EXCLUSIVE McDonald's Australia announces major change to its popular menu item: 'Our best one yet'
In a move that will interest coffee connoisseurs, Macca's has revealed it will be using a new blend for its McCafé coffees, starting Wednesday.
The fast food chain is changing its coffee blend for the first time in four years, with the last update made in 2021.
Amanda Nakad, Marketing Director of Menu and Brand for McDonald's Australia, said the change will be 'our best McCafé blend yet'.
'We refresh our coffee blend every four years to keep up with the evolving tastes of our customers and we reckon this one is the best one yet,' Ms Nakad told FEMAIL.
'We know how much our Aussie customers love coffee and care about the taste and quality of their brew – and so do we.'
The coffee beans are sourced from around the world and shipped to a roastery in Melbourne, Australia's coffee capital. There, they are roasted and blended on-site into the new coffee blend.
Like the previous brew, the new blend is made from 100 per cent Arabica coffee beans, sourced from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms.
However, there are some subtle differences to the taste of the new takeaway coffee.
The new blend includes four origins of coffee beans from Colombia, Honduras, Brazil and Ethiopia.
As a result, coffee drinkers should expect the taste to feel richer and rounder with fruity and nutty notes.
In addition to refining the taste of the coffee, Ms Nakad said confirmed that they remain committed to 'invest' in barista staff training and equipment to ensure quality and consistency of McCafe coffee across all their stores.
McCafé is a true Aussie success story, having first launched in the laneways of Melbourne back in 1993.
Today, the cafe serves up more than 300 million cups of barista-made coffee and hot drinks per year. This effectively means that one in five store-bought coffees in Australia are sold at McCafé.
'It's a brand that was created by coffee lovers for coffee lovers, and we're extremely proud to welcome this new blend to our loyal Aussie customers,' Ms Nakad said.
The new blend comes hot on the heels of the limited-edition launch of Macca's matcha beverage range at select stores around Australia.
The fast food restaurant chain is now selling a classic Matcha Latte ($4.60), an Iced Matcha Latte ($5.20) and a trendy Iced Strawberry Matcha Latte ($6.05).
When FEMAIL contacted McDonald's Australia to enquire about the new matcha range, a spokesperson remained tight-lipped but offered a vague confirmation.
'Seeing green? Macca's is currently trialling a special treat in select restaurants across NSW and Victoria,' a McDonald's Australia spokesperson told FEMAIL.
'While we can't confirm anything further yet… We can say: stay tuned.'
Sydney food blogger Nina was one of the first to break the news on social media about the little-known Matcha range spotted at Wynyard Station.
'Guess what?! McDonald's Australia has released matcha lattes. Finally matcha available at Macca's,' Nina said in her video.
Nina said she purchased a medium iced matcha with oat milk for $6.40.
'Although they use syrup, the matcha flavour was strong with no bitterness - but it was very, very sweet,' she said in her verdict.
'Not very traditional, but the sugar sure was a great pick me up in the morning. To be honest I think I'll be buying this again.'
The Sydney-based foodie posted a six-second video that has already been viewed more than 750,000 times, which showed her spotting the item on an in-store menu.
The video shows the McDonald's store at Wynyard Station - along with a sign confirming the matcha range won't be around for long.
'Hurry limited time,' the sign read.
The video has already notched up over 40,000 likes, and received hundreds of comments from excited customers.
'FINALLY MY DREAMS ARE COMING TRUE,' read one excited response.
But the top-liked comment expressed disbelief about whether 'this is actually true'.
This warranted skepticism stems from an incident last year when a 'fake' Macca's matcha drink caused a frenzy and disappointment among customers.
Last year, a group of Melbourne friends filmed themselves apparently ordering a 'Strawberry Matcha' from a McDonald's Drive-Thru window as part of a social media prank.
The staged video quickly sparked confusion among McDonald's customers, who soon reported being unable to find the drink anywhere in stores.
The misinformation about the Macca's Strawberry Matcha got so out of hand that McDonald's eventually released a statement confirming the product did not exist.
The subsequent outcry from social media fans led many to campaign for Macca's to develop their own drink featuring the popular green tea powder.
Now, it appears their wish has come true as Macca's trials the new drinks range at select stores.
In addition to the Wynyard Station, some other NSW locations where the range has quietly launched included Thornleigh, Bondi Junction, Wyong and Haberfield.
In Melbourne, one fan noted that they'd seen it in the Doncaster store.
Matcha lattes – and in particular strawberry matcha lattes – have soared in popularity in the last few years.
The trendy iced strawberry matcha lattes are understood to have originated from Asian tea specialty stores, and became prolific on social media.
The striking visual appeal of iced strawberry matcha lattes is one of the reasons why the drink went viral.
Matcha is known for its health benefits, with the green tea powder renowned for being rich in antioxidants. It also contains fibre, vitamin C, chromium, magnesium, selenium and zinc.
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