Limited Edition Frappuccinos That We Wish Starbucks Would Bring Back
Every year, Starbucks brings out a few limited edition, seasonally specific beverages. Each Christmas, Halloween, and summer we are introduced to delectable treats that are only around for one season. Sometimes, we get lucky and Starbucks brings back an old favorite, but more often than not, once these drinks are gone, they're gone forever.
Keep reading to take a trip down memory lane. We're going to take a look at the Frappuccinos of Christmas, Halloween, and summers past.
The Unicorn Frappuccino
The Unicorn Frappuccino was one of the first Starbucks drinks to go viral on social media. It may not be the most delicious Frappuccino ever created, but it is the most famous. This drink was first introduced to Starbucks customers in April 2017.
It was made with ice, milk, pink powder, sour blue powder, crème Frappuccino syrup, mango syrup, and blue drizzle. A venti Unicorn Frappuccino contained 500 calories. A lot of consumers were surprised by how sour this drink was.
Bubble Gum And Cotton Candy Frappuccinos
In the summer of 2018, Starbucks began serving bubblegum and cotton candy flavored Frappuccinos. This drink was extremely popular in Mexican Starbucks branches. We're not quite sure what gives these drinks their distinctive pastel blue and pink colors, but whatever it is, it can't be natural.
Still, we'd love to try a sip of these blended sweet drinks. Is there such a thing as a Frappuccino that's too sweet? We'll leave that up to you.
Witches Brew Frappuccino
The Witches' Brew Frappuccino was the official Frappuccino of Halloween 2018. This orange cream flavored drink contained chia seeds and "lizard scale powder," which we're pretty sure is just matcha powder.
The chia seeds, or what Starbucks called "bat warts" in this drink give the whole concoction a rather slimy texture. That's probably the spookiest thing about this drink. Chia seeds are actually very healthy for you. We can't say the same about the rest of the Frapp.
The Tie-Dye Frappuccino
The Tie-Dye Frappuccino entered Starbucks stores in July of 2019. There was no coffee or caffeine of any kind in this drink. It's basically just a vanilla bean Frappuccino with natural food coloring mixed into it.
The food coloring is made out of turmeric, red beet and spirulina. It was also topped with whipped cream and rainbow-colored sugar. This drink looks pretty, but baristas hated making it. All those colors took a long time to add, and they didn't add any flavor to the drink.
The Christmas Tree Frappuccino
The Christmas Tree Frappuccino was featured during the 2017 Christmas season. It was a Peppermint Mocha Crème Frappuccino topped with matcha whipped cream in the shape of a Christmas tree. That whipped cream was decorated with a caramel drizzle garland, candied cranberry ornaments, and a strawberry slice on top.
We're not sure about matcha and peppermint mocha together (why couldn't the whipped cream have been mint flavored?). Still, it does look very festive. Let's hope some kind of mint chocolate drink returns for the next Christmas season.
The Crystal Ball Frappuccino
The Crystal Ball Frappuccino was on the secret menu for the month of March in 2017. The actual drink was a peach tea infusion blended with cream. It was then topped with peach whipped cream and a candy gem topping in either purple, blue, or green.
Can you see the future in this drink? Probably not, but we do hope that this drink comes back next March. That would be a lovely future. We would love a peaches and cream inspired Frapp on the permanent Starbucks menu.
The Fruitcake Frappuccino
The Fruitcake Frappuccino made its debut in December of 2016. On the Starbucks website, the official description of this Frapp was, "Starbucks version starts with a Hazelnut Crème Frappuccino® blended beverage with dried fruit added and spiced with cinnamon, topped with whipped cream and an ornate topping of caramel dots and a sprinkle of matcha."
That sounds a lot better than an actual fruitcake. Fruitcakes can be rather dry, and this drink looks delicious and refreshing.
The Red Velvet Frappuccino
The Red Velvet Frappuccino was introduced in the summer of 2019. It contains a blend of chocolate chips, mocha sauce, raspberry and vanilla syrup. Then the whole thing is topped with whipped cream.
Apparently, there's also a similar drink available year-round on the Starbucks secret menu. That drink contains half a White Mocha and half of a regular Mocha Frappuccino with raspberry syrup. We hear that a lot of baristas have no idea what the secret menu is, however.
The Prickly Pear Frappuccino
Starbucks; Prickly Pear Frappuccino was available in the summer of 2017. It contained mango syrup with milk, ice and Starbuck's Frappuccino blended creme base, which was then poured over a puree of strawberry and prickly pear. There was no whipped cream on top to make room for another layer of the puree.
This drink was available at the same time as another limited edition Starbucks Frappuccino: the Mango Pineapple Frappuccino. Who else wants to go back to 2017?
The American Cherry Pie Frappuccino
This American Cherry Pie Frappuccino looks absolutely delicious, but to get it, you're going to have to travel back in time to Japan in 2017. Given that 2017 is long over and Japan is a long way away, it's safe to say that this drink is no longer available.
