When you’re a cafe as big and successful (and long-running) as Starbucks, you spend a lot of time trying to craft the perfect menu.
There’s always new stuff to add and old stuff to cut.
Which is a shame, right?
Because every drink you lose had a story. People who loved it. Memories that were made with it.
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And now the drink is gone. (The memories and experiences remain, of course.)
I’ve compiled some of the best drinks that are gone but hopefully not forgotten.
Including a few that really hit hard…
Starting with:
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The drink: Mango syrup, sour blue drizzle, cream, and tons of food coloring yielded a beautiful, sweet and sour, mostly purple frappuccino!
The story: The unicorn frappuccino made a huge splash when it was released in 2017 – especially with a huge viral hit on Instagram. I bought a couple and shared them with colleagues at work, and – it was a jumble of flavors, but a lot of fun to drink. I don’t know why Starbucks never brought it back – I think it’d be incredibly popular.
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The drink: The dark cherry mocha had mocha sauce, candied cherries blended in with the espresso and steamed milk, then it was topped with sprinkles and (of course) whipped cream.
The story: This was intended as a Valentine’s Day drink, and it ran in February 2018 and 2019. It developed a surprisingly large following for being such a limited-time flavor, but a lot of people would love to see it back.
(It reminded a lot of people of cherry cordials – for me the taste flavor was a little darker than that, but hey – whatever gets people to love it!)
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The drink: I mean, think of a s’more as a drink! Chocolate, marshmallow, milk, coffee, and of course – topped with whipped cream.
The story: This was an indulgent drink that lasted for five years on the Starbucks menu (2015-2020), and it had its fair share of fans. My guess, though, is that most of them only had it every once in a while…it was just too rich to be a daily drink for many folks. So sales probably never quite reflected the level of appreciation people had for it.
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The drink: A delicious spiced black tea, with cloves, cardamom (not too much), ginger, and cinnamon. Zesty, complex, balanced, and beautiful.
The story: This was, of course, launched in partnership with Oprah. Unlike Oprah, it was a pretty divisive drink – some people wanted their tea smoother and less complex, while others (me included) loved the sharpness of the cardamom and ginger. This was also one of the partnerships with Teavana.
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The drink: Hazelnut and vanilla bean, with whipped cream and sprinkles. What’s not to love?
The story: If you love birthday cake flavors…and who doesn’t?…this was absolutely the drink for you. It was extremely sweet (maybe too sweet, in the way that funfetti birthday cake is too sweet), and a lot of people loved it as a celebratory beverage. It was introduced in 2015 and then briefly came back in 2016, but nothing since. Like the s’mores frappuccino, I think people loved it more than they bought it.
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The drink: It’s basically eggnog + caffeine – espresso, milk, nutmeg, and eggnog.
The story: This was a longtime favorite at Starbucks which was first introduced in 1986 and ran through 2021. I think this was the kind of drink a lot of people loved the idea of better than the actual execution.
To be clear – it was good! But how often do you drink eggnog, even during the holiday season? And how often, when you’re drinking eggnog, do you want alcohol mixed in instead of caffeine?
Plus, it was a nightmare for storage and food waste for Starbucks.
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The drink: An orange-forward refresher, this drink was a fun combination of juice, cardamom, jasmine, orange peel, apricot, and green coffee extract. Who says that caffeine has to come with a bunch of heavy cream?
The story: The Valencia orange refresher was introduced in 2013 and ultimately discontinued in 2015, making way for more popular and durable refresher flavors like their strawberry acai and blackberry sage refreshers. (Interestingly, none of them have that citrusy taste – may be a sign that Starbucks didn’t find that anything super citrusy worked out.)
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The drink: This was a very heavy drink – cocoa butter, cocoa powder, steamed whole milk, and a ton of sugar. Delicious but not something you can just drink on the go.
The story: Starbucks’ Chantico, which was launched in 2005 and removed in 2006, was named after the Aztec goddess of home, hearth, pain, pleasure, and volcanoes. Certainly the Chantico was delicious and warm and comforting, so I’m guessing they were going for more of the home and hearth part of that. The drink was pretty inflexible and couldn’t be easily modified, which harmed its staying power.
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The drink: Simple and straightforward – maple syrup, espresso, steamed milk. It gave you that exact hit of maple that you’d expect.
The story: Maple syrup is popular on your pancakes, but less so in a coffee (which is a shame) aside from places like Canada and Vermont. For those reasons, the maple macchiato disappeared in the US in 2012 but made it in Canada for a couple extra years.
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So there you have it – nine discontinued Starbucks Drinks that I think we’ll just have to miss forever.
From my perspective, there’s just no real reason to believe that any of them are coming back any time soon.
Which is a real shame!
You don’t have to always invent new things – sometimes the old ways are best.
Which brings me to an important question…
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What is YOUR favorite Starbucks drink that’s all gone now?
Was it on this list, or something else?
Let us know in the comments!
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