How are the new Starbucks summer drinks being received?
The Pomegranate and Tangerine Frappuccinos have been out for some time now. How are they selling? What do you -- employees and customers who read Starbucks Gossip -- think of the drinks? (Read the Starbucks press release)
We just received an award for selling the most TFJB / PFJD drinks in our region..they are pretty easy to make..but I have not tried one. We have customer who likes the TFJB with a scoop of VB powder.
Posted by: | July 05, 2006 at 04:40 PM
Tangerine is selling far more better than PomeCRAPate. I don't even waste my time making samples of the latter. One woman tried a sample of PomeCRAPate and made an ugly face. She asked I throw the cup away from her. "It's horrible!" she said.
Posted by: Sheik | July 05, 2006 at 05:15 PM
our customers seem to love both. the younger crowd goes for the tangerine and the older (and dare i say, yuppier) crowd goes for the pomegranate. while i drink the tangerine more often, i do love the pomegranate. it reminds of me of being a little girl and eating the seeds with my family at our summer bbq's. another big seller in our store is the substitution of the creme beverage base for the tea. i think the main reason i get the juice blends is because they don't contain the CBB (which i think tastes wretched), but to each their own. right?
Posted by: SeattleShift | July 05, 2006 at 05:26 PM
Yes it is popular and the customers also enjoy it alot.
Posted by: Boston Starbucks Rebel | July 05, 2006 at 05:43 PM
Up here in weirdo quebec, we just got the tfjb and the pfjb last week, so it's been pretty slow. We sell a couple a day, but that's it. Deffinately more t's than p's. The p's are gross with zen tea... who the hell thought of that one?
We sold our first iced coffee con leche today.. why the hell would someone pay to get milk added to their iced coffee, when you can just ask for room?
Posted by: | July 05, 2006 at 05:56 PM
whoops, the above was me.
I meant to add that they are very "unstarbucksy" in that they are not very sweet compared to our other bevs.
I stil prefer the old tazo-berry though.
Posted by: AB Pahtna | July 05, 2006 at 05:59 PM
I love the Pomegranate with black tea... tastes the closest to the old tazoberries (RIP)
As for the Iced coffee con leche, I believe they are the same price as the iced coffees.
Posted by: Nicholaus | July 05, 2006 at 06:04 PM
Nicholaus, are you sure? we charge the same as "iced coffee+soy" for ours.
Posted by: AB Pahtna | July 05, 2006 at 06:09 PM
The tangerine is awful (flavor tastes watered down, not very sweet, tried it twice). The pom is much better, gives the palate a nice clean feel (probably because of the tea).
Posted by: Mista Cawfee | July 05, 2006 at 06:51 PM
it is not popular at my store. we have infact had many sent back.
i have order one for myself, sans tea. tea makes it gross. & i like tea.
Posted by: heidi | July 05, 2006 at 06:55 PM
tangerine mixed w/ lemonade is tasty.
Posted by: scott | July 05, 2006 at 06:56 PM
we have FOUR of the new drinks - tfjb, pfjb, and then each of the previous with soy instead of tea. does everyone have these drinks, or are we a part of a test or something? they are quite good with soy - the tsfjb tastes just like a dreamsicle, and in the psfjb, the soy brings it down and makes it quite creamy. if these aren't nationwide drinks, you MUST try it with soy...mmmm...
Posted by: barista chica | July 05, 2006 at 07:18 PM
1. The new lemonade is much sweeter than the old lemondae. All lemonade's in stores these days are way too sweet so it was nice having a sour one at Starbucks. And then they go and change it. Dammit!
2. What is the rule if someone wants their iced coffee with caramel syrup instead of classic? Some partners have told me to charge extra. When Shaken iced coffee was introduced in 2002 (03?) I was told the classic syrup was built into the price. So replacing classic with any syrup should not mean an additional charge. What does everyone else think?
3. I know Valencia is history but I read on Wikipedia that Toffee Nut is on it's way out too... if this is true, then that'd be horrible. Toffee Nut is theeeeee best!
4. Anyone else think they are discontinuing Valencia to make room for a new, PERMANENT syrup? Cinnamon dolce, maybe? I said it first. Rememeber that.
5. I heard a rumor that there will be another fall beverage this year prior to Pumpkin Spice. It'll be the maple latte/macchiatto introduced in Canada last year. Anyone else believe this?
