Jamocha Shake at Arby’s: Price, Calories, Caffeine, and the 1964 Story

Yes, the Jamocha Shake is still on the Arby’s menu in November 2026, and it is the oldest shake on it. It is a coffee and chocolate shake built on a vanilla soft serve base, and a small has 540 calories, a medium has 700, and a large has 980. Prices vary by location, with a small typically costing about $4.49 in store, and the caffeine is low, about 11.6 milligrams in a 16 ounce serving. If you want the short version before you order, it is a sweet coffee-chocolate treat, not a coffee replacement, and the large is nearly a meal by itself.

Price and Calories at a Glance

A small costs about $4.29 to $5.29 and has 540 calories. A medium has 700 calories, and a large costs about $5.19 to $5.49 and has 980 calories. Check the price in the app before you drive, because Arby’s does not publish one national price, and your store sets its own. The deals page lists current offers that can cut the cost of a dessert run.

What Is a Jamocha Shake

A Jamocha Shake is Arby’s signature coffee and chocolate shake. The name is a made-up word from Java and Mocha, coffee and chocolate, and that is exactly what it tastes like. It starts with a vanilla shake base, blended with Jamocha syrup, and it is finished with whipped topping and a Ghirardelli chocolate drizzle. The result is thick, cold, and creamy, with a smooth coffee note that sits behind the chocolate instead of taking over.

How a Jamocha Shake Gets Its Coffee Taste

The coffee taste comes from the Jamocha syrup, which uses instant coffee and coffee concentrate, plus cocoa processed with alkali. Arby’s does not brew coffee for this shake, and that choice is the whole reason the caffeine stays low. The syrup gives the flavor of coffee without the bite of a real cup, so the shake tastes like a mocha dessert, not like iced coffee with ice cream in it.

Why It Tastes Different From a Chocolate Shake

A chocolate shake is sweet all the way through, while this one has a bitter edge from the coffee that keeps the sweetness in check. Fans describe it as balanced, not too sweet and not too bitter, and that balance is why regulars order it for decades. It is the only shake on the menu with a coffee note, which is why it has its own following while the chocolate and vanilla shakes share the rest of the dessert case.

Sizes, Prices, and Calories

Arby’s sells the shake in three sizes, Small, Medium, and Large, and the calories climb fast with each step up. A small has 540 calories, a medium has 700, and a large has 980, which is more than a Classic Roast Beef sandwich. The price table below uses observed store prices from 2026, because Arby’s does not publish a national price list, and franchise stores set their own prices.

Note: prices are observed 2026 store prices and vary by location. The Medium price comes from a single aggregator listing, so treat it as approximate. The only exact price is the one your store shows in the app at checkout.

Why Prices Disagree Online

Fan price lists disagree because they were written in different years and in different cities. Some still show $3.99, which is an old figure, and some show one price with no size, no date, and no city, which tells you nothing. The ranges above come from dated 2026 observations, and the only exact price is the one your store shows in the app at checkout.

The Old Size Names Cause Confusion

Older menus and fan pages list two sizes, Regular and Large, and their numbers do not match the current three sizes. Their Regular at 540 calories is today’s Small, and their Large at 700 calories is today’s Medium. If a page tells you a large has 700 calories, it is using the old names, and the current Large is 980 calories. That one mix-up explains most of the calorie arguments about this shake.

Half-Price Shakes at Some Stores

Some participating locations run half-price shakes and soft drinks from 2 pm to 5 pm, which can cut a large shake to about half price. It is a franchise decision, not a national program, so check the app or ask at the window before you count on it. The deals page tracks current offers, and the limited time offers page tracks seasonal shakes that come and go.

Calories and Nutrition

Every calorie figure in this guide comes from Arby’s own September 2026 Nutritional and Allergen guide, the same source the nutrition guide uses. A large has 980 calories, 28 grams of fat, and 136 grams of sugar, which is more sugar than most people expect from one drink. The full table below gives the numbers for all three sizes, so you can compare them side by side before you order.

The Sugar Number to Watch

Sugar is the number that surprises people most. A small has 74 grams of sugar, a medium has 97, and a large has 136, which is more than three cans of regular soda. The shake is a dessert, and the sugar is the reason it tastes like one, so treat the large as a treat you share or save for a special trip, not as a drink with a meal.

Older Sites List the Wrong Large

Some older websites list the large at 830 calories, and some list it as high as 1,130, and both figures are out of date. The 830 figure comes from older ingredient and caffeine guides, and the 1,130 figure comes from an older nutrition guide. The current official figure is 980 calories for the large, and that is the number to use in 2026.

