Starbucks Summer Menu With New Drinks and Returning Favorites

These drinks fall into four families: Refreshers, shaken espresso, Frappuccino blended drinks and cold brew. Each family covers a different mood, from fruity and caffeine-light to strong and coffee-forward.

Here is the quick map:

• Refreshers: fruit-flavored, fizzy-light drinks with a small amount of caffeine, and a swap to lemonade or coconut milk.
• Shaken espresso: espresso shaken with ice and syrup, then finished with milk.
• Frappuccino: blended, sweet and dessert-like, with coffee and crème versions.
• Cold brew: coffee steeped in cool water, smooth and strong, with cold foam versions.
• Treats: seasonal cake pops and snacks that match the drinks.

Think of the menu in layers. The newest items sit at the top. Returning items that fans ask for every year sit in the middle. Under both are the cold drinks that Starbucks serves all year but promotes in summer.

The starbucks new summer menu items in the most recent lineup were led by a purple Refresher and two horchata drinks, with a seasonal cake pop and a protein snack alongside them. Our menu data does not include the summer items, so there are no item cards or prices on this page. For everything else, the hub lists the full board.

How do you read the menu when it is live? Look for the words "new" or "returning" on the app tile, then check the size options and the caffeine choices on the customize screen. The app shows what your store actually has.

A second clue is the drink name itself. Returning items keep the same name from year to year, so if a drink sounds familiar, it probably is. New items tend to carry a fresh name and a new color, and they are the ones that get the biggest photos in the app.

It usually launches in mid to late May. In recent years the drinks have arrived on a Tuesday, with the most recent launch on May 12 and the one before it a week or so later. Starbucks announces the lineup a short time ahead, and the app tiles update on launch day.

There is no single end date. Starbucks describes these items as limited-time, offered while supplies last, so a drink can disappear when a store runs out of a syrup, a topping or a special ingredient. Merchandise follows the same rule. Some items stay for the full season, others leave within weeks, and a few return in later years.

Limited-time is different from year-round. A Refresher flavor like Strawberry Açaí is on the board all year. A summer launch like a new fruit pearl drink rotates. The cold drinks that fill the rest of the menu, including cold brew and iced lattes, stay no matter the season.

Why do limited-time drinks leave at all? Seasonal items depend on special syrups, toppings and cups, and stores order only a set amount of them. When that stock is gone, the drink is gone, even if the season has weeks left. Checking the app early in the day gives you the best shot at a drink before it sells out. Two practical notes. Licensed stores, such as those in grocery stores, airports and hotels, may not carry every item or may start on a different date. And the app now offers scheduled ordering in some locations, which lets you pick a pickup time up to an hour ahead. Availability depends on the store.

Launch dates move a little from year to year. Starbucks plans the release around its marketing calendar and a preview often appears a few days before the drinks reach stores. If you want a specific drink on day one, check the app early, because a few stores start late and a few sell out of a topping within hours.

Do not expect prices to be the same everywhere either. Seasonal drinks are priced by store and region, and delivery-app prices run higher than prices at the counter.

The newest items come in three groups: a layered fruit Refresher, two horchata-inspired drinks and a pair of treats. Each one is covered below, with what is in it and who it suits.

Seasonal drinks are designed to be easy to recognize. They have a signature color, a signature flavor and a short run. Because they are limited, they also sell out in some stores, so go early if you have a favorite.

Tropical Butterfly Refresher: Guava, Passionfruit and Mango-Pineapple Pearls

The Tropical Butterfly Refresher is a purple, fruit-flavored drink built from guava and passionfruit flavors, with bursts of mango-pineapple flavored pearls. The deep purple color comes from butterfly pea flower infusion, a natural source of blue and purple that turns bright when mixed with fruit juice.

It is a starbucks new summer menu headliner, and it looks the part. Layers of color sit in the cup, and the pearls sink and rise as you sip. Expect a sweet tropical taste that is mild rather than sharp, with the pearls adding a pop of juice.

You can change it in two common ways.

Look at the cup before you drink. The pearls settle toward the bottom, so a quick swirl with the straw spreads them through the drink instead of leaving them for the last sips. Because the color comes from a flower infusion, it can shift a little as it mixes with lemonade or coconut milk. Ask for lemonade and the drink gets more tart and bright. Ask for coconut milk and it turns creamy and softer in color. Starbucks says the drink can also be ordered in different caffeine levels, so you can choose a caffeine-free version if you prefer.

Caffeine in a standard Refresher is low. Starbucks lists around 45 mg in a Grande for the Refresher family, from green coffee extract, which is far below a coffee drink. Exact numbers depend on the flavor and the size, so check the app for your build.

How is it different from the favorites you already know? The Pink Drink is a strawberry Refresher with coconut milk. The Dragon Drink is a mango dragonfruit Refresher with coconut milk. The Tropical Butterfly is a new flavor set with pearls and a purple color, and you can order it plain, with lemonade or with coconut milk.

