Taste Test: McDonald's New McNuggets Dips, Sandwich, and Tea

(SPOT.ph) Okay, we hear you: Chicken McNuggets Barbecue Sauce supremacy. But there's no rule nor rulebook that says there isn't room for more than one favorite dip, is there? In the past couple of years, McDonald's has launched interesting Chicken McNuggets dips that have made us opt for the limited edition flavors instead of the staple—from the Cajun sauce launched with Korean boy group BTS, and more recently, the Savory Chili WcNuggets Sauce in manga-inspired packaging. This time around the fast-food chain launches three new McNuggets dips in one go.

In this this SPOT.ph Taste Test, we're reviewing the new dips: Classic Ranch, Sweet Chili Plum, and the Fiery Garlic Aioli, together with the new chicken sandwich Black Pepper McChicken Sandwich and the new Lipton Cool Berry iced tea.

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Here's what you need to know about McDonald's new items on the menu:

The Classic Ranch, Sweet Chili Plum, and the Fiery Garlic Aioli are McDonald's newest Chicken McNuggets dips now available on the menu. These new dips play on spicy, sweet, and lip-puckering flavors—and before you even ask, yes, we did experiment with combining dips and we do have a favorite combination we recommend, but more on that later.

These new Chicken McNuggets dips come with a heftier price tag as compared to having the complimentary barbecue sauce, and based on the McDelivery website, each dip costs an additional P22, more or less. The great thing is that there's no need to buy another set of Chicken McNuggets if you wish to try all three new dips as you can purchase each new dip at an additional cost.

As for the Black Pepper McChicken sandwich, this is a sandwich that uses a chicken fillet, thin strips of lettuce, and a black pepper gravy-like sauce, hugged in between soft burger buns. This sandwich was launched alongside the Cool Berry, the first collaboration between Lipton and McDonald's. During the media launch, this new iced tea drink was described to be a mocktail-inspired drink with a refreshing sweet and tangy flavor profile.

What do the new McDonald's Chicken McNugget dips taste like?

There's a lot to unpack with the three new dips, so we'll go about it per flavor. First, the Classic Ranch is one that we'd consider the safest flavor of the three. It is a flavor that most, if not all, people will like. It has a thick mayonnaise-like consistency with a garlicky and sour taste that works harmoniously with the Chicken McNuggets. We could also imagine this would work perfectly with other McDonald's items such as the McChicken and Twister Fries (if it were available).

The Sweet Chili Plum is our favorite of the three dips, and it may or may not have anything to do with the fact that it reminds us of other favorites such as lumpia and Peking duck. This dip has a translucent and more fluid consistency with a more acidic-than-sweet taste and is only mildly spicy. You can only feel the heat in the throat and it doesn't linger compared to the Fiery Garlic Aioli.

Now, if you have a high tolerance and an affinity for spiciness, then the Fiery Garlic Aioli is the best no-brainer option. It feels like a marriage of the other two dips, resulting in a tarter and spicier, thicc-bodied dip. While it's not a favorite, we don't hate it either—we'll probably still consume every bit of it inside the container.

We've tried tasting all three dips in three possible flavor combinations. The flavor combination that left the biggest mark on our taste buds is Classic Ranch + Sweet Chili Plum—while the two flavors don't have that much in common by themselves, together, they make for an addicting dip. A close second is the Fiery Garlic Aioli + Sweet Chili Plum which results in the spiciest dip combination possible.

What do the new McDonald's Black Pepper McChicken Sandwich and Lipton Cool Berry taste like?

The Black Pepper McChicken Sandwich reminds us of the same peppery mushroom sauce used for their Mushroom Pepper Steak rice bowl. You can definitely tell that they didn't hold off on the pepper when making this sauce on your first bite, but if anything, we wish they could have added a slice of cheese to enhance the sauce.

The Cool Berry, on the other hand (literally and figuratively), is one of the biggest pleasant surprises in this whole launch. McDonald's wasn't top-of-mind when it came to the topic of fast-food iced teas, but this Cool Berry has a strong chance of changing that. It has this sweetness because of the mixed-in berry flavor and a palpable herbiness because of the mint, but you can still taste the tea base despite it all. 

If we were to give any "bad" comment on the Cool Berry drink, it would be why they didn't name it Berry Cool instead. What a missed opportunity to sound very cool!

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What's our final verdict on the new McDonald's items:

When it comes to the new Chicken McNugget dips, we will stand firm with our favorites: You can either go with the Sweet Chili Plum on its own or if you have a few spare changes, go for the Classic Ranch + Sweet Chili Plum combination. To answer the question "Fries or rice?," we think any carb you choose should be okay in this situation.

You can skip the Black Pepper McChicken Sandwich unless you're hangry—it's more of an option than a requirement. But what we feel is essential is to order the largest available cup for the Cool Berry to go with your meal. You can set aside your love affair for sodas to try this limited-edition drink while it's still available. 

McDonald’s is a fast-food restaurant that dates back all the way to the '40s, when brothers Maurice and Richard McDonald turned their drive-thru barbecue restaurant in California into a burger joint. They came to the Philippines in 1981, when Dr. George T. Yang opened the first Philippine McDonald’s restaurant in Morayta, Manila. To this day, they’re loved for their burgers, fries, chicken, and other Western eats, with Philippine exclusives that include the Chicken McDo with Spaghetti.

See a list of McDonald's branches. For more information, check out McDonald's Philippines' website.

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