By Ethan Blackwell

When looking for a cool summer treat around the city of Harrisonburg, the options are unlimited. It seems every year there is another shop selling smoothies, milkshakes, ice cream, or other delectable treats that people of all ages will flock to devoir. But when someone has a hankering for a phenomenal milkshake, and wants to know where to get the best bang for there buck, there are several major contestants that can do exactly that.

Around town there are several large name shops that have milkshakes on their menus. Places like Klein’s, Cold Stone, and Chik-Fil-A appear as well as simpler locations like McDonalds, and Wendy’s. Comparing each location against each other would not do justice for the shop, so when milkshakes are on the mind one should ask whether they want a cheap and simple milkshake, or if they want to dish out a little more money and have a more complex milkshake experience.

If what the taste buds are asking for is a simple yet good chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry milkshake, save yourself the cash and visit a fast food chain like McDonalds or Wendy’s. It is fairly simple to receive the euphoric effect between the one to three dollar ranges. When a group of taste testers went to the locations senior Daniel Shenk found that each product was fairly similar.

“They seem to be very thick and concentrated,” Shenk said. “Almost as if they set some ice cream on a self to soften it and then poured it in a cup.”

Though none of the tasters were disgusted with either milkshake, all felt that it served its purpose as a cool drink but they also felt that the flavors didn’t complement their predestined taste they had hoped for.

“I feel that for the price range, the product won’t disappoint.” senior Brendon Cummiskey said. “As for the true milkshake aficionado it will not be what you are expecting from the shake.”

As for the other stores (Klein’s, Chik-Fil-A, and Cold Stone) if price is no option and you are will in to pay between three to five dollars for a milkshake then there is no limit to what your milkshake can be. Costing around $3.50 for a small shake, Klein’s can offer a customer a large assortment of flavors, as well as blends and other specialty drinks to indulge themselves on. Senior Justin Goldberger, one of the taste testers, felt that Klein’s was the overall best.

“In every category Klein’s seems to stand out to me, the richness of the flavors, mixed with the quality of products used produces an exquisite taste on the palate,” Goldberger said.

Cold Stone was also a reigning contestant among the taste testing group. For about $4.50 a customer can receive a small shake that according to Cummiskey taste identical to the tab.

“When tasting the Cake’n’Shake milkshake, it literally tasted like cake batter, though eventually it was sickening because of how sweet it tasted,” Cummiskey said.

Chik-Fil-A, the last contender in the taste testing, was a hit with Shank.

“It perfect, it blends perfectly the simplicity of a drive-thru and the quality found of a shake in an ice cream shop.

Though Chik-Fil-A’s price point was around the same as Cold Stone and Klein’s the quality of shake was close to unbeatable. Containing large amounts of strawberries in the strawberry shake, and having the options of festive flavors, Chik-Fil-A was an all around favorite among the tasters.