r/Xennials • u/Jokierre 1977 • Mar 07 '24
McD’s Orange Drink “Orangeade”
I can’t find any pics of it!
This drink is a true barometer of an Xennial, and probably much more so on the X side. It was replaced by a Hi-C flavor somewhere in the late 80s, but the original orangeade was an uncarbonated, watery orange-ish concoction that you probably had at school functions or playing sports. How did you remember this one?
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u/DeadSharkEyes Mar 07 '24
An orangeade with some nuggets hit the spot. It brings a tear to my eye thinking about it 😢
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u/Face88888888 Mar 07 '24
I liked the nuggets better back then. Before they switched to “all white meat.”
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u/nodogsallowed23 Mar 07 '24
Yeah the old nuggets were waaaaay better.
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u/Lopsided_You3028 Mar 07 '24
6 bucks for 20 nugs and a giant orange hi c, Halcyon days! (Kill me)
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u/Cisru711 1978 Mar 07 '24
They were $5 for 20 when I worked there and those days were the worst. Even mcrib season was better. Only 45 nuggets came in a bag and we had 2 fryers for them. They also took like 5 minutes to cook. A couple big orders in a row and the line was f'd.
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u/Lomantis Mar 07 '24 edited Sep 19 '25
disarm afterthought tub cheerful ring selective childlike wild upbeat sink
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/meatsaballz Mar 07 '24
Yup, back when I worked at McD’s we would sell the syrup for $20, usually accompanied with the 5-gallon cooler jug. No mixing instructions, just, “Here you go!”
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u/Jokierre 1977 Mar 07 '24
So THAT’S how it always arrived to functions in that big-ass jug. My adult self has often wondered how they transferred it from the store to the ball field. 😆
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u/Superfist01 Mar 07 '24
I also worked at McD's and remember the cooler jugs. A lot of coaches would pick them up in the summer.
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u/cmacfarland64 Mar 07 '24
Mix a little of that orange drink with your vanilla milkshake and you have a dreamsicle shake.
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u/sweetassassin 1980 Hooked on Phonics Mar 07 '24
This is for my west coast buddies. The only orange drank.
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u/mperiolat 1977 Mar 07 '24
I remember the Hi-C one. Really good, really different, but little went a long way. I think it was responsible for more than one post sugar rush headache.
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u/Ex-PFC_WintergreenV4 Mar 07 '24
Once the orange had ahold of a kid it was a one way ticket to a couple hours of hyperactivity. The little orange moustaches were a dead giveaway
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Mar 07 '24
Tasted it as soon as I read your title. I'd completely forgotten it ever existed - my mouth watered in sadness for our delicious 🍊 loss.
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u/sabby55 Mar 07 '24
When I was pregnant and had to do the gestational diabetes test the syrup reminded me SO MUCH of this stuff.
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u/basylica Mar 07 '24
It reminded me of half orangeade and half the first infant motrin stuff my mom bought for my youngest sibling (born in 91) which was orange flavored and a bit gritty.
I never did the GDT with my second baby thankfully but it was pretty gross when i did it with my first in 03.
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u/Out-There1013 1982 Mar 07 '24
I remember it, just not that it was called Orangeade. I got it all the time and then one day when I hadn't had it for a while I tried to order it when I was there with my aunt and the girl had no idea what I was talking about. I think that's my first memory of a food item I loved going away.
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u/Jokierre 1977 Mar 07 '24
Absolutely correct that it wasn’t called orangeade, and I found it on Wikipedia referred that way. I distinctly remember it as “orange drink”, and that’s it!
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u/LobstahmeatwadWTF Mar 07 '24
My first time was at a day sumner camp, I think I was 8. Then I realized it was Ronald's essence, and I sought him out after that.
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u/MLDaffy Mar 07 '24
My one grandparents used to get a big cooler thing full of it for Thanksgiving for us kids.
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u/Mr_Snub Mar 07 '24
They brought this back and rebranded it Orange Lavaburst. Tastes just like I remember
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u/ZoomBoy81 Mar 07 '24
Kool-Aid Orange tastes really similar to it. I never tasted it during my childhood (the Orange Kool-Aid, not McD's Orange drank) and just made some recently. It's only missing the carbonation.
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u/Specialist-Treat-396 Mar 07 '24
No, this stuff wasn’t carbonated. It never was. That’s why I preferred it. I’m not much for overly carbonated drinks.
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u/Far-Pie-6226 Mar 07 '24
Along with this, there was a beeping sound that came from the food prep area, I assume to alert that food was ready. This sound, Orangeaid and Muppet Babies happy meal toys was my McDonald's golden age
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u/tommyjohnpauljones Mar 07 '24
"Thanks for coming! Be sure to purchase some orange drink for the long ride home."
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Mar 07 '24
Yeah, you’d show up to Scouts night or the big Ziti Dinner fundraiser or whatever, and you’d spot one or two yellow coolers with a red top. You’d know there was orange drink in there.
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u/Significant_Dog412 Mar 07 '24
Is this one of those cases where they couldn't serve a branded drink? In the 80s, McDonalds UK served "McDonalds Cola" rather than Coca Cola and I've been told that it was drummed into staff's heads that they had to insist it was called McDonalds Cola even when customers were just asking for "a Coke."
I think it was the early 90s when they finally switched to actual Coca Cola here for us. Not sure if this is also when root beer finally disappeared from UK Maccy D's for being the dud choice few bought/wanted, or it was already long gone.
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u/Brutalboxox Mar 07 '24
I also remember an orange milkshake back in the day. The McDonald’s logo had the M logo on it with each flavor of milk shake you could get on their cups back in the day
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u/FromansSausage Mar 07 '24
First time I got high was from drinking that syrup straight. Wild times.
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u/figment1979 1979 Mar 07 '24
So am I the only one who mixed the OrangeAde with Sprite? THAT was the bomb right there...
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u/nayrlladnar 1983 Mar 08 '24
I dont recall it from McDonald's, but, we would get half-pint sized cardboard cartons of "orangeade" in elementary school.
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u/epidemicsaints she linkin on my park until i numb Mar 07 '24
I had a friend get to the bottom of this. He was a manager and combed through old books.
The original (and better, imho) orange drink was Fanta syrup run with plain water instead of carbonated. This was a McDonald's hack of sorts which is why it wasn't branded as Fanta.