It’s spring of 2018.

That was when I laid my lips on my first ever Shamrock Shake. 

I heard, through my friends in high school and online, that the milkshake McDonald’s puts out every February is one of the greatest sensations that mankind has ever known.

I remember drinking my genesis edition of the sweet treat while watching March Madness, and an euphoria unlike any other came through me.

“This is what spring is all about,” I thought to myself.

The minty taste of the shake, the madness being displayed in the basketball game, the grass changing seasons from its white snowy cover to its green, grassy, natural state – it was a perfect moment in time.

Still, some people seemed to be not too keen about the Shamrock Shake. A good amount of folks think it’s downright nasty.

Others, like myself, can’t imagine the spring season without it, while most think it’s just a mint milkshake from the golden arches.

So what the hell is the big deal with it anyway?

Before we get into that, let’s go back to the history of the concoction.

The Shamrock Shake was created in 1967 by a Connecticut McDonald’s owner and operator, and it debuted three years later nationwide.

It started out as a lemon-lime flavored milkshake, but in 1973, the fast-food stop decided to make it a vanilla milkshake with a mint flavor and green coloring.

Fast forward to 2017, McDonald’s decided to introduce new menu items such as the chocolate Shamrock Shake, a Shamrock Chocolate Chip Frappe, the Shamrock Mocha and the Shamrock Hot Chocolate.

Today, they now have the Oreo Shamrock McFlurry. Which by the way, is very good.

Now I’m not going to sit here and write that the Shamrock-negative crowd is wrong. That would be unethical.

But let me tell you why it is more than just a milkshake.

It’s a liquid representation of the changing of seasons.

This is a sign of the times that there is spring on the horizon. Imagine Punxsutawney Phil, but you don’t have to hold your breath to see if he will see his shadow and have six more weeks of winter.

Because the Shamrock Shake gives you the feeling of spring being on the horizon.

So run to McDonald’s, grab a shake, sit back and let the new season hit you in all the feels. It’ll be here before we know it.

And we only have one thing to thank for it.

The Shamrock Shake.

Matthew Kiraly is an opinion writer. You can contact him at [email protected].