How It Compares to the Chocolate and Vanilla Shakes

All three shakes share the same vanilla base and the same three sizes, so the difference is only the flavor syrup. The chocolate shake is close behind on calories, and the vanilla shake is the lightest of the three in every size. If calories decide your order, vanilla wins, and if flavor decides it, the coffee note is the only thing the other two cannot offer.

Which Shake Should You Pick?

Pick vanilla if you want the lightest shake, chocolate if you want pure sweetness, and this one if you want coffee flavor with your dessert. The large of any flavor is a big order, so a small is the smarter pick if the shake follows a sandwich and fries. For the full menu of shakes and desserts, see the shakes and desserts page.

Caffeine: Does It Have Any?

Yes, a Jamocha Shake has caffeine, but only a small amount, and it will not replace your morning coffee. Independent caffeine trackers list about 11.6 milligrams in a 16 ounce serving, which is roughly one tenth of a regular cup of coffee. Arby’s own nutrition guide does not publish a caffeine figure, so that number comes from third-party trackers, not from Arby’s itself.

Why the Caffeine Is So Low

The caffeine is low because the syrup uses instant coffee powder and coffee concentrate, not brewed coffee. Instant coffee gives the flavor with only a fraction of the caffeine of a brewed cup, and the shake is mostly milk, sugar, and ice cream besides. That is why the shake tastes like coffee but does not act like coffee.

Why Some Sites Say 25 to 30 Milligrams

One fan guide lists 25 to 30 milligrams for a regular size, which is about double the widely cited 11.6 milligram figure, and neither number comes from Arby’s. The 11.6 milligram figure is the one most caffeine trackers agree on, and it matches the instant-coffee recipe, so this guide uses it and flags the higher figure as an outlier. If caffeine matters to you for health reasons, treat any third-party number as an estimate and ask the store, because Arby’s does not publish one.

What’s Inside

The shake has four parts, and none of them is complicated. A vanilla shake mix forms the base, Jamocha syrup adds the coffee and chocolate flavor, a Ghirardelli chocolate drizzle adds a second layer of chocolate, and whipped topping finishes it. The full ingredient list from Arby’s ingredient information is long, with stabilizers and flavorings, but the four parts below are what you actually taste.

Allergens: What the Official Guide Says

The official September 2026 guide lists only milk as the allergen for this shake, and it does not label the shake gluten free. The chocolate drizzle ingredient list includes soy lecithin, which is why some fan guides list soy as well, so readers with a soy allergy should ask staff before ordering. The shake itself has no wheat ingredient, but it is made in a shared kitchen, so Arby’s does not call it gluten free, and the allergen menu has the full official table.

A Shake Since 1964

Arby’s traces this shake to its original 1964 menu, which makes it one of the oldest items the chain still sells, alongside the Classic Roast Beef sandwich and Potato Cakes. It was on the menu decades before coffee drinks became a daily habit, and it stayed while menus changed around it. That staying power is why regulars call it an icon, and why it still gets ordered by people who first tried it decades ago.

The 1964 or 1970s Question

Not every history agrees on the year. Recent coverage says Arby’s lists the shake on its original 1964 menu, while some older histories place its debut in the 1970s, when the chain added the Beef ‘n Cheddar and Curly Fries. This guide follows the brand’s own version, 1964, and flags the disagreement instead of picking one year and hiding the other.

The Limited Oreo Version

In the early 2000s, Arby’s sold a limited Jamocha Oreo Shake that mixed crumbled Oreo cookies into the same coffee-chocolate base. It was a limited item, not a permanent flavor, and it has not returned as a regular menu item. Seasonal shakes still rotate through the dessert case today, and the limited time offers page tracks which one is current.

How to Order It

Order it at the counter, at the drive-thru, in the app, or through delivery where Arby’s delivery is offered. The price is the same at the counter, drive-thru, and kiosk in most cases, but app-only deals can lower it, so check the deals page before you order. If you are making a special trip just for the shake, check the app first, because availability can vary by location.

What to Order With It

A salty sandwich makes the best partner for a sweet shake. A Classic Roast Beef sandwich or a Crispy Chicken Sandwich with Curly Fries gives you salt and crunch against the sweetness, and a small shake is enough if the sandwich is the main event. For a lighter meal, pair a small shake with a Roast Beef Slider, and use the calories calculator to add the whole meal up before you order.

Make It Lighter

Order a small, skip the whipped topping, and you cut the richest part of the order without losing the flavor. A small still has 540 calories and 74 grams of sugar, so even the lightest version is a dessert, not a light drink. If you want the lowest-calorie dessert on the menu, the shakes are the wrong place to look, and the shakes and desserts page shows the lighter options.

Frequently Asked Questions