What does green coffee bean extract do in Pink Drink?

Starbucks' Pink Drink lineup in China carries names that include the term for raw coffee even though the drinks contain no brewed coffee. The reason is green coffee bean extract in the juice blend, which supplies roughly 45 to 55 mg of caffeine per cup. The naming drew complaints from consumers and staff alike.

Unroasted green coffee bean extract differs from black bean coffee because it is never roasted, so it keeps compounds that heat would break down. That difference is the basis for claims about weight loss, though the article notes the evidence is limited and the caffeine dose per cup is modest. Roast level and species still shape flavor and caffeine in regular coffee.

Starbucks' newly launched Pink Drink series caused a heated discussion as soon as its Chinese names were announced, with names like "Pink Pink Raw Coffee" and "Pink Berry Lemon Raw Coffee" surprising many consumers. These drinks clearly contain no coffee, yet the word "raw coffee" appears in their names. The reason lies in the addition of green coffee bean extract to the ingredients, with each cup containing about 45-55mg of caffeine. So what exactly makes green coffee beans special? And how do they differ from black coffee in terms of weight loss effects? This article will take you through a detailed exploration, while also learning about Front Street Coffee's professional insights on specialty coffee beans.

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Regarding the Chinese names of the Pink Drink series, netizens had previously engaged in a lively discussion. Many guessed that Starbucks would follow its usual practice of naming drinks after ingredients, or directly adopt the translations used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan: "Pink Strawberry Frappuccino" and "Strawberry Lemon Frappuccino."

However, the result was beyond everyone's expectations! After half a month of waiting, the names that were finally announced left Starbucks employees speechless, and they promptly complained on social media, while netizens also expressed their exasperation... Unexpectedly, this time besides Pink Drink and its sister versions, there was also a dragon fruit and mango combination! Their names were set as "Pink Pink Raw Coffee," "Pink Berry Lemon Raw Coffee," "Magenta Raw Coffee," and "Mango Magenta Lemon Raw Coffee."

Setting aside whether these names are awkward to pronounce in various local dialects, just reading them as a southerner makes your tongue tie itself in knots. Some consumers also complained that "Magenta" sounds like a potion, which in Chinese always makes people think of medicine and dare not try it.

Why does this series carry the word "raw coffee" in its name even though it contains no coffee? Checking the ingredient list published on Starbucks' U.S. official website reveals that the juice used in this series contains components extracted from green coffee beans, so each cup contains between 45 and 55 milligrams of caffeine.

As for why they did not adopt the "Frappuccino" naming used in Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan, but chose "raw coffee" instead, some netizens speculated that it was to highlight uniqueness and differentiation, while others believed it was intended to contrast with the ubiquitous "raw coconut" series on the market.

In recent years, "raw coffee" products have begun appearing in markets across multiple countries and regions. It is said that drinking a cup of coffee brewed from a mix of green coffee beans and roasted coffee beans every day can achieve more ideal antioxidant and fat-reducing effects.

As early as several years ago, scholars began studying the effects of raw coffee. To evaluate the performance of raw coffee versus black coffee in weight loss, researchers designed a four-week controlled experiment. One group of participants drank a cup of raw coffee before breakfast every day, while the other group drank a cup of black coffee before breakfast.

After two weeks, the raw coffee group had lost an average of about 1.59 kilograms, while the black coffee group had lost only about 0.13 kilograms; after four weeks, the raw coffee group's average weight loss reached about 2.01 kilograms, while the black coffee group's was about 0.25 kilograms.

From the data, it can be seen that although black coffee also helps with weight loss, its effect is clearly inferior to that of raw coffee. The reason behind this is that green coffee beans are rich in chlorogenic acid, a component that can improve insulin sensitivity, regulate carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, and play an important role in the prevention and improvement of chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome.

Of course, these effects belong to raw coffee itself. Once it is added to a beverage containing syrup, the effects of raw coffee cannot be exerted. Therefore, the term "raw coffee" has little correlation with the actual ingredients of this product, though such beverages can at least be considered a low-caffeine option.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.