We Tried It: Tim Hortons Poppin’ Frozen Quenchers

The Dirty Soda fad has officially taken over this summer. (Seriously, we can’t go anywhere without a fast-food chain dumping whipped cream and syrup on top of a cup of Coke.) But if pop isn’t your thing, Tim Hortons has a pleasant alternative on the menu: Poppin’ Frozen Quenchers, a drink that lands somewhere between a soda float and movie-theatre slushie.

The Frozen Quenchers—a fruity, slushie drink topped with oil-based whipped topping—currently come in five flavours: Peach, Orange Tangerine, Blackberry Yuzu, Raspberry Mojito and Strawberry Watermelon. The “popping” twist is not, as Team Chatelaine initially imagined, the fruity popping boba that other coffee chains offer, but instead "popping candy"—similar to Pop Rocks—sprinkled atop the whipped cream.

We tasted all five flavours, and while there weren’t any particular standouts, everyone agreed the drink was a pleasant hot-weather sip. Our testers appreciated that the whipped topping kept the popping candy out of the slushie so it didn’t become soggy and thus actually popped when consumed.

Where these drinks really shine, though, is the texture: because it’s a slushie, it holds up against the whipped topping way better than other dirty soda-like drinks we’ve tasted this summer.

Our recommendation? Enjoy these with a straw to get a good mouthful of all of the layers in this "texturally appealing" beverage, as one editor put it.

Not a popping candy fan? Tims offers Frozen Quenchers without the pop rocks, too.