Skittles taste and aesthetic with this dessert. The strawberry lemon syrup is found throughout the dessert and I would say tastes pretty accurate to what Skittles taste like. It also becomes a nice pink mixture as you reach the end, which doesn't really add anything but is pretty cool. The rainbow squishy chews (their recreation of a Skittle for a dessert setting) go really well with the sauce and provide a similar flavour profile. I really enjoy their texture as well, they're a kind of hard chewy jelly which contrasts the softness of the soft serve quite nicely. It all comes together in a delicious dessert that feels and tastes far superior to almost every other option on this list.
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A Tier

Biscoff Storm
Locations Reviewed: Dog Swamp
Thoughts: Easily the best soft serve offering at Hungry Jacks and a branded one done perfectly. The main parts of this dessert and the Biscoff flavouring as well as an associated sauce lathered on top, with both carrying the distinctive taste of Biscoff. They both also mix incredibly well with the soft serving, meaning the majority of bites carry flavour. Unlike most other options, every piece of this dessert has an actual purpose in contributing to the flavour and texture. It's pure Biscoff goodness the entire way through!
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Biscoff Storm
Locations Reviewed: Dog Swamp
Thoughts: Easily the best soft serve offering at Hungry Jacks and a branded one done perfectly. The main parts of this dessert and the Biscoff flavouring as well as an associated sauce lathered on top, with both carrying the distinctive taste of Biscoff. They both also mix incredibly well with the soft serving, meaning the majority of bites carry flavour. Unlike most other options, every piece of this dessert has an actual purpose in contributing to the flavour and texture. It's pure Biscoff goodness the entire way through!
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B Tier

OREO Cookies McFlurry
Locations Reviewed: Tuart Hill
Thoughts: This was the last thing I consumed on this list and it surprised me. I was fully expecting it to be a worse version its Storm equivalent, but honestly I'd say it's either equal or even slightly better. While McFlurrys don't have any extra OREO at the bottom, they provide so much at the top that it's pretty easy to still have some just as you reach the bottom. I think this is also helped by the fact that McDonald's soft serve is a straight upgrade when compared to Hungry Jack's, and I think this dish really exemplifies this difference. It means the soft serve and toppings mix much easier together, so you're able to spread the toppings around better. I also had it with both chocolate and vanilla ice cream combined and I'm not going to defend this decision since the flavour of ice cream is a default option that doesn't cost more. Finally, the OREO pieces in this McFlurry seem to come with a much larger variation in sizes when compared to the Storm, and the bigger pieces carry a ton more flavour.
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Storm OREO
Locations Reviewed: Innaloo
Thoughts: Effectively the first thing that comes to mind when someone brings up dessert at a fast-food restaurant. It's just a great combination and I don't understand why it works as well as it does. Something about the taste of Oreos just integrates incredibly well with the taste of soft serve. It's also great thanks to the additional Oreo found at the bottom, meaning the last few bites are full of flavour! It's not amazing by any means though, hence it's placement - the upper tiers simply have more going on that elevates their respective desserts.
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M&M's Minis McFlurry
Locations Reviewed: Innaloo
Thoughts: Another dessert strongly carried by McDonald's having the superior soft serve. Mini M&M's are delicious on their own, so naturally an ice cream featuring them also tastes great. They provide a nice harder texture change while providing an additional chocolatey taste. You're provided with enough of them where you can make it through the majority of dessert without running out, although the last 10-20% will still be plain soft serve. They have the unique trait of offering visual fun though, as you're able to watch the white soft serve slowly becoming more and more corrupted by the M&M's colour.
