On a brisk and windy night in Kearney, Nebraska, my taste buds pleaded with my brain to give it something sweet and yummy. This is what prompted me to get in my car and drive to the only Dairy Queen in a 24 mile radius. The line for the drive through was packed, per usual, as other ice cream enthusiasts endured the wait times just for a sweet treat of their own. After an eight minute wait which felt more like eight hours, I finally pulled up to the backlit menu meaning it was my turn to parooze the menu for something that would satisfy my screaming sweet tooth. Item after item called out to me but instead of choosing a classic item on the menu, my eyes scanned to the new and limited time offerings. They all sounded delicious but my eyes fell on a unique sounding creation; the cotton candy blizzard. 

Upon paying the six odd dollars for my medium-sized dessert and receiving the ice cream in the inverted position, I was finally able to drive home, ready to indulge. My first proper view in full light revealed a cup of pink-hued soft serve ice cream, not filled entirely to the top, with a smattering of pink and blue cotton candy sprinkles mixed throughout. With the wait finally over, I grabbed the cheap, red, plastic spoon buried in the ice cream and prepared for my first bite.

As expected with soft serve ice cream, the texture was, well, soft. My first bite of the artificially colored pink ice cream left my mouth smiling as I maneuvered the thick and creamy ice cream over my tongue. The bits of cotton candy sprinkles added a nice texture difference that contrasted the feeling of the soft serve nicely. After another bite, I decided the taste wasn’t 100% of actual cotton candy. It had the sweetness of cotton candy but with more vanilla underlying notes. The sprinkles were a very nice touch, enhancing the texture with bits of crunch in each spoonful. They weren’t necessarily adding to the flavor but the change in texture added to the experience of eating this Dairy Queen Blizzard.

Spoonful after spoonful, I shoveled my way to the bottom of the red and blue Dairy Queen cup. Ice cream melted as I went, creating more of a soft serve soup. When I had completed my dessert, I was left with an empty cup but a full heart. I decided that the long wait time had in fact been worth it in order to taste this unique creation. I would go back again tonight and get the same thing… if the medium Dairy Queen cotton candy Blizzard hadn’t been nearly 1,000 calories.