As the weather begins to warm up, there’s nothing better than a cold beverage on a nice hot day but that begs the question, which is better? ICEE or Slurpee? I tried them both to find out.
ICEE originated in 1958 when Dairy Queen owner in Coffeyville, Kansas had a faulty soda machine that forced him to put cans of soda in the freezer to keep them cold. Thus the birth of the infamous ICEE. Now it is a gas station staple and can be found in every movie theater.
Slurpee began because of ICEE when 7-11 made a deal with the ICEE company to be a licensed seller of their products in all 7-11 stores. They started with two flavors, cherry and coke, and they were an instant success. After a while, they rebranded to the jSlurpee we all know today and produced an endless amount of flavors.
I first started at a Terrible’s gas station where I got an ICEE. They had blue raspberry, coke, and watermelon however watermelon was the only flavor that was ready at the time so that is what I got. I paid $1.61 for their smallest sized ICEE. Immediately upon the first sip it was delicious. It was a little foamy at the bottom, however I stirred it up and that problem went away.
Next I tried the Slurpee which didn’t have a watermelon flavor so I got strawberry lemonade instead. I paid $2.61 for their medium sized Slurpee. It was very good, however was overly sweet and lacked the soda type feel.
As far as the price category goes, ICEE was the clear winner as I got a bigger size for a dollar cheaper. Though the Slurpee was much more dense, to me the price for the ICEE was much more worth it.
Flavor wise, I can’t fully compare as neither flavor was the same however I enjoyed the watermelon flavor more as it was much less sweet. The ICEE was still sweet but much less syrupy and thick. ICEE also had that soda style fizz flavor which I prefer much more than just syrup.
Overall both drinks were very good and would make a fantastic addition to a summer day, however I would have to deem ICEE the winner in a close 8/10 on the ICEE scale vs. a 7/10 on the Slurpee scale.