6. If they are bringing Maple, then you can bet your buckaneer we will be getting about 5 maple pastries to go along with it. Much like they did with the 3 whole grain (still high in fat) pastries that they brought in 2 weeks ago.
Been meaning to get that off my chest for awhile.
Posted by: Sheik | July 05, 2006 at 07:20 PM
i was told that in iced coffees/teas, you do not charge extra for substitution of syrup. likewise, you wouldn't charge if someone wanted sugar free vanilla in a caramel macchiato...would you?
if they cancel toffee nut i will send in one customer comment a day until they bring it back. they BETTER NOT get rid of toffee nut!
maple!?!
Posted by: barista chica | July 05, 2006 at 07:26 PM
We had the maple machiatto last year. It wasn't that popular because people here are used to true maple, so the starbucks version of it wasn't up to snuff. It was more popular in other provinces where they don't have maple trees. I imagine it will be similar in the states- less popular in vermont where they have the real stuff, and more popular elsewhere. We got a maple scone with it, and it was a big flop.
Posted by: AB Pahtna | July 05, 2006 at 08:49 PM
hmm we just got more valencia in....lots of it b/c people have been begging for it....is it really going away?
Posted by: | July 05, 2006 at 09:10 PM
In my store, the juice fraps are a BOMB! Since it's introduction we have only sold 5! And that is with active (100+ a day) sample program in place. I have tried diffrent approaches to getting more $ale$s but everyone hates them!
Posted by: Z. Gonzales | July 05, 2006 at 10:54 PM
IMHO the smart money is on 7-11's crystal-light "Raspberry Ice" slurpee. They taste much better (and are much cheaper) than the faux-snowcone drinks at sbux.
From the press-release from a few years ago:
http://www.7-eleven.com/newsroom/articles.asp?p=2255
While still considered a fun, refreshing treat for kids and teens, some Slurpee drinkers have grown-up tastes or changing nutritional needs. So, how does a beverage that gained fame as a drink with attitude for the perennially young, appeal to a growing “mature audience” while tending the tastebuds of its youngest up-and-coming customers? The answer, according to 7-Eleven Slurpee category manager John Ryckevic, is to create “something for everyone.”
Posted by: billmil | July 05, 2006 at 11:07 PM
I just got a card in the mail for a free tangerine frappacino. I gave it to one of my high school kids. I don't go to starbucks because I don't like their coffee. and the frappacinos whether coffee or not taste like artificial sweetner. or artificial fruit. they just taste artificial.
no idea how how starbucks got my address- probably someone was thinking it's a funny joke.
Posted by: | July 05, 2006 at 11:29 PM
When are they going to make the "Vanilla Ice" frappucino????
Posted by: | July 05, 2006 at 11:30 PM
At my store we blend (if asked) the cafe con leche ... it tastes like coffee slurpee, I went to a different store today asked for the drink blended and the manager had a fit. Said it is against policy to blend anything that is not SBX base in the blenders .. I asked about blended strawberry-lemon aid and he told me there was no such drink ... am I gone .. and why can't we blend the cafe con leche..we do at our store but is it against policy....no one at my store has heard anyting like that before.
Posted by: Jane | July 05, 2006 at 11:48 PM
BILLMIL get off this site and go find a 7-11 blog to spew your marketing nonesense. PUHLEASE, it is people like you that will ruin the authenticity of this site.
Posted by: comeonnow | July 05, 2006 at 11:51 PM
its strange that the juices are soo unsuccessful for u guys. at my store we ran out after 3 days
Posted by: Theolaxor | July 06, 2006 at 12:05 AM
The TFJB is great with Blackberry. 2p for tall, 3p for grande and 4p with a venti. I have always said to my customers, there are two types of people in this world. a PFJB kind of person and a TFJB sort of person. I think they are good, but Mocha Lite seems to be bigger then anything.
Posted by: James the Barista | July 06, 2006 at 12:18 AM
The pom. one is yummy but the orange one...whew! too sweet for sure, glad i got a sample 1st.
--RC of strangeculture.blogspot.com
Posted by: RC of strangeculture | July 06, 2006 at 12:36 AM
>BILLMIL get off this site and go find a >7-11 blog to spew your marketing >nonesense.
It's apt! Apt I say!!! I'm not spewing anything, so please save your venom for someone else.