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Storm with Nutella
Locations Reviewed: Innaloo, Dog Swamp
Thoughts: The Storm with Nutella seems to be the most dependant on whether it's made well or not, with my experience being a 50/50 in terms of it being either passable or great. I'd say it's really down to how much Nutella you get given. It's pretty much the only source of flavour in this dessert, with the wafer crumb serving more as an addition to the texture-side rather than the flavour one. You'll usually find that you'll run out of Nutella quite quickly, leaving the only flavour to be that of the soft serve. Saying that, it's still Nutella, so every bite with it scratches the sugar craving wonderfully! Honestly, if the ones you purchase looked anything like the advertisements, it'd probably be in contention for S-tier…
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Derpy McFlurry
Locations Reviewed: East Victoria Park
Thoughts: A dessert that is consistently good but nothing overly amazing. Unlike in the Americas with their wild berry flavouring, our Derpy McFlurry came with brown sugar sauce. I mean, it's basically plain sugar so it has a nice mellowly sweet taste to it but it's nothing that's going to blow your mind. The chewy tapioca pearls are a nice shakeup in the texture department although they also share a similar low flavour profile. Overall, it's a nice dessert and does feel somewhat unique compared to other desserts purely due to its simplicity.
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Goal-den Caramilk McFlurry
Locations Reviewed: Innaloo
Thoughts: This is basically a better version of the Storm Cadbury Flake. Instead of just having flakes of chocolate like the latter, the Caramilk McFlurry also features Caramilk-inspired sauce to go alongside it. Flavour wise, it's pretty about what you'd expect from Caramilk and soft serve, so it's a nice combination but it doesn't really stand out. They do provide you with a ton of the sauce and flakes though which is appreciated. I think I'd enjoy just a plain block of Caramilk chocolate though.
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OREO Cookies McFlurry
Locations Reviewed: Tuart Hill
Thoughts: This was the last thing I consumed on this list and it surprised me. I was fully expecting it to be a worse version its Storm equivalent, but honestly I'd say it's either equal or even slightly better. While McFlurrys don't have any extra OREO at the bottom, they provide so much at the top that it's pretty easy to still have some just as you reach the bottom. I think this is also helped by the fact that McDonald's soft serve is a straight upgrade when compared to Hungry Jack's, and I think this dish really exemplifies this difference. It means the soft serve and toppings mix much easier together, so you're able to spread the toppings around better. I also had it with both chocolate and vanilla ice cream combined and I'm not going to defend this decision since the flavour of ice cream is a default option that doesn't cost more. Finally, the OREO pieces in this McFlurry seem to come with a much larger variation in sizes when compared to the Storm, and the bigger pieces carry a ton more flavour.
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Storm OREO
Locations Reviewed: Innaloo
Thoughts: Effectively the first thing that comes to mind when someone brings up dessert at a fast-food restaurant. It's just a great combination and I don't understand why it works as well as it does. Something about the taste of Oreos just integrates incredibly well with the taste of soft serve. It's also great thanks to the additional Oreo found at the bottom, meaning the last few bites are full of flavour! It's not amazing by any means though, hence it's placement - the upper tiers simply have more going on that elevates their respective desserts.
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M&M's Minis McFlurry
Locations Reviewed: Innaloo
Thoughts: Another dessert strongly carried by McDonald's having the superior soft serve. Mini M&M's are delicious on their own, so naturally an ice cream featuring them also tastes great. They provide a nice harder texture change while providing an additional chocolatey taste. You're provided with enough of them where you can make it through the majority of dessert without running out, although the last 10-20% will still be plain soft serve. They have the unique trait of offering visual fun though, as you're able to watch the white soft serve slowly becoming more and more corrupted by the M&M's colour.
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Storm with Nutella
Locations Reviewed: Innaloo, Dog Swamp
Thoughts: The Storm with Nutella seems to be the most dependant on whether it's made well or not, with my experience being a 50/50 in terms of it being either passable or great. I'd say it's really down to how much Nutella you get given. It's pretty much the only source of flavour in this dessert, with the wafer crumb serving more as an addition to the texture-side rather than the flavour one. You'll usually find that you'll run out of Nutella quite quickly, leaving the only flavour to be that of the soft serve. Saying that, it's still Nutella, so every bite with it scratches the sugar craving wonderfully! Honestly, if the ones you purchase looked anything like the advertisements, it'd probably be in contention for S-tier…
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Derpy McFlurry
Locations Reviewed: East Victoria Park
Thoughts: A dessert that is consistently good but nothing overly amazing. Unlike in the Americas with their wild berry flavouring, our Derpy McFlurry came with brown sugar sauce. I mean, it's basically plain sugar so it has a nice mellowly sweet taste to it but it's nothing that's going to blow your mind. The chewy tapioca pearls are a nice shakeup in the texture department although they also share a similar low flavour profile. Overall, it's a nice dessert and does feel somewhat unique compared to other desserts purely due to its simplicity.
