Starbucks Launches Pearl Coffee?! Starbucks Coffee Too Sweet Criticized by Netizens

Bubble tea is certainly no stranger to most people. Since its introduction in Taiwan in the 1980s, adding tapioca pearls to milk tea has been deeply loved across China. As milk tea culture spreads globally, bubble tea has rapidly gained popularity in Japan, South Korea, and even European and American countries in recent years.

When bubble tea first arrived in America, local consumers seemed uninterested. People were unfamiliar with tapioca pearls and hesitant to try them. But with social media users sharing and promoting bubble tea, people suddenly broke through their "psychological barriers" and flocked to try this novel product. The joy of chewing bouncy pearls while drinking milk tea proved irresistible, and bubble tea quickly became a favorite among young Americans.

If pearls work in milk tea — and consumers love chewing them while drinking — then adding pearls to coffee should be popular too! With that thought, Starbucks' beverage development team couldn't sit still... But dropping chewy tapioca pearls into coffee felt odd, so they set about developing "coffee popping pearls" instead: sodium alginate was stirred into caramel coffee liquid, which was then dripped into calcium lactate solution, forming individual coffee pearls.

Unlike traditional tapioca pearls, these burst with a single squeeze — coffee drinkers get the fun of biting into pearls without affecting the beverage's texture. Starbucks developed the coffee popping pearls in 2019, and Frappuccinos topped with them launched in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong — but sales were mediocre. Customers complained the pearls were too sweet, and Frappuccinos were already very sweet to begin with...

Given Americans' recent love of "pearls" and their fondness for sweets, caramel coffee popping pearls seemed worth testing in the US market. Learning from the 2019 experience of high visibility but weak sales in Asia, Starbucks USA recently added the same popping pearls to iced chai tea lattes and a cold brew beverage (the pearls only work in cold drinks), testing them at just two franchised stores in California and Washington.

Coffee popping pearls at the local Starbucks?! That immediately drew locals in to try them, with many sharing photos of the two pearl beverages on social platforms — but the reviews were still lukewarm... Some users said, "I like both bubble tea and coffee, but adding coffee pearls to coffee just feels wrong somehow, and the straw is too thin — I can't suck up the pearls!" Milk tea fans commented, "This is nothing like boba pearls. The texture isn't good — it gets sticky after the coffee liquid bursts out..." Coffee enthusiasts said, "These popping pearls don't impress. They taste sickeningly sweet with a salty aftertaste, which really hurts the coffee's flavor..." Of course, some users liked the texture of the pearls but hoped the coffee flavor inside could be improved.

Well... some things are simply not meant to be together, and you can't force it~

Image source: Internet, Social media platforms

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Craving sweetness done right? Here are three naturally sweet coffees — no syrups required:

FrontStreet Blackberry (Costa Rica Black Honey) — from the honey-processing capital of Costa Rica, this high-altitude single origin keeps the most mucilage intact, giving it the deepest fermentation and highest sweetness of all honey processes. Medium-light roast brings out sweet florals, grