Starbucks Is Launching Boba-Inspired Drinks This Summer
A little late to the party, but better late than never. Starbucks is set to roll out its own version of boba at its stores this summer. Business Insider reported that this is happening two years after it first confirmed that it was testing drinks with pearls.
“For summer, we are launching our first texture innovation, Pearls,” CEO Laxman Narasimhan told analysts at the company’s earnings call, as reported by Business Insider. “This is the first of more texture-based innovations that our customers can expect in the coming years.” He also mentioned that the drink will be rolled out starting May 6 as part of the chain’s summer menu.
In December 2021, Starbucks confirmed to Business Insider that it was conducting a limited test of two beverages “made with coffee pearls” at two stores. A viral TikTok posted at the time appeared to show drinks called “Iced Chai Tea Latte with Coffee Pearls” and “In the Dark” on sale at a Starbucks in Palm Desert, California.
What will the boba drinks look like at Starbucks?
Some TikTok users who appear to be Starbucks baristas have made videos of themselves making what they say are summer berry-flavored Refreshers from the coffee chain’s upcoming range. Some of the drinks are served with raspberry-popping pearls. Another video appeared to show a barista making an iced matcha with the pearls.
It appears that the baristas in some of the videos making the refreshers use the usual Starbucks cups and strawless lids. Who knows, maybe they’ll create a cup that is better suited for sipping up the boba. They could just use their dome lid and straw combo for this one.
What is boba?
The Food Network reported that boba made its debut in the U.S. around the 1990s when a number of Taiwanese tea chains opened up shops and started selling sugary brown chewy balls in sweet milk tea.
They mention that the word boba technically refers to the bite-sized, chewy tapioca pearls found in bubble milk tea, though sometimes people use it to refer to the entire drink itself.
“WE GOT BOBA!!”
Someone took to Reddit to share the excitement over Starbucks’ boba launch. One person said, “I literally cannot wait till my store gets it i need to try it [crying emoji].” Someone pointed out that it’s different than “regular boba.” They said, “They have ‘skin’ with juice inside. When you bite, it pops, that’s why it’s called popping boba. There are many flavors: mango, strawberry, lychee….tropical fruit flavors.” Quite a few people on the thread pointed out that Starbucks is simply serving popping pearls not “real boba.”
Starbucks is set to roll out its own version of boba at its stores this summer.
