I Tried Starbucks' New Summer Menu—Here's What You Need To Know

You’ve probably heard the rumors about new Starbucks drinks that closely resemble boba. Today, the “pearls” make their debut as part of three drinks on Starbucks’ new summer menu. The seasonal menu also includes a returning drink and two new food items. I got a first-hand taste of the new items, and here’s what you can expect:

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The menu includes three new drinks featuring a blend of raspberry, blueberry, and blackberry flavors, that are combined with water, lemonade or coconut milk: Summer-Berry Starbucks Refreshers Beverage, Summer-Berry Lemonade Starbucks Refreshers Beverage, and the Summer Skies Drink.

Each of these have new raspberry-flavored pearls, which they are calling a “texture innovation. It’s basically just boba. The addition to the menu, however, has been met with mixed feelings. An article in Eater criticized Starbucks’ renaming of boba as “pearls,” claiming that it, intentionally or not, “avoids a direct association with boba tea culture, and thus, Asian culture at large.” A more recent press release from Starbucks says that the pearls were inspired by “drinks around the world, especially East Asian beverages with boba or pearls that have been popular for decades.”

Just like boba, the drinks are served with a wider straw to allow you to slurp up the pearls. Their flavor reminded me of a Blue Raspberry-flavored Airhead and were too sweet for my liking. If you like a sweeter beverage, you will most likely enjoy this.

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In addition to the three berry-flavored drinks, the White Chocolate Macadamia Cream Cold Brew is returning again this summer. Cold brew is sweetened with macadamia syrup and is topped with white chocolate macadamia cream cold foam and toasted cookie crumbles. And for those that prefer iced coffee to cold brew, there’s a new Iced Coffee Blend, which is served unsweetened without classic syrup, unlike the original Starbucks Iced Coffee. The blend has Latin American beans and notes of brown sugar and malted chocolate. But if you like milk or sweeteners, the iced coffee can always be customized.

While the drinks were a bit of a miss for me—although I didn’t get to try the new Iced Coffee Blend—the two new food items were pretty great. I ate the entire Orange Cream Cake Pop and enjoyed the Pineapple Cloud Cake.

Customers can also find a new summer drinkware collection, including an exclusive Stanley x Starbucks Quencher, along with special summer deals. Every Friday May 15 – 31, get 50 percent off one handcrafted beverage from 12 to 6 p.m. Personalized offers will appear in the app every Monday May 13 – 27. For those that aren’t Starbucks Rewards members and join during May, will get 50 percent off their drink during their first week.