Love them or hate them, you have to admit Starbucks is a marketing genius. They were back at it again with the new Unicorn Frappuccino®, and I was lucky enough to get my hands on the coveted drink before they sold out. The Starbucks website describes it as changing colors and flavors that “start off sweet and fruity transforming to pleasantly sour” ¹ . Here are my thoughts before, during, and after my experience
1. OK I NEED THIS
Not one cell in my body cared what this drink would taste like because I am Starbucks’ dream consumer. I was there for the Pink Drink, I obsess over when the holiday cups drop, and I take limited edition drinks VERY seriously. The minute I saw this on Instagram, all other priorities shifted.
2. Mango?
Upon placing my order the barista informed me that they were out of mango syrup so they would be making my drink with raspberry instead. I was slightly confused as to why a pink and blue drink would even be mango flavored in the first place. IT IS PINK. RASPBERRIES ARE ALSO PINK. MANGOES ARE YELLOW.
3. GRANDE OR VENTI
I planned the release of this drink perfectly so that I could use a reward to get a free one. 9/10 times I will get a venti sized drink because it’s free, pretty much a no brainer. However, I had a strange feeling with this one. While I was extremely excited for this drink, 24 oz. of this sugar slurry would be too much.
4. Guilt
I have never felt bad for a drink that I ordered. I am usually a simple customer without any crazy requests. But this was different. After placing my order and watching the baristas at work, I truly felt like I had committed a crime. They were running around frantically, with a literal assembly line of these drinks.
5. Was it worth it?
It took forever to get my drink. I have no problem waiting, and I was not upset with the baristas at all. I was more upset with myself for choosing something that was so time-consuming. I watched as they made the base, added the extra pink powder, blended it, then carefully swirled the cup with the blue syrup, filled the drink, topped with whip, and then covered it in the special sprinkles.
6.It is time
After standing in line for about 5 minutes, my drink was ready. I walked over to the receiving area, excited, and scared that one of the nearby teens would swoop in and take it.
7. The moment of truth
Eh. The first sip was essentially a raspberry Frappuccino®. Nothing special, and something that people get all the time. I pushed my straw towards the blue swirl and was able to get a bit of the sourness.
8.The point where I almost die
As with any frappuccino, I like to get in on the whip action pretty early. My friend had said the topping was pretty sour but I figured she was overreacting. I was sorely mistaken. The whipped cream is essentially covered in atomic sour dust. My jaw actually locked up at one point. I could not believe they were serving this without a waiver. I decided to stir the whole drink together to disperse the sourness.
9.I’m literally going to die
About 3/4 of the way through my drink, I got up to use the restroom. When I stood up my stomach instantly told me this was a horrible mistake. It probably did not help that my stomach was empty until I had consumed the 59 grams of sugar.¹
10. Never again
The drink was not bad by any means. Once you stir it all up it has a pleasant sourness, but it was nothing I was eager to get the next day. At the end of the day, it would have made a good Instagram pic, but I didn’t even accomplish that.
In conclusion, I would give this a 5 out of 10. It was an obvious success because the next day they had already run out of most of the ingredients. Starbucks could add pink dye to water and people would buy it. I’m just wondering when the S’mores Frappuccino® is coming back,
vocedom 