In the last month, Starbucks has announced three new drinks to celebrate the arrival in spring. Although it may not feel like spring in Minnesota yet, the colorful look of these drinks does have an appeal. As an avid Starbucks drinker, I’ve tried most of their menu, so I was really excited to try all three! Here are my thoughts.
New Iced Golden Ginger Drink. Photo by Gwen Fairlie
Iced Golden Ginger Drink
At first glance, this drink looks really cool. It’s bright yellow in color, so I wasn’t sure what it was going to taste like. Let me tell you, it was… interesting. I have never had a drink like that before. It’s very sweet and has a lot of flavor combos happening at once. I could taste the strong ginger flavor and the coconut milk, but I had to look up what else was in this thing. It just so happens that this drink combines ginger, coconut milk, turmeric, and pineapple! Don’t get me wrong, it’s not terrible, but I could probably not drink more than a small; it’s a lot for your taste buds to put together.
Cold Brew with Salted Honey Cold Foam
Cold brew is not a new thing at Starbucks, but the salted foam is. As a non-coffee drinker, I had some of my friends try this as well so that I could give a more accurate review. Here’s our conclusion: don’t get it. Whether or not you like cold brew coffee is not the problem—it’s the foam. The foam is thick and frothy and tastes like salted nothingness. A few friends said it tasted like soap. Unless you’re really into bland, salted, cold foam, I would suggest ordering your cold brew without it.
New Iced Pineapple Match Drink. Photo by Gwen Fairlie
Iced Pineapple Matcha Drink
This bright green drink tastes a bit like a pina colada! It’s sweet but not as sweet as the ginger drink. The matcha is hard to taste, and honestly, the overwhelming flavor is the coconut milk. Apparently there is also ginger in this drink (don’t ask me why), but I could not taste it. Although it wasn’t my new favorite drink, I would definitely recommend this drink to a friend; it’s very easy to sip while doing homework.
Overall, I felt like these new drinks from Starbucks were not a huge success. Even though I did appreciate the addition of a few more non-coffee drinks, I think I’ll stick to my teas and refreshers.