What Words to Describe Coffee Texture Does the New Topping Introduce?
Starbucks added raspberry bursting pearls to three berry-flavored Refreshers iced drinks on its summer menu, its first texture-focused topping. The pearls burst when bitten, unlike chewy tapioca boba, and are officially called Pearls. Customers can add a scoop to other drinks for $1.25. The drinks appeared in US stores from May 6.
CEO Laxman Narasimhan previewed the launch at an earnings conference and described it as the first texture upgrade consumers can expect in coming years. Starbucks had tested coffee popping boba at two stores in 2021 with limited response. Baristas and influencers posted recipe details ahead of the rollout.
Starbucks introduced a texture-focused topping—raspberry bursting pearls—for the first time in its summer menu this year, adding them to three berry-flavored Refreshers iced drinks. This experiment was personally previewed by CEO Laxman Narasimhan at an earnings conference and positioned as the first step in texture innovation for the coming years. Unlike traditional tapioca pearls, Starbucks uses popping boba that burst upon biting, officially called Pearls. Consumers can also pay to add the pearls to other drinks and snacks for $1.25 per scoop. In fact, Starbucks tested coffee popping boba at two stores back in 2021, but the response was limited. This article breaks down the new product's recipe details, pricing rules, and Starbucks' historical attempts at pearl toppings.
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Anyone familiar with Starbucks ordering rules knows that customers can pay extra to add various flavored syrups or toppings to their drinks. There have even been extreme orders of a single coffee with dozens of syrups added in succession, leaving store partners crying out in despair.
Starting today, Starbucks is launching three Refreshers summer iced drinks with bursting pearls at stores across the United States, featuring the popular raspberry flavor. This means that adding milk-tea-style toppings to coffee may soon become a reality.
On April 30, at an earnings call with disappointing results, Starbucks global CEO Laxman Narasimhan revealed that the brand would launch its first texture-innovation product for the upcoming summer—bursting pearls (Boba). He described this attempt as "the first texture upgrade innovation Starbucks consumers can look forward to in the coming years," and the summer drinks with bursting pearls will appear on Starbucks' summer menu starting May 6.
Regarding the new product details, aside from keywords like texture innovation and pearls, the CEO revealed almost nothing more. In contrast, Starbucks' own baristas and social media influencers were not so tight-lipped—to build hype for the new products, they practically posted the complete recipes.
On Labor Day, TikTok user and Starbucks barista @creigsilimon shared a recipe for a new product on social media: red bursting pearls as the base, topped with a blue transparent beverage, coconut milk, and ice, finally poured into a Starbucks Venti cup, resulting in a light blue appearance, which they named the "New Starbucks Summer Skies Drink Refresher."
It is understood that this raspberry bursting pearl will be added to three different flavors of summer berry refreshing drinks, covering raspberry, blueberry, and blackberry flavors, with the drinks also containing lemon juice, coconut milk, and crushed ice.
From short videos uploaded by multiple Starbucks employees, the core highlight of this summer's new products—the "pearls"—are not traditional chewy tapioca pearls made from cassava starch, but popping boba that burst in the mouth upon biting, with a raspberry-flavored filling. Additionally, Starbucks officially calls them "Pearls" rather than the more commonly used North American term "Boba."
More notably, a manual leaked by a Starbucks employee shows that today's new summer iced drinks must be served with raspberry pearls, because without the pearls, the drink's texture description cannot hold. In addition to the above berry iced drinks, customers can also choose to add these raspberry pearls to other snacks, teas, and iced beverages in stores, charged at $1.25 per scoop, with a maximum of 12 scoops.
To date, Starbucks has actually launched similar products in multiple national markets, but the topping closest to the "pearl" concept should be the "caramel coffee popping boba" that the brand tested in limited quantities at two stores in Palm Desert, California, and Bellevue, east of Seattle, three years ago.
In December 2021, Starbucks told the media that it was conducting limited testing at two stores of two iced drinks containing "coffee popping boba," namely the cold brew "In the Dark" and the iced chai tea latte "Iced Chai Tea Latte with Coffee Pearls." According to TikTok videos circulating at the time, the "pearls" Starbucks added were round, small particles, reportedly filled with coffee liquid, tasting "both salty and sweet," with an overall lukewarm response that did not attract much attention.
It is believed that in the near future, Starbucks baristas will likely hear orders like this: Hello, please give me a Frappuccino with pearls!
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