Horchata Drinks: Iced Horchata Shaken Espresso and Horchata Frappuccino

Horchata is a sweet, cinnamon-and-rice drink with roots in Mexican and Spanish cooking. Starbucks takes that flavor and turns it into two of its starbucks new summer drinks: the Iced Horchata Shaken Espresso and the Horchata Frappuccino.

The shaken espresso blends Blonde Espresso with horchata syrup and finishes with oatmilk. Starbucks describes the taste as warm cinnamon, sweet vanilla and a subtle nutty note that reads as toasted rice. It is lighter and less sweet than most Frappuccinos, and it is the more coffee-forward of the pair.

The Horchata Frappuccino is the blended version, with the same cinnamon and vanilla flavors in a thick, cold, dessert-style drink. Reviewers have described it as available in a coffee version and a crème version, which matters for caffeine. The coffee version carries caffeine, and the crème version has none from coffee.

The caffeine gap between the two is large. A Grande shaken espresso is built with three shots of espresso and is listed at around 255 mg of caffeine for similar shaken drinks. A Grande coffee Frappuccino is closer to 95 mg, and a crème Frappuccino has almost none.

Who suits which? Pick the shaken espresso if you want a strong, cold coffee with a gentle sweetness.

Horchata pairs well with simple foods. A plain croissant or a not-too-sweet snack keeps the cinnamon from feeling heavy, while the Unicorn Cake Pop would make the pairing very sweet. If you are new to the flavor, order the shaken espresso first. It gives you the taste with less sugar than the blended drink. Pick the Frappuccino if you want a treat to sip slowly. Ask for fewer pumps in either one if you prefer less sugar.

Unicorn Cake Pop and Khloud White Cheddar Protein Popcorn

The food side of the summer lineup is small. The Unicorn Cake Pop is a vanilla cake with confetti sprinkles inside, coated in white chocolate and decorated like a unicorn. It is a returning item, and it is bright, sweet and small enough to share.

The other new food item is Khloud White Cheddar Protein Popcorn, a savory snack that Starbucks says has seven grams of protein per bag. It is a different taste from the sweet drinks, and it works well as a salty pairing with a Refresher or an iced coffee.

For the full list of flavors, check the page on cake pop flavors and nutrition. Cake pops are small, so one is a light treat rather than a snack. Like the drinks, seasonal food items can sell out early in the day.

Refreshers are the heart of the warm-weather menu, and most of them are on the board all year. A Refresher is a fruit-flavored base with real fruit pieces, shaken with ice and a small amount of caffeine from green coffee extract.

What you choose changes the character of the drink. Water makes it light and fruity. Lemonade makes it tart. Coconut milk makes it creamy and turns it pastel. The base flavors stay the same, so a swap is an easy way to try a new drink without learning a new name.

Sweetness varies too. The drinks are sweet by default, since the base is made with juice and sugar, but you can ask for fewer pumps of the base or for unsweetened iced tea in place of it. Ice level matters as well: with a lot of ice you taste the fruit less as it melts.

The fruit pieces in the cup are part of the drink, not just decoration. They add a little flavor as the ice melts, and you can ask for no fruit inclusions if you want a smoother sip. Shaking also matters: Refreshers are shaken with ice, which is why they arrive with a light froth on top.

A note on caffeine. Refreshers are low in caffeine compared with coffee, and many can be made caffeine-free. Starbucks has offered standard, boosted and caffeine-free choices in some markets. Whether your store lists them depends on location, so check the customize screen. For more detail, read the full guide to Starbucks Refreshers.

Pink Drink, Dragon Drink and Strawberry Acai: The Refreshers Fans Reorder

Three drinks anchor the lineup, and most fans have a favorite among them. Each is a summer refresher starbucks regulars order again and again, and each has its own page.

The Strawberry Acai is the lightest and most fruit-forward. The Pink Drink is the same flavor made softer with coconut milk. The Dragon Drink is tropical, with a mango and dragonfruit taste that feels fuller.

If the new Tropical Butterfly flavor is not for you, these three are safe choices with years of fans behind them.

Coffee drinkers get plenty of choices on the warm-weather board. Most of these are not new, but they are the drinks people order most often when the temperature climbs, and they count as Starbucks summer drinks even when they are available all year.

Here is how the main cold coffee choices rank by caffeine, from most to least for a Grande:

1. Nitro cold brew, about 280 mg.
2. Iced shaken espresso, about 255 mg.
3. Cold brew, about 205 mg.
4. Iced latte, about 150 mg.
5. Coffee Frappuccino, about 95 mg.
6. Crème Frappuccino, none from coffee.

Numbers are approximate, and Starbucks says caffeine varies with beans and equipment.

A few terms help here. Cold foam is milk whipped without heat so it floats on top of an iced drink, and it can be plain, sweet or flavored. Nitro cold brew is cold brew infused with nitrogen, which gives it a creamy feel and a cascading look, and it is served without ice. Both change the texture more than the taste.

Cold brew is steeped slowly in cool water, so it is smooth and low in acid. The cream cold brews add flavored cold foam on top. Shaken espresso is shaken with ice and syrup, then topped with milk. Iced lattes are espresso over ice and milk, with no sugar by default.