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Goal-den Caramilk McFlurry
Locations Reviewed: Innaloo
Thoughts: This is basically a better version of the Storm Cadbury Flake. Instead of just having flakes of chocolate like the latter, the Caramilk McFlurry also features Caramilk-inspired sauce to go alongside it. Flavour wise, it's pretty about what you'd expect from Caramilk and soft serve, so it's a nice combination but it doesn't really stand out. They do provide you with a ton of the sauce and flakes though which is appreciated. I think I'd enjoy just a plain block of Caramilk chocolate though.
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C Tier

Storm Cadbury Flake
Locations Reviewed: Mirrabooka
Thoughts: There simply isn't enough going on with this storm where it would be a better option over the specials. It's effectively eating plain soft serve with barely noticeable chocolate pieces mixed within. I couldn't even taste these pieces until after I had finished and had a couple stuck within my teeth. It's not as if they didn't provide enough of the Flake, it's just that they're never really going to add much to the Storm unless they come in a huge quantity.
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Milo McFlurry
Locations Reviewed: Jolimont
Thoughts: This is the best in this tier by far, but the sheer lack of creativity stops it from going any higher. Does it taste good? - Yes, but there's nothing that really justifies actually purchasing this over just using cold milk and a can of milo. Shockingly, it tastes exactly like milo which I'm sure the majority of Australians have consumed numerous times before. So like, the flavours good, it just so damn boring.
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Warheads Sour Watermelon Storm
Locations Reviewed: Balga
Thoughts: The best thing about this Storm is the colour - it's a really, really nice green colour. In terms of flavour, it's not too bad, with the watermelon sauce having a fine sourness while still being sweet. The included bursties provide an enjoyable addition to the overall sensory experience. The one big downside however is that the sauce absolutely refuses to mix with the soft serve - it was almost impossible to get a scoop that included a good mix of both. This improved a bit as the soft serve melted, but then the mix looked rough enough that it could be mistaken for curds.
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Storm Cadbury Flake
Locations Reviewed: Mirrabooka
Thoughts: There simply isn't enough going on with this storm where it would be a better option over the specials. It's effectively eating plain soft serve with barely noticeable chocolate pieces mixed within. I couldn't even taste these pieces until after I had finished and had a couple stuck within my teeth. It's not as if they didn't provide enough of the Flake, it's just that they're never really going to add much to the Storm unless they come in a huge quantity.
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Milo McFlurry
Locations Reviewed: Jolimont
Thoughts: This is the best in this tier by far, but the sheer lack of creativity stops it from going any higher. Does it taste good? - Yes, but there's nothing that really justifies actually purchasing this over just using cold milk and a can of milo. Shockingly, it tastes exactly like milo which I'm sure the majority of Australians have consumed numerous times before. So like, the flavours good, it just so damn boring.
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Warheads Sour Watermelon Storm
Locations Reviewed: Balga
Thoughts: The best thing about this Storm is the colour - it's a really, really nice green colour. In terms of flavour, it's not too bad, with the watermelon sauce having a fine sourness while still being sweet. The included bursties provide an enjoyable addition to the overall sensory experience. The one big downside however is that the sauce absolutely refuses to mix with the soft serve - it was almost impossible to get a scoop that included a good mix of both. This improved a bit as the soft serve melted, but then the mix looked rough enough that it could be mistaken for curds.
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