After braving the HUB Starbucks line in between classes, I decided instead of my morning blonde roast I was going to mix things up and get the colorful, limited time concoction the Unicorn Frap. Would it keep me caffeinated? Would I mind how sweet it is? Will it really taste like “if a sour patch kid threw up” as my friend described it? I didn’t know, but I was determined to give it a try. I proudly walked up to the cashier and asked for the horribly overpriced tall version of the unicorn Frappuccino and she genuinely seemed excited to prepare it. I patiently waited for about five minutes before the barista called my name to pick up my drink. There it was, in all of its beauty.
This drink isn’t only Instagram filter pretty, it’s actually as colorful and magical looking as you’d expect. Here it is #nofilter for context.
Before taking a sip, I knew it was photoshoot time. A drink this photogenic had to be captured before I could start slurping it. Here she is in all her unicorn glory.
And then, the moment I had been patiently waiting for: the first sip. Upon first taste, it reminded me a bit of bubblegum ice cream with a twinge of something fruity thrown in. Not necessarily mango (the syrup Starbucks uses in it). It was more of a peachy flavor. It also reminded me of the plain old vanilla bean Frappuccino but much prettier. Here’s a pic of me enjoying the first sip.
I happily walked from the HUB to Willard while savoring the drink, getting many stares from people who definitely wanted to be me on the way. One girl even remarked to her friend while passing by “I HAVE to try the unicorn frap!” I was quite the inspiration this morning.
Then, something weird happened to the drink. It went from the sweet bubblegum flavor of the first few sips to something kind of like a subtle sour patch kid. Not overpowering, but definitely noticeable. By that time, the drink had definitely undergone a color change too from a lilac purple to bubblegum pink.
When I got to class I swirled in the whipped cream and pink powder on top to see what that would accomplish. The neon pink powder on top wasn’t sour as I expected it to be but more like a pixy stick. Mixing up the drink definitely mellowed the sourness and brought in the sweet creaminess of the whipped cream.
Overall, it was not a bad drink, but definitely not something I’d order every day (or ever again.) Get it for the gram pic and to make your friends jealous but aside from that it’s nothing to get too excited about. It’s not a bad drink, but I’d rate it a 6/10 — and 5 of those points come from how magical it looks.