I Tried Frozen Fruit Drinks From Canada's Top Coffee Chains & I'd Only Buy This One Again

The rest tasted like food colouring in a cup.

Mira holding three strawberry fruity drinks.

This Opinion article is part of a Narcity Media series. The views expressed are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Narcity Media.

This summer heat makes it hard to rely solely on water because sometimes you need that little extra flavour and if you're like me, then you probably want something with more substance, like a fruit drink.

Canada's top coffee chains include Starbucks, McDonald's and Tim Hortons, and luckily, all three offer more than just coffee, especially in the summer.

Each chain has its own take on a chilly, fruity drink to help you beat the heat this summer, and that includes the Refreshers from Starbucks, Fruit Splash from McDonald's, and Quenchers from Tim Hortons.

But which one is worth the money?

Fruity drinks from three coffee fast food chains in Canada.Mira Nabulsi | Narcity

I went to each chain and chose a common flavour, which ended up being strawberry. However, the strawberry combinations were all so different.

After a few sips, there was only one that made me feel truly refreshed while getting close to delivering a real strawberry taste. The other two drinks freaked me out just a tad.

Here's how I ranked the fruity drinks from Canada's fast food coffee chains from worst to best.

McDonald's Fruit Splash.

Mira Nabulsi | Narcity

Price: $2.10

When McDonald's decided to call this a "Fruit Splash," they knew exactly what kind of beverage they were making. It's basically water with a splash of flavour.

I ordered the Strawberry Passionfruit Fruit Splash from McDonald's, and I'm not joking when I say it tasted like food colouring.

Interestingly enough, just as I was about to say, "This drink doesn't seem so popular," a person standing behind me in line at McDonald's ordered this exact drink with a big smile, so it might just be a me problem.

The iced drink's description states that it's "a refreshing lemonade beverage made with real lemon juice concentrate and real lemon pulp, with the sweet taste of strawberry and passionfruit." I'm afraid I have to disagree because that seriously didn't taste like what it claimed to be.

Also, the colour was super concerning. The drink was very, very bright pink, which is odd because passionfruit is usually orange in colour.

Score: 1/5

Starbucks Refresher.

Mira Nabulsi | Narcity

Price: $4.49

It's odd to order a strawberry drink and not taste the fruit, right? It creeps me out a little because I wonder what the heck I am drinking.

Well, in the case of this Starbucks drink, there were cut-up strawberries in the Refresher but it actually tasted sour.

The drink I ordered from the Starbucks near me was the "Strawberry Açaí Starbucks Refreshers Beverage" and even though strawberry is the first fruit mentioned, I felt like the sourness was from the acai.

If you like acai, which I'm not a massive fan of, then maybe this one is for you, but the Refresher didn't feel so refreshing to me.

Starbucks Canada introduced new frozen Refreshers for the summer, and Narcity's Tristan Wheeler enjoyed the frozen mango dragonfruit lemonade because it tasted "perfectly balanced." Meanwhile, the frozen version of the drink I tried was his second favourite and he said people at the event also thought it would become a fan favourite.

Starbucks has won a taste test for me before, but sadly it's not the winner of this one which caught me by surprise. Also, the Refresher's price was double the price of any of the other fruity drinks, which only added to my disappointment.

Score: 3/5

Tim Hortons Quencher.

Mira Nabulsi | Narcity

Price: $2.29

Finally, the winner of this taste test is, oddly, Tim Hortons.

I'm not a fan of Tim Hortons' beverages, but in this case, I would go back before the summer ends just to have a Quencher worthy of its name.

The coffee chain released its new Quenchers line of cold beverages this summer to compete with the likes of McDonald's and Starbucks in Canada and elsewhere. I've tried the Blackberry Yuzu Sparkling Quencher before and it was delicious.

I tried the Strawberry Watermelon Quencher for this taste test, which was so refreshing. You could equally taste the watermelon and strawberry with every sip.

The Quencher isn't the cheapest of the three fast food chains but is within a reasonable price compared to the Starbucks Refresher, which is double the cost of the Tim Hortons drink.

Unlike the Blackberry Yuzu one, this Strawberry Watermelon one is not sparkling, which is such a win for me because I don't like the feeling of soda in my mouth.

This refreshing beverage tastes more like a fruity drink than any other drink on this list. This is the only one I actually finished and I am confidently able to say I could go for another one.

Score: 5/5

You read it here first: Tim Hortons is the winner of this taste test because it feels like real fruit in a cup, which is sad to say, but I guess that's the reality of the fast food industry.

To be honest, my first choice for juice on the go would not be any of these fast food chains if I had the option. My go-to juice spot in Toronto is Booster Juice, because their orange juice is the freshest I've had in the city.

Also, one of my biggest culture shocks when moving to Canada from the Middle East was the lack of actual fresh juices in the city. When I say fresh juice, I mean made-to-order. Where I'm from, the juice is made-to-order at almost every restaurant you go to. It's not considered a luxury but rather a norm.

You would find packaged juice at school events and birthday parties but never at restaurants.

The Tim Hortons in Dubai actually has fresh orange juice on its menu and it costs 16 Dirhams which equates to $5.74 Canadian; I don't think I've ever had fresh juice in Toronto that was as cheap as what you can get in Dubai.

Anyways, I am a juice and fruity beverage drinker and so this taste test was an easy one for me. I chose Tim Hortons as the best option compared to the rest and so save your money and trust me on this one, because I feel like a professional at this point.

Enjoy sipping, Canadians.