Friday, January 9, 2009

Major Misadventures at Starbucks

Alright, I admit it, I'm a certified Starbucks addict. Ever since high school, JAM and Starbucks have gone hand in hand, from an excuse to hang out to a place to hang out while skipping classes (mostly TOK!). Once Dan, our JAM friend, started working there along with other fellow classmates, my love for Starbucks grew as I suddenly had access to venti drinks for free and honestly I think between the three of us, Ariel, Malia and I have probably at some point tried 80- 90% of the menu. Including food. So upon a recent trip to Starbucks with my coworkers, we saw all the pretty marketing paraphernalia for their new Tazo tea drinks and thought, what the heck, let's try them.

(pretty marketing!)

Anjali and I ordered the Vanilla Rooibos Tea Lattes and Stef had told us she tried the Berry Chai Tazo Tea Infusion over the break and would compare with us.

Our tea lattes, were....gross. Too much milk, too much foam (I know it's a latte but really too much here), and not sweet at all. After adding 1 packet of sugar to my tall latte (Anjali added 2) it was sweet but not enjoyable. The vanilla flavor was very artificial vanilla, almost like lip gloss, and the texture was bizarre - it was too thick to taste much like tea. I barely drank half of it.

Stef's analysis of her Berry Chai: the flavor is potent and sweet. The consistency is slightly thicker than normal tea, and will overwhelm the palates of those who like simple hot tea. If you’re going for something hot and fruity in the winter, I recommend their hot apple cider instead. (That’s a nicer way of stating that it is too thick and nasty and should go away forever after this introduction trial phase)

Needless to say, my love for Starbucks remains strong but I will NEVER order these ever again. Not worth it. Ever. The venti vanilla bean frappucino is better (which is super sweet and like a ridiculously rich milkshake). Quite the disappointment but hopefully they will go away after this trial period

0 JAMs. If possible, I'd give them negative JAMs.

1 comment:

Malia said...

Yay starbucks memories! I'm glad you reviewed those drinks, because I was tempted to try them. Whew, close call.