Can Starbucks Japan’s new Frappuccino and “cheer up” drink really change your mood?

Two drinks designed to improve your energy and mood at a pivotal time of year.

Just as the days seem to be flying by, so too are the limited-edition Starbucks drinks, as we find ourselves moving on to the seventh new Frappuccino of the year, not counting the uber-rare My Fruit³ variety.

This time, we have the Caramelly Milk Coffee Frappuccino, joined by a special beverage called the Pink Fruits Cheer Up, both of which are designed to buoy our spirits at a time when people are transitioning to new jobs, schools, and sometimes new places, as April is the start of the fiscal year.

Keen to find out if the drinks truly deliver on their promise to brighten the mood, our Starbucks expert and coffee lover K. Masami purchased both of them, and because coffee-based Frappuccinos are a rarity, she asked staff to recommend a customisation to increase its caffeine strength and flavour.

They recommended adding more of the Frappuccino coffee for 50 yen (US$0.34) so that’s what she did, also switching to soy milk for an extra 50 yen, seeing as dairy no longer agrees with Masami’s belly.

Normally, when Masami wants to increase the caffeine content she simply requests an extra espresso shot so she was surprised when staff told her it would be better to increase the amount of roasted coffee that was originally included with the drink to create a more harmonious taste.

This was something she’d never thought to do before, so she was thankful to learn this new hack, and when she received the drink, it looked just as caramelly as the one on the promotional poster.

Unlike a lot of limited-edition Frappuccinos, this one doesn’t have a whole lot of pulp, chocolate or cookie pieces blended into the drink or in the topping, giving it a much simpler look. However, it’s this simplicity that makes it so good, as the milky coffee remains central to the flavour profile, while the white chocolate and vanilla sauce add richness and sweetness and the butterscotch sauce on the side of the cup creates a slightly bitter, caramelly contrast.

For a caffeine hound like Masami, the coffee flavour was on point so she highly recommends adding extra coffee for more of a physical and mental lift, if that’s what you’re after. The balance of flavours was so comforting it made her feel like she was being hugged from the inside out, leaving her with a sense of happiness that would put her in good stead for the rest of the day.

▼ So what about the Pink Fruits Cheer Up?

This drink is so vibrant it makes you happy just by looking at it, and the fruity white grape, lemon, and rosehip juice within the drink makes it the polar opposite to the creamy Frappuccino.

The gradated, textured look of the drink comes from the jelly pieces, made with pink fruit juice — a blend of acerola, pink grapefruit, cranberry, and apple — that adds bursts of tart acidity to the beverage. Like the Frappuccino, this drink contains caffeine extracted from green coffee and polyphenols extracted from cacao for extra energy, although it’s undetectable in the flavour profile.

This fruity drink is a refreshing one made to such a high standard and with such a unique blend of  ingredients that Masami predicts it will be the best new Starbucks drink of 2024.

That’s a bold claim from Masami, who knows her stuff when it comes to Starbucks drinks, so be sure to try them while they’re available until 9 April. They really do have the power to lift your mood and give you a boost of energy to take on any challenges that may come your way!

Photos © SoraNews24
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