Grace Vaccaro, Staff Writer
Every couple of months, Starbucks adds new drinks to its menu, customized to the flavors of the season. This spring, Starbucks brought back favorites such as lavender and introduced two new flavors: coconut and ube.
Coconut and ube are flavors common to Filipino desserts. Ube is a purple yam native to Southeast Asia. In recent years, it has become popular in America due to its bright purple color and delicious taste. It can be described as earthy and vanilla. Traditionally, ube is turned into a jam and used in desserts. Starbucks tested out ube in their Reserve stores, becoming a customer favorite.
Ube is featured in their new Iced Ube Coconut Macchiato. This drink contains layers of toasted coconut and milk with shots of espresso served over ice. The ube is featured in a ube coconut cream cold foam, combining the sweetness of ube and the nuttiness of coconut. Finally, it is topped with a sprinkling of coconut flakes. Customers are able to add ube coconut cream cold foam to any drink.
Besides ube, Starbucks has added coconut syrup and cold foam which will be available year-round. Coconut is used in their new Toasted Coconut Cream Cold Brew. The coconut taste is subtle, but any coconut lover would love this drink. It is smooth and creamy with a hint of coconut.
In January 2025, Starbucks adjusted its matcha powder, opting for a more traditional powder rather than its original powder with added sugar. For spring, Starbucks has made the same change with its chai powder. Customers are now able to customize their sweetness or spice levels to their taste preferences. Chai is a blend of black tea, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and ginger, originating in India. Chai lovers don’t have to worry; Their drink should taste the same as it did before this change.
Lavender is a polarizing flavor. Some people believe it is floral and sweet, while others believe it tastes like soap. Lavender is a flavor Starbucks features only in the spring. They have introduced three new drinks for the season. The first is the Iced Lavender Cream Chai — a chai latte with lavender cold foam. They also have their Lavender Latte for the biggest lavender lovers. Finally, they have their Lavender Creme Frappuccino, combining their beloved vanilla frappuccino with lavender.
For food, Starbucks has only released one new item: A Frog Cake Pop. This cake pop is so adorable, you may not want to eat it. This treat is vanilla cake with green chocolate icing. Grab one before they are gone!
Starbucks usually reveals more drinks further into the season. Currently, they are planning to drop their new Iced Mango Cream Matcha and Iced Mango Cream Chai later this spring and then make them available year-round. Starbucks will also be dropping Energy Refreshers, which will give all refreshers the ability to have caffeine — perfect for busy college students. On the trend of ube, an Iced Ube Coconut Cream Shaken Espresso will become available starting April 7th for a limited time.
New seasons bring new drinks, an exciting time for any dedicated Starbucks lover or someone stopping by for the first time. Make sure to try your favorites before the season ends!
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