The Frappuccino family is blended coffee or crème, ice and milk, topped with whipped cream. It is the sweetest group and the one with the most calories. For lower sugar, choose cold brew with a splash of milk, an iced latte with no syrup or an unsweetened iced tea.

Explore more in iced coffee and cold brew drinks and the Frappuccino blended drinks pages. They cover the full range, including flavors that appear only in certain seasons.

This table lines up the season's drinks by type so you can match a family to your mood. Read across a row to see the tradeoffs: the more caffeine a drink carries, the less sugar it usually has.

Two patterns show up. First, caffeine and sweetness often move in opposite directions: the strongest drinks are the least sweet. Second, creamy drinks cost more in calories, since milk and whipped cream add up.

If you are unsure, start with the drink type that matches the time of day. Choose a Refresher or iced tea in the afternoon, and a shaken espresso or cold brew in the morning.

Picking a drink gets easier when you start from taste. The categories are simple: fruity, creamy, coffee-forward and caffeine-free. Within each category, the options below are the ones that show up most often.

If you want fruity, think Refreshers and lemonade. If you want creamy, think Pink Drink, Dragon Drink or a Frappuccino. If you want coffee-forward, think cold brew and shaken espresso. If you want no caffeine, think crème Frappuccino, caffeine-free Refreshers or herbal iced tea.

Two details help whatever you pick. Smaller sizes keep the drink cold longer, since they warm up less before you finish. And "light ice" gives you more drink, though the flavor is stronger.

Good Summer Starbucks Drinks for Light and Fruity Cravings

For a light craving, start with a Refresher. The Strawberry Acai, the Tropical Butterfly and the Mango Dragonfruit all bring fruit flavor with a small amount of caffeine. A lemonade-based Refresher adds tartness and cuts the sweetness.

Iced tea is another low-effort choice. Ask for it unsweetened and add a pump of syrup if you want a little flavor. That keeps sugar low and caffeine moderate.

For less sugar in any Refresher, ask for fewer pumps of the base or choose water instead of lemonade. The drink will taste less sweet and a bit more tart.

Best Summer Starbucks Drinks for Coffee Lovers

For coffee fans, the best picks are the ones where coffee leads. The iced shaken espresso is strong and cold, and the new horchata version adds warm spice. Cold brew is smooth and low in acid, and the nitro version is creamy with no ice at all.

Vanilla sweet cream cold brew is the favorite for people who want sweetness on top of a strong base. For something dessert-like, a coffee Frappuccino delivers both coffee and sugar. Read more about the Vanilla Sweet Cream Cold Brew if that sounds like your style.

If you find these too strong, ask for Blonde espresso or extra milk. Both soften the taste without removing the coffee.

Almost every summer drink can be changed. Start with the thing that matters most to you, whether that is sweetness, caffeine or creaminess, and change one thing at a time.

• Milk: swap oat, almond, coconut or soy. Coconut milk turns a Refresher creamy.
• Caffeine: Refreshers can be made with lower or no caffeine in some markets. For espresso drinks, add or remove a shot.
• Sweetness: ask for fewer pumps. Standard counts are three for a Tall, four for a Grande and six for a Venti in iced drinks.
• Size: Tall, Grande and Venti change the ice and the shots. See the cup sizes explained page for ounces.
• Ice: light ice gives more drink and a stronger taste.

For syrup counts and flavor ideas, read how many syrup pumps go in each size. Remember that extras can cost more, and each syrup pump adds sugar and calories.

Caffeine works in simple steps. Each espresso shot adds about 75 mg for Signature or about 85 mg for Blonde, so you can raise or lower a coffee drink by changing the shot count. Refreshers are different, because their caffeine is set by the base, and the choice of lemonade, water or coconut milk does not change it. If you are sensitive to caffeine, plan the whole day, not just the one cup.

A rule of thumb on sugar: a sweet, creamy blended drink has the most, a Refresher has a medium amount and an unsweetened iced tea or plain cold brew has the least. If you want to cut sugar without giving up the flavor, halve the pumps first.

One last habit saves money and regret: order a Tall the first time you try a new flavor. If you love it, you can upgrade next visit, and if you do not, you have wasted less. Whichever route you choose, the starbucks summer menu rewards small tweaks, and the app lets you test them before you pay.

The Starbucks summer menu follows the same pattern as the other seasons: a few new launches, a few returning favorites and a long list of drinks that never leave. Refreshers, cold brew and Frappuccinos stay across seasons, and the flavors on top change.

What rotates is the flavor story. Spring brings its own limited drinks, summer shifts to fruit and cold, and fall moves to pumpkin and spice. Browse the spring menu and the fall menu to compare. Seasonal pages like these show how the board changes through the year.

Think of it as a yearly loop. Spring leans floral and light, summer leans fruity and iced, fall moves to pumpkin and spice, and the holidays bring peppermint and rich chocolate. Because the base drinks stay the same, you can carry a favorite order from one season to the next and only swap the flavor. That is why a customization you like in July often works with a new syrup in October.