According to a press release, Japan's American Cherry Pie Frappuccino "combines cherry sauce, a vanilla-flavored cream base, and whipped cream, under a pie crust dome." Why does Japan get all the fun stuff?
The Eggnog Frappuccino
The Eggnog Frappuccino was a Starbucks drink available on Christmases past that featured eggnog and Frappuccino Roast coffee blended with milk and ice and topped with whipped cream and a dash of nutmeg.
The spice flavor was milder than we're used to with the Gingerbread Frappuccino (another limited edition delicacy). If eggnog is your thing, let's just hope this drink comes back next Christmas season. We hear eggnog isn't everybody's cup of tea, though. Maybe this drink didn't do as well as Starbucks hoped.
The Zombie Frappuccino
The Zombie Frappuccino was the Halloween drink of 2017. It was a ghastly green blended beverage made with Frappuccino Crème infused with flavors of tart apple and caramel. The whole thing was topped with pink whipped cream that resembled brains along with a red mocha drizzle. The tart green apple favor was counterbalanced with a smooth, sweet caramel.
It's everything you could ever want in a Halloween drink, except some Starbucks customers found the "ghastly green" color rather unappealing.
The Pokémon Go Frappuccino
The Pokémon Go Frappuccino was available in December 2016 at the height of the Pokémon Go craze. Remember when everyone was walking around looking down at their phones and spinning Pokéstops? Those were the days.
This drink starts with a Vanilla Bean Frappuccino blended with raspberry syrup and freeze-dried whole blackberries. Then the whole thing was topped with whipped cream. We're not sure what makes this drink Pokémon themed. Maybe it was supposed to resemble the berries you feed Pokémon to make them easier to catch.
The Birthday Cake Frappuccino
In March of 2015, Starbucks sold Birthday Cake Frappuccinos to celebrate its 20th birthday. Frappuccinos have been a huge part of why Starbucks is as successful as it is. There was no better way to celebrate this milestone than with a custom-blended Frappuccino beverage.
The Birthday Cake Frappuccino was a Vanilla Bean Frappuccino with a pump of hazelnut syrup topped with raspberry-infused whipped cream. The raspberry whipped cream isn't always available at Starbucks, but if you want to get an idea of what this drink tasted like, you can just order a Vanilla Bean Frappuccino with hazelnut syrup.
The Caramel Flan Frappuccino
The Caramel Flan Frappuccino was a blend of caramel flan syrup, nonfat milk, and ice. Along with Starbucks' own caramel flan flavored syrup, they added caramel-infused whipped cream and a drizzle of caramel flan sauce to the traditional Caramel Frappuccino.
The venti version of this drink contains nearly 500 calories, but what else would you expect from a drink with "flan" in its name? Stand back pumpkin spice latte, this looks like the perfect fall drink.
Tea Inspired Frappucinos
These two limited edition Frapps, the Chocolate Black Tea with Earl Grey Jelly Frappuccino and the Double Chocolate Green Tea Frappuccino, were both available to the public in April 2019. They have since been removed from the menu to make room for other blended beverages.
You can still get a green tea Frappuccino at Starbucks, and if you're feeling fancy, you could ask your barista to put a few pumps of chocolate syrup in it.
The Cinnamon Roll Frappuccino
The Cinnamon Roll Frappuccino was a fall drink that's now only available on the Starbucks Secret Menu (if you believe in that sort of thing). It was a combination of Cinnamon dolce syrup blended together with coffee, white chocolate mocha sauce and vanilla bean syrup, topped with whipped cream and a cinnamon dolce sprinkle.
Cinnamon lovers everywhere are mourning the loss of this delectable, spicy drink. Imagine how well some of Starbucks' cinnamon baked goods would go with this cold beverage.
The Tiramisu Frappuccino
Can you think of anything more delicious than a Tiramisu Frappuccino? This frozen treat was available in Japan in the spring of 2019, but it has also been available in America in the past. This drink tastes like an actual tiramisu.
It contains a mascarpone cheese and egg base blended with coffee-soaked sponge cake and topped with whipped cream and dark chocolate powder. Our mouths are watering just thinking about it. And you thought Frappuccinos couldn't get any more decadent...
The Lemon Bar Frappuccino
You'll never guess how Starbucks made the Lemon Bar Frappuccino. Would you believe that this drink actually has lemonade in it? It does make sense, though. Lemon is right there in the name of the drink.
This drink was popular in the spring of 2015. Baristas filled Frappuccino cups with lemonade to the first line, milk to the second line of the cup, and two pumps of vanilla syrup. The whole thing was topped with whipped cream and a caramel sugar topping.
The Cotton Candy Frappuccino
A while ago, Starbucks brought out brightly colored cotton candy and bubblegum flavored Frappuccinos. Apparently you can still get a Cotton Candy Frappuccino on the Starbucks secret menu. It won't be as brightly colored as it was when the coffee chain had brightly pigmented mixes in stock, but it will still taste delicious.
The next time you go to Starbucks, ask for a Vanilla Bean Frappuccino with a pump of raspberry syrup. Voila, you've got a Cotton Candy Frappuccino.
