Starbucks needs to chill tf out. The world-renowned coffee brand has over 30+ iced and blended drinks on its menu and that is, quite simply, too many. I’d guess that the average person has explored maybe 1/10th of the entire menu (unless you’re me, I’ve tried them all), and truthfully there is absolutely no need to order anything out of your comfort zone — nothing at Starbucks is delicious enough to cause you to stray from whatever your favorite drink already is.
So when we heard Starbucks was launching a brand new summer menu of six new cold drinks… we straight up ignored the news. I’m sorry Starbucks, but that’s six on top of your previously exceeded allotment. You can’t make people care about all those drinks!
And yet… every time I visited a Starbucks this summer, I saw that summer menu, looking at me, taunting me, calling to me. So I finally gave in. I’ve now tried all six of the Starbucks summer drinks and ranked them from least essential to most delicious. The full summer menu includes the Frozen Pineapple Passionfruit Lemonade Refresher, the Frozen Strawberry Acaí Lemonade Refresher, the Frozen Mango Dragonfruit Lemonade Refresher, the Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino, the Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino, and the Chocolate Cream Cold Brew.
Hardcore Starbucks fans will notice that at least two of those drinks aren’t new at all but are actually returning favorites. Are they worth the trip to the Starbucks drive-thru? Let’s find out, starting with our least favorite of the six.
6. Starbucks Chocolate Cream Cold Brew
Tasting Notes & Thoughts:
There isn’t anything really new here aside from the chocolate-flavored cream foam. The flavor and build are identical to Starbucks vanilla-infused cold brew. The vanilla flavor falls a little flat here, tasting a bit watery, but the cold brew coffee has a nice soft mellow flavor to it.
The chocolate cold cream has the faintest hint of chocolate notes but otherwise tastes pretty flavorless. Once the cream is mixed into the drink, it tastes identical to the Vanilla Cream cold brew.
The Bottom Line:
Totally redundant, it does nothing to improve the Starbucks cold brew experience and barely even registers as being chocolate flavored.
5. Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino Blended
Tasting Notes & Thoughts:
Here is what frustrates me about this drink — it’s nearly identical to Starbucks’ menu staple, the Java Chip Frappuccino, only better. The Java Chip is simple, it features chocolate chips and chocolate syrup blended with Starbucks’ Frappuccino coffee base. The Mocha Cookie Crumble features the same build with some added chocolate cookie crumbles with chocolate sauce on the whipped cream, which makes the drink objectively better.
The chocolate notes are much more pronounced here thanks to the cookies and chocolate sauce and overall the drink has more texture thanks to the crumbles. It tastes like what the Java Chip wants to be — so why isn’t this a menu staple? Why do we have to wait until summer to have a better drink?
Make this a staple Starbucks, and ditch the Java Chip.
The Bottom Line:
The Starbucks Java Chip Frappuccino, elevated. More texture, more chocolate, more better.
4. Frozen Strawberry Acaí Lemonade Refresher
Tasting Notes & Thoughts:
The next three drinks in our ranking are all frozen versions of Starbucks’ Lemonade Refreshers, and I really feel like Starbucks knocked it out of the park with all three. The Frozen Refreshers really speak to the season by taking pre-existing drinks from the Starbucks menu and remixing them to fit in with the weather.
My least favorite of the three is the Strawberry Acaí, only because it feels like it covers the same ground as the other two drinks. Each of the three drinks features strawberry puree as a base, but this one comes across as pretty one note.
It tastes like frozen strawberry with a sweet and tart lemonade twist, the acaí doesn’t really come through at all. It’s not bad by any means, but compared to the other two this one comes across as boring.
The Bottom Line:
The least essential of the new Frozen Refreshers.
3. Frozen Mango Dragonfruit Lemonade Refresher
Tasting Notes & Thoughts:
A nice medley of flavors, the drink begins with a tart strawberry flavor before tropical mango notes take over, finishing with a sweet lemonade finish. A scoop of diced dragonfruit brings some nice texture to this drink, but on its own is flavorless.
The Bottom Line:
Tropical, sweet, and tart, the perfect summer beverage.
2. Frozen Pineapple Passionfruit Lemonade Refresher
Tasting Notes & Thoughts
Your personal ranking of pineapple and mango is going to determine whether you like the Frozen Pineapple Passionfruit Lemonade Refresher over the Frozen Mango Dragonfruit Lemonade Refresher. I’m team pineapple! I just think the tart and sharp flavors of this drink are more pleasing and complementary.
Once again, tart strawberry dominates the flavor palate, followed by a citrusy tropical flavor and a strong lemonade finish. The freeze-dried pineapple adds a bit of texture and helps to emphasize the tart flavors of this drink.
The Bottom Line:
This drink comes across like a drinkable Bigstick Popsicle, aka the greatest popsicle on Earth.
1. Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino
Tasting Notes & Thoughts:
Last summer I named Starbucks’ Caramel Ribbon Crunch Frappuccino the best blended drink on the entire menu, and now here we are a year later and I still feel that way. The fact that drink still isn’t a permanent fixture on the Starbucks menu annoys me to no end.
What makes this drink work better than the stock Caramel Frap is the more interesting build. Instead of being one note, this drink has three different flavors of caramel here, it begins buttery and light, courtesy of the stock caramel syrup, but is topped with a layer of dark caramel sauce that has rich molasses undertones, and a slightly salty caramel sugar topping the whipped cream.
It has that sweet caramel flavor you love from Starbucks, but richer, and a textural element that helps make the drink taste more decadent.
The Bottom Line:
If your go-to order at Starbucks is the Caramel Frap, you need to try this ASAP. It takes a good thing and makes it even better. This is hands down the best drink on the Starbucks summer menu, even if it is just a returning recipe.
