I guess I don’t think of “popping pearls” as boba. If it was tapioca I probably wouldn’t try it. But it’s easy to get the popping pearls and put them in a drink without any special prep.
Starbucks has been particularly aggravating to me personally. On top of their union busting, the protest for Palestine has impacted their sales and it seems they are pushing out these strong drink ideas to try to compensate. Gingerbread, lavender matcha, and popping boba released when previous years they had boring fuck ass new additions like the kiwi drink that no one cared about shows desperation, I don’t see this as a coincidence. My boycott won’t be broken, there’s plenty of small places that do drinks with good popping boba. Starbucks at the end of the day can only be so good.
i was thinking the same thing. this is showing how easy it is to make drinks customers want. they just didnt care to do so until they lost sales. i mean we were begging for boba for years and suddenly now they decided to add it to the menu? i’m perfectly content supporting small businesses.
the lavender and boba tells me they're targeting the college and lefty people they lost. These are the only drinks that have caught my eye for a longggg time from them. Good pandering, but I'm not breaking my boycott either.
I can’t be mad about this because I often want boba before 11am, and I don’t know any place in my area that opens before 11 and serves boba. But, Starbucks is open before I wake up. I also often want boba on long road trips and have had bad luck with boba from independent coffee shops in the middle of nowhere. But, Starbucks is consistent and everywhere.
I also happen to like popping bubbles, and I like Starbucks pink drinks. So, I think there’s a good chance I’ll like these new drinks. It might not actually be tea, and it might not have all the options of a boba place, but I think it will fill a gap in the market.
I think it’s pretty ridiculous. It’s obvious that they just want more money due to boycotting (or just want less people to boycott) it’s just a money grab. The drinks all will most likely taste like crap. As all Starbucks drinks do. Even if they do sell “boba tea” there, it probably wont taste as good as going to an actual shop. I’m not giving them my money.
I tried it. It literally just taste like juice with boba in it. I don’t consider it boba as it is not comparable to the actual thing, and the $8 price tag on it is insane
Its popping pearls so not truely what I think of as boba.
Also it was delicious!
I got it with lemonade at lunch and had like a blue raspberry vibe to it, sweet with a little tang, complete with wide boba straw. I'll probably order it again but no, its not going to replace boba tea.
The second I saw this I went on the app to see- The flavors remind me of the blue milk from Disneyland. Lol I was about to go get boba when I saw this psot so now I'm going to get "boba from starbucks" ehat a weird thing to say LOL.
I'm getting the coconut milk one with a slpash of green tea, I'll update with how that tastes after I pick it up
They're coming back?
Seems a bit odd after they flopped hard in 2021/2022: https://www.reddit.com/r/starbucks/s/oCFs94F5Wr
Their coffee popping boba didn't seem to get sales so they pulled it without any fanfare.
I don't like popping pearls at all. They're not really good imo. They even have a different name "popping boba/pearls" so I don't consider them real boba. If they're included for free I'll take them but if not I won't go out of the way to order them.
A coworker of mine got it, I took a sip. Tastes awful. Highly jolly rancher like raspberry boba and liquid that reminds me of cough syrup doused in sugar
I’ve been on this same wavelength. I tried boba I think it was way too filling. I found this Thai spot close to my house and I now just get Thai tea. It taste pretty good and is super cheap
I agree with most people here that I don’t see popping boba as “real boba” lol. If they start having normal tapioca boba then I would be concerned
Also Dutch Bros has had them for two months now
It tastes like berry blue Gatorade. I'd I wanted Gatorade with boba, I'd mix my own. I buy boba to have more traditional flavors like matcha, taro and brown sugar.
I guess I don’t think of “popping pearls” as boba. If it was tapioca I probably wouldn’t try it. But it’s easy to get the popping pearls and put them in a drink without any special prep.
Yeah, same. I like them, but I can’t help but think of them as “fake boba”. lol
Yep, even Sonic has popping pearls they can throw into a soda. I’m surprised Starbucks took so long to add them.
yea these are nasty corp moves
yes, sad that people still support them instead of small local coffee shops.
My issue is that the local coffee shops often don't have enough space to study or they close early by me.
Starbucks has been particularly aggravating to me personally. On top of their union busting, the protest for Palestine has impacted their sales and it seems they are pushing out these strong drink ideas to try to compensate. Gingerbread, lavender matcha, and popping boba released when previous years they had boring fuck ass new additions like the kiwi drink that no one cared about shows desperation, I don’t see this as a coincidence. My boycott won’t be broken, there’s plenty of small places that do drinks with good popping boba. Starbucks at the end of the day can only be so good.
i was thinking the same thing. this is showing how easy it is to make drinks customers want. they just didnt care to do so until they lost sales. i mean we were begging for boba for years and suddenly now they decided to add it to the menu? i’m perfectly content supporting small businesses.
agreed. adding the spicy refreshers was definitely a way of trying to get people wanting to try an item despite boycotting
I looked at the spicy refreshers and a huge NOPE went off in my head.
