In the age in which endlessly cutting-edge food and drink rule our Instagram feeds, Starbucks has continued to capitalize on this intrinsic desire for aesthetically attractive beverages. There’s been the loud, magenta, and teal Unicorn Frappuccino in addition to this day’s everlasting menu object, the blush-toned Dragon Drink. Though the drinks are desirable, it’s miles often, , on the fee of flavor.
Such is the case for their present-day concoction, the Tie-Dye Frappuccino: a creme-based beverage that seems like a swirl of vibrant primary hues but tastes like an acid flashback — but to a horrific experience. Think less Woodstock and more Woodstock ’99.
The Tie-Dye Frappuccino is meant to awaken “tropical” flavors, and it does — vaguely. The beverage is abrasively cloying upon the first sip, flooding your mouth with an intensely sweet sensation. It’s now not quite mango or pineapple but more akin to banana Hi-Chews: sticky candy and unabashedly synthetic. The first sip becomes the worst.
But as the drink melted and the fluffy vanilla whipped cream seeped into the frappe, I started to revel in it more. The bold candy banana taste became subdued and mellowed, tasting more like a creamy and light model of banana milk. The colorful crimson, blue, and yellow dusting on the whipped cream—crafted from crimson beet, spirulina, and turmeric—did melt down into an unappealing grey-inexperienced shade but didn’t trade the taste of the frozen beverage.
That being said, it’s now not a drink I would necessarily opt for, toeing an ordinary line among dessert, smoothie, and milkshake. For a grande Tie-Dye Frappuccino purchased in New York City, I spent $6.26 and consumed four hundred energy and a whopping fifty-eight grams of sugar. For that good deal of sugar consumption, I’d, as an alternative, indulge in a lava cake, chocolate chip cookie, or a real milkshake — no longer a perplexingly flavored Starbucks drink.
Suppose you’re not yet dismayed by its bizarre color, not pretty-identifiable taste, and excessive sugar. In that case, Starbucks will only have the Tie-Dye Frappuccino around for “a few days”—so satiate your curiosity if you must, and quickly. My recommendation, though? Leave the tie-dye in your campy T-shirts.
