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Shake it up, baby. Summer's here, and there's a slew of new chilled drinks to slurp down. Our favorite is Krystal's MilkQuake, an ice-cream-based shake. The new, limited-time flavors are Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, which was the testers' favorite, and Banana Pudding, a frothy concoction with bits of Nilla wafers blended in. (Vanilla, chocolate and strawberry are also available.)

There are some things you can't fake, and a milkshake is one of them. When they're made with real ice cream, they taste better. That's why these stand out. Good-quality mix-ins also boost the appeal. The peanut butter shake is a yummy blend of chocolate and peanut butter, just like the candy bar. The banana shake uses flavoring, not actual bananas, but tastes much closer to the real thing than most banana drinks. If you're looking for drinkable banana pudding, this fits the bill.

By the numbers: Split these with a few friends: The banana pudding shake has 1,060 calories, and the peanut butter cup has 1,010. A 20-ounce cup is $2.79.

Wendy's: Flavoring syrup overwhelms

The Frosty is going through another kind of shake-up at Wendy's. What was once just a frozen chocolate dessert, then expanded to a vanilla flavor and then to candy mix-ins, is also now a shake. (You can still get the original, eat-with-a-spoon Frosty.)

We tried the new Frosty Shake in Strawberry and Vanilla Bean. And the minute the clerk started pouring the bright red strawberry flavoring into a cup of shake base, we got a bad feeling. Sure enough, it tasted harsh and artificial. The sauce does contain some real strawberries, according to nutritional information on the Wendy's Web site, but doesn't taste like many made it into the final product. The Vanilla Bean, also supplemented with a flavoring syrup, was only slightly better.

By the numbers: A large, 16-ounce shake contains 520 calories; suggested retail is $3.19.

Chick-fil-A: Too much of a sweet thing

Chick-fil-A's summer shake flavor is Coffee Caramel, a supersweet concoction that's around through early August. The flavor is similar to Quik-Trip's Frozen Cappuccino, creamy with a mild coffee flavor.

It's pleasant enough at first, but the highly sweetened drink wears out its welcome after a few sips. And with a 19-ounce shake the only available size, that leaves a lot of drink still to slurp.

By the numbers: One serving is 810 calories, another argument for splitting with two other coffee lovers. $2.89.

Your turn: Have you tried them?