Well that took a lot less than 97 years. The first episode of Rick and Morty season 3 kicked off a national outcry for something few even knew existed: McDonald’s Szechuan dipping sauce, a supposedly delicious tie in food the restaurant chain ran back in 1998 to celebrate the release of Disney’s Mulan. On the show, Rick tricked an alien species into creating an entire false reality just so he could get a taste of the stuff, declaring he’d spend 9 seasons or 97 years or whatever it took to get more.
And now we’re going to get a taste of what Rick was ranting about, but only for a brief moment. McDonald’s has announced they’re bringing back their Szechuan sauce for one day only. That’s right: on October 7th, a limited amount of the stuff will be going out to selected fast food joints across America. You can find out just how close or far you’ll have to drive to get the sauce on this page set up by McDonalds, which is also pushing McDonald’s new Buttermilk Crispy Tenders. We see what you’re doing here, McDonalds. And it’s working. Oh, it’s working.
— McDonald's (@McDonalds) October 1, 2017
The very limited time offer opens a brief portal to a universe of deliciousness after months where only the most elite of the elite have been able to get their hands on Szechuan sauce. Back at the end of July, Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland revealed McDonald’s had sent him a four pound bottle, and the company followed that up by sending three more jugs to fans on Twitter. One of those fans put his sauce up for sale on eBay where EDM producer Deadmau5 snagged it for an undisclosed amount.
So how good is the stuff Can it really live up to all the hype
“I personally thought it was a sauce that was trying too hard in a world where with McNuggets sauce, you just want something to taste like honey or like a BBQ sauce,” co-creator Dan Harmon joked with Entertainment Weekly. “It was sauce that was trying to prove it was different and in doing so it worked harder than a sauce should. It was working too hard to be a sauce!”
But Harmon did admit the sauce may have been bitterly tinged by the fact that Justin Roiland went ahead and tasted it without him. You’ll have your chance to judge for yourself come October 7th, if you’re lucky enough to live in the United States near a participating McDonald’s.