"frappuccinos" news and stories

Attention everyone who either doesn't drink dairy or simply prefers soy milk: Starbucks is test marketing their new soy-based blended drinks in some California markets right now. Of course, this is good news for me since I live in California, but it shouldn't be a problem to get them at your local Starbucks even before they're released.

From what I can tell, the drinks they're offering right now are basically the Pomegranate and Tangerine frappuccinos, but instead of being made with tea, they're being made with soy milk. Since this is a simple change, it means that if you ask your neighborhood Starbucks baristas very nicely, they should be able to make one up for you even if you're not in the current test market!

Since I like the Tangerine tea blends, it's no surprise that I also like the Tangerine Soy. I have to go back to taste the Pomegranate, but I hear that it is even better than the Pomegranate tea frappuccino. I still can't wait to try the soy coffee frappuccinos that Starbucks has had in the works for ages now. Hopefully it won't be too long before we see those on the menu boards, too.

Another drink being tested right now was brought to my attention courtesy of some friends in Texas. Apparently, there is an Acai frappuccino at some stores. Acai is the newest "superfood" of the moment, so there is little doubt that this drink will have a few potential health benefits touted if it hits the rest of the country.

I discussed the release of Starbucks' new summer tea-based drinks a few weeks ago, but they were officially introduced to stores over the past couple of days. The Pomegranate and Tangerine Frappuccinos offer a lighter, more refreshing taste of summer. Since Starbucks is now the target of criticism from the consumer watchdog group CSPI for offering fattening drinks on the menu, I thought it would be interesting to see how the new tea blendeds stack up compared to a couple of the standard frappuccinos. 

• Pomegranate Frappuccino® Juice Blend (grande): 280 cal, 5 gm fat
• Tangerine Frappuccino® Juice Blend (grande): 190 cal, 0 gm fat
• Coffee Light Frappuccino® (grande, no whip): 150 calories, 1 gm fat
• Coffee Frappuccino® (grande, no whip): 260 calories, 3.5 gm fat
• Mocha Frappuccino® (grande, no whip): 290 calories, 4 gm fat
• Mocha Frappuccino® (grande, with whip): 420 calories, 16 gm fat

The Tangerine and the Light frappuccinos are the best choices for those who are really trying to stay in shape for swimsuit season, but the biggest thing to avoid is whipped cream. Save that for a special treat and you can enjoy the rest of your favorite drinks almost any time. Full Starbucks nutritional information can be found here.

By the way, the Tangerine flavor is pretty good. It has a hint of lime and is very refreshing, especially with the high temperatures we've been getting out here in Southern California. Has anyone tried the Pomegranate yet?

Starbucks has two new flavors rolling out to its US stores this summer, both based on tea and not on milk/cream, like their other frappuccinos. The first flavor is pomegranate, which is a blend of juice concentrate and green tea. The second is a tangerine-lime flavor, a blend of tea, tangerine and orange juices with a hint of lime. There is even a new "tea blended" category on their website, but no drinks have been added to it as of yet.

It's nice to see something a bit lighter on the menu, not to mention that this will be a big plus for non-dairy drinkers. The drinks sound extremely refreshing, but they also sound like a rerelease of the old Tiazzi and Tazoberry drinks, which were fruity tea frappuccinos as well. Of course, they didn't come in either of these flavors - though citrus, berry and mango all saw some time on the menu board - but the principle is the same.

As a big fan of those older drinks, I'm definitely glad to hear that these are being added to the summer lineup at Starbucks.

 

Over at Jim Romenesko's great Starbucks Gossip Blog, he points to an atricle in the Detroit Press that discloses that Detroit, MI only has five Starbucks shops. That's low for a big city I guess, and the article and many reader comments talk about how it might be because of crime in the city.

But the big news for me isn't that Detroit has only 5, it's that the city of San Jose, CA, has 46 Starbucks. 46! Wow, they really are everywhere, aren't they. I think David Letterman had a joke once where he said that a Starbucks had just opened in his pants. That was a while ago, so I should call CBS and see if it's opened yet.

I'm not sure if there should be 46 of anything in one city, except maybe schools.

Last summer, The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, a Los Angeles-based coffee shop chain and Starbucks number one international competitor, offered banana flavored drinks, including a Banana Caramel Ice blended - their signature cold drink. The drinks were made with a banana puree and the chain stopped selling the seasonal drink at the end of the summer. According to the New York Post, Starbucks is launching a very similar line of drinks this summer at its US stores. The banana-caramel and banana cream Frappuccinos are already being sold at stores in Australia and New Zealand. Though some people miss the Coffee Bean's banana offerings, it is safe to assume that the fact that they are no longer on the menu is an indication that they were not entirely popular. Only at the end of the summer will we be able to tell how the drinks did at Starbucks. The drinks are scheduled to be released in May.

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