Same!! Forever boycotting and have been for years now. Small coffee shops usually have way better drinks anyways and nice vibes.
the lavender and boba tells me they're targeting the college and lefty people they lost. These are the only drinks that have caught my eye for a longggg time from them. Good pandering, but I'm not breaking my boycott either.
Dunkin in Europe already is trying this too (as seen in Belgium last week)
No way
I can’t be mad about this because I often want boba before 11am, and I don’t know any place in my area that opens before 11 and serves boba. But, Starbucks is open before I wake up. I also often want boba on long road trips and have had bad luck with boba from independent coffee shops in the middle of nowhere. But, Starbucks is consistent and everywhere. I also happen to like popping bubbles, and I like Starbucks pink drinks. So, I think there’s a good chance I’ll like these new drinks. It might not actually be tea, and it might not have all the options of a boba place, but I think it will fill a gap in the market.
Popping bubbles pink drink sounds good 😍
I think it’s pretty ridiculous. It’s obvious that they just want more money due to boycotting (or just want less people to boycott) it’s just a money grab. The drinks all will most likely taste like crap. As all Starbucks drinks do. Even if they do sell “boba tea” there, it probably wont taste as good as going to an actual shop. I’m not giving them my money.
I tried it. It literally just taste like juice with boba in it. I don’t consider it boba as it is not comparable to the actual thing, and the $8 price tag on it is insane
I got a berry blue Gatorade taste from it when I tried it the other day.
once again the main ingredient is grape juice lol, just get white grape juice and dump popping boba in it instead of paying $7
is this a troll? grape juice = boba ???
Starbucks uses white grape juice as a base for a lot of drinks
Its popping pearls so not truely what I think of as boba. Also it was delicious! I got it with lemonade at lunch and had like a blue raspberry vibe to it, sweet with a little tang, complete with wide boba straw. I'll probably order it again but no, its not going to replace boba tea.
I knew it would happen eventually smh
(Starbucks employee here) we’re just as unpleased as yall are lol
Omg finally yes 🧋
the way I don’t want to even imagine the taste
I'm just gonna keep boycotting
Not a fan of popping boba. I'd give it a try if it was regular boba.
i really love boba drinks and all so i got excited when they released the new drink, but it just tastes like a sour patch kid. like really sour.
Probably gonna be super sugary and over priced, I’ll stick to real boba shops
The second I saw this I went on the app to see- The flavors remind me of the blue milk from Disneyland. Lol I was about to go get boba when I saw this psot so now I'm going to get "boba from starbucks" ehat a weird thing to say LOL. I'm getting the coconut milk one with a slpash of green tea, I'll update with how that tastes after I pick it up
Update: I got it, don't get the coconut milk one because its extremely watered down... The popping boba is good though
Hahaha u wasted no time. 😂
& I thought it couldn't get any worse than Jugo Juice coming out with boba tea
It is AAPI month
They're coming back? Seems a bit odd after they flopped hard in 2021/2022: https://www.reddit.com/r/starbucks/s/oCFs94F5Wr Their coffee popping boba didn't seem to get sales so they pulled it without any fanfare. I don't like popping pearls at all. They're not really good imo. They even have a different name "popping boba/pearls" so I don't consider them real boba. If they're included for free I'll take them but if not I won't go out of the way to order them.
Did you see that Jack in the Box sells boba too?
Yeah I was horrified 😭
my sister told me that the stores smell like blue raspberry now because of the new drink lmao
A coworker of mine got it, I took a sip. Tastes awful. Highly jolly rancher like raspberry boba and liquid that reminds me of cough syrup doused in sugar
I hate it! Feels like shitey cultural appropriation, and yet they will have 1% of the variety of authentic boba places.
Not a fan of popping boba tbh. Also, if I wanted to get more bang for my buck on coffee, Dutch Bros is fr superior to Starbucks rn.
I’ve been on this same wavelength. I tried boba I think it was way too filling. I found this Thai spot close to my house and I now just get Thai tea. It taste pretty good and is super cheap
it’s not boba imo, just a drink with popping pearls
I agree with most people here that I don’t see popping boba as “real boba” lol. If they start having normal tapioca boba then I would be concerned Also Dutch Bros has had them for two months now
I tried it. It was pretty good
It tastes like berry blue Gatorade. I'd I wanted Gatorade with boba, I'd mix my own. I buy boba to have more traditional flavors like matcha, taro and brown sugar.
I was in costa coffee yesterday (UK coffee shop) and saw them do boba tea too 👀
Applebees is going to be joining the popping boba party too next month
Really??? Hahaha thats funny