IMO juice fruit frapuccinos simply aren't very good; there's better stuff out there for hot summer days
background: I took my nephew out for a big bike ride through the city of Chicago. We stopped by 7-11 across from Wrigley Field; he wanted a cherry slurpee. Too sweet for me but I did notice the 'mango' and 'raspberry' crystal light slurpees and gave one a try. It was great--almost too tart for my taste. A far cry from the dripping-with-sugar cherry slurpee favored by my nephew.
In my office building, there's a starbucks and a walgreens. walgreen's sells the crystal lite drinks (under rubric of "icee" instead of "slurpee".) The two products compete directly for "share of throat".
The crystal lite drink tastes better than the juice-frappucino at about half the price. I prefer it to any starbucks iced drink (except ice espresso).
Posted by: billmil | July 06, 2006 at 12:45 AM
I'm not so sure how I feel about the new juice blends. It seems to be completely hit or miss for all of our customers regardless of demographic. I personally like the FJB's with a little classic syrup...the POM is for sure way too bitter, the tangerine is OK by itself though. I don't like the Minty after taste from the Zen tea in the POM though...it's better with a little classic and just the POM juice...
I think that the CBB + FJB is going to be phase two of the summer beverages if I am not mistaken...so that comes out at the end of July....
Posted by: CindyLou | July 06, 2006 at 12:46 AM
yummy and refreshing! I'm glad they aren't too sweet.
Posted by: sbuxboy | July 06, 2006 at 02:13 AM
Seriously, no more valencia syrup? I love it mixed in passion iced tea...
Posted by: Leigh-Ann | July 06, 2006 at 04:21 AM
the pom is great, and, if any of you cared to read the ingredients (what? i'm the only one who does that?) you'll see that there's no added sugar, just the natural sugar from the juice. so it is legitimately sort of kind of healthy. it tastes better with passion that green tea, though.
the tangerine is okay, not as good as the pom. they've been selling fairly well at my store.
as for the manager having a fit and saying they couldn't blend the coffee, whatever happened to JUST SAY YES, people? sheesh. i think the only restriction we have on that is you can't blend anything a customer brings in outside of the starbucks. same goes for hot drinks (it's in the beverage resource manual).
doesn't stop me from throwing a banana in with some CBB and ice, though. fucking to DIE for.
Posted by: CuteBarista! | July 06, 2006 at 06:27 AM
How does someone who doesn't drink Starbucks and doesn't know how Starbucks got his or her address show up on this site?
Posted by: Jill | July 06, 2006 at 08:25 AM
CuteBarista-
Just say yes stops when you are asked to break the law/health codes.
Posted by: | July 06, 2006 at 09:35 AM
Ok I understand the health codes laws...this is about blending SBX coffee with SBX milk in a SBX blender..I could not believe what a hissy fit this manager went on...I told him I was a manager at another store and we blend stuff for poeople all the time if thats what they want...his responce was no blending unless its frap based...no exceptions
Posted by: Jane | July 06, 2006 at 10:20 AM
Hi Jane! Even though I am a rebel I know that putting non-approved drinks in the blender actually decalibrates the blender enough that if you continually do it, your blender will be unable to rotate at the approximate speed necessary to chop up all the ice. Since there is no way to correct the error in the blender you would have to buy all new ones for your store. Can you imagine the P & L sheet and explaining it to your DM? The customers would return the frappuccinos and say that it is too chunky therefore requiring more labor to remake the drink and then double blending. Cause and effect Jane. Please cease and desist immediately. Boston Starbucks Rebel.
My store has a stockpile we estimate of valencia and toffenut for 6 months in the event that it is discontinued. However, the TN discontinuation has been threatened forever so not likely to occur. Yes, maple will be an official launch in the Fall after the New England and Canada markets tested it with pretty good results.
Posted by: Boston Starbucks Rebel | July 06, 2006 at 01:46 PM
Mr BSR,
What? Ice is ice...to say that blending ice with coffee and milk is somehow different than ice with coffee base makes no sence at all. Otherwise blended stawberry/lemond aid would put blenders out of wack. Besides blenders are not calibrated, they are chopping machines..ie they chop the ice into small pieces..ice is ice...calibrated indeed.
Posted by: Jane | July 06, 2006 at 02:12 PM
LOL calibrated blenders..joke right?
