For Starbucks, there is Pumpkin Spice season and then there is Trying to Find the Next Pumpkin Spice season.
This spring, the coffee goliath has launched two new “non-dairy beverages,” as deliciously (?) described in a press release. There’s the Iced Pineapple Matcha Drink and the Iced Golden Ginger Drink.
Let’s take a look at the nutrition information and ingredients lists of each and then determine if there’s any nutritional value to either.
What’s Inside Starbucks’ Iced Pineapple Matcha Drink
Starbucks is describing this green-as-grass-clippings drink as a “premium matcha green tea shaken with flavors of pineapple and ginger along with coconutmilk and ice for a delicious beverage to uplift your day.” (Whew.)
A standard version of this drink seems to be a grande (16 oz) drink with coconut milk, four pumps of ginger-pineapple syrup, and three scoops of matcha powder, plus ice. That breaks down nutritionally like so.
And then here’s the ingredients list.
Coconutmilk [Water, Coconut Cream, Cane Sugar, Contains 2 Or Less Of Tricalcium Phosphate, Coconut Water Concentrate, Sea Salt, Natural Flavors, Xanthan Gum, Gellan Gum, Corn Dextrin, Guar Gum, Vitamin A Palmitate, And Vitamin D 2], Ice, Matcha Tea Blend [Sugar, Ground Japanese Green Tea], Pineapple Ginger Syrup [Water, Sugar, Natural Flavors, Citric Acid, Xanthan Gum, Potassium Sorbate]
And the other drink?
What’s Inside Starbucks’ Iced Golden Ginger Drink
This yellow-hued (and also Instagram-ready!) beverage also contains pineapple and ginger, but also, what-the-heck, throws in some turmeric too.
A standard version of this drink also appears to be a grande (16 oz) drink with coconut milk, four pumps of ginger-pineapple syrup, and three scoops of something called a “golden ginger blend,” plus ice. Here’s this drinks nutrient profile.
Here’s what’s in it.
Coconutmilk [Water, Coconut Cream, Cane Sugar, Contains 2 Or Less Of Tricalcium Phosphate, Coconut Water Concentrate, Sea Salt, Natural Flavors, Xanthan Gum, Gellan Gum, Corn Dextrin, Guar Gum, Vitamin A Palmitate, And Vitamin D 2], Ice, Pineapple Ginger Syrup [Water, Sugar, Natural Flavors, Citric Acid, Xanthan Gum, Potassium Sorbate], Golden Ginger Blend [Sugar, Gum Arabic, Natural Flavors, Extractives Of Turmeric]
So what’s the verdict on these two new drinks, health-wise?
Are Starbucks’ New Spring Iced Drinks Healthy?
Despite the vibrancy of their color, the implied freshness of their names, and the trendiness of their wellness-centric ingredients matcha and turmeric—these drinks are basically sugar water.
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Look closely at those ingredients lists. There’s no actual pineapple or ginger in either of these drinks.
Those flavors come from a syrup (read: sugar) that contains “Water, Sugar, Natural Flavors, Citric Acid, Xanthan Gum, Potassium Sorbate,” which pumped into coconut milk and water.
Okay, yes, you may score some antioxidants from the matcha and however much turmeric is in the other drink.
But you know what else has antioxidants and zero sugar?
Black coffee.
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