A highly rated drink at Starbucks that people across the country, and many of our students here at McMahon love is the Strawberry acai lemonade. The refresher was first introduced to the menu in 2012 as a non coffee option for their customers, however was still caffeinated as it contained green coffee extract. The customizations for this drink are endless as you can get the base with water, lemonade, add syrups, and even try the drink blended.
To put it into perspective on how many people really love this drink, two seniors Mady Burns and Claire Drugo both said “I pretty much go to Starbucks everyday for this drink!” Although it is seen as a “summer drink” due to its classification as a refresher, I’m sure when walking through the halls at McMahon you will see someone holding one no matter what month it is.
However recently Starbucks updated the formula of the Strawberry Acai Refresher, making the default version caffeine free. The main reason for this change is so customers can add more customizations to the drink such as sparkling water, to create a new energy version of the lemonade.
With this change people all over social media have been complaining that the base doesn’t taste the same, and that they are very disappointed in Starbucks decision to change one of the most popular items. Many individuals on TikTok and Instagram have said it tastes more watered down, and even the color isn’t as vibrant and pink as it used to be. One TikTok comment said “I tried with and without caffeine. Without tastes like sour acid and with tastes like cough syrup.” Online the consensus seems to be you either like it, you don’t like it, or you cannot tell the difference from the old to the new.
I decided to try it for myself and interview what students have also said about the new drink. I personally do not think the new version of the drink is bad. However, it definitely tastes less flavorful then the original and for a $6 drink I would want the best quality.
Chloe Ableman had less of a reaction to the new base and said “Whoever said it tastes bad is lying, it tastes the exact same.”
On the other hand Brianna Pullia said “I don’t even want to continue purchasing the drink with how much they’ve changed the base. If they were going to make the base taste different then they could have reduced the price of the drink which would make me want to continue to buy it if I was saving money.”
Although there are new customizations such as a mango syrup, and the sparkling water, it is still unsure as to why Starbucks would risk changing such a famous item. It will definitely be interesting to see if this new base stays around for a while or if the decline in sales will force Starbucks to switch back to their original formula.