Posted by: Nickie | July 06, 2006 at 02:22 PM
actually that is correct about calibration. if something the wrong consistency is blended to often it wears away at the gears and causes the blender to become inefficient- its happened twice at my store
Posted by: Theolaxor | July 06, 2006 at 04:08 PM
Is it calibration or the blades wear out faster than antisipated?
Posted by: Dave | July 06, 2006 at 04:17 PM
The blender thing is bull sh!t. We blend iced lates all the time. Also, you can buy these blenders, and no where on the packaging does it say that you should only use starbucks base for your drinks. Yes, if you put a tiny bit of liquid and a tonne of ice in, you'll have probs eventually, but keep the same ratios, and you're fine. My fave drink is an iced non-fat sugar free vanilla blended latte, I get one every day.
Posted by: AB Pahtna | July 06, 2006 at 04:27 PM
We have two camps at our store. The tangerine camp and pomegrante camp. We are totally having fun with our customers by "bringing them over to our side." Its all about attitiude :)
PS Pomegrante with 3 pumps melon RULES!!!!
Posted by: ohiosbuxmgr | July 06, 2006 at 04:56 PM
The TFJB is selling very well in my store, the PFJB is horrid and I get nothing but people making ugly faces when they try it. I have yet to sell one Iced Cafe con Leche, and seriously it's not Iced Cafe con Leche, it's an Iced Misto!!! Iced cafe con Leche would be an Iced Latte!! No self respecting latin person would call a misto, iced or otherwise cafe con leche!
Posted by: MiamiShift | July 06, 2006 at 05:01 PM
I only now got around to trying the banana frap (not a fan).
Summer is traditionally Starbucks' second-best quarter (June 30 -> Sept 30) but trails holiday season by about 15 percent historically.
The fraps of course are a way to try and narrow the gap. Or maybe just to keep up -- gotta answer the cinammon spice latte, etc.
Posted by: Drinker | July 06, 2006 at 05:05 PM
BSR loves to cease and desist. :)
can't believe all the hate for the Pom! it is sooo good...the only complaint i have about the Tangerine Lime is that it isn't Limey enough. but then i tend to like extremely sour things, which is why i also mourn the old Lemonade. hard to find good lemonade this days. the Odwalla is a good start, very tart, but Fresh Samantha (not easy to find) is to-die tart and delicious.
Posted by: CuteBarista! | July 06, 2006 at 05:38 PM
"How does someone who doesn't drink Starbucks and doesn't know how Starbucks got his or her address show up on this site?"
a friend of mine pointed me to this site because he was quoted in an article. I stayed because it's so amusing.
but I still have no idea how starbucks got my address.
Posted by: | July 06, 2006 at 06:49 PM
I know the pomegrante is very good I find both juices tasty. :)
Don't know what's with all the zen hating I find the pom too sweet with passion I like the zen.
Posted by: coffeeguy :) | July 06, 2006 at 07:02 PM
Actually I made a mistake and used green tea instead of the passion tea in the tangerine and everybody seemed to like that alot better. I myself actually enjoy the pom a lot better than the tangerine, but I really don't enjoy super sweet drinks.
Posted by: ihcuids | July 06, 2006 at 07:31 PM
We still have some of the old lemonade. Today I tried lemonade do the first line and tangerine to the second. Soooooo good!!!
Posted by: AB Pahtna | July 06, 2006 at 07:45 PM
The nice folks at the Toronto Starbucks I was at last week gladly whipped me up a pomegranate Frapp the day before their official release (with all the posters already up, they could hardly refuse). It was delicious! Almost (almost) gives my customized GTF a run for its money. I didn't like the tangerine as much, but both are a welcome addition to a menu that had been sadly lacking in fruit-based Frapps.
Posted by: Hirayuki | July 06, 2006 at 08:13 PM
I have been told by several managers that if a customer would like their drink to be blended in the blender- do it. They will be happy and come back. So, just say yes. I think that blender calibration person may have lost their brain to a blender because that does not make sense about the whole calibration thing. Liquid + ice + blender The blender does not discriminate between liquids. I am not a huge fan of pomegranite, but I do love to mix pom and tang together with green tea. Oh yes, it is love.
Posted by: | July 06, 2006 at 08:41 PM
We get soooo many orders for the TFJB a day it's ridiculous. It's become almost every other drink. PFJB, not so much. I just mixed the Pom and TL together...it is quite amazing, indeed.
Posted by: LeBarista | July 07, 2006 at 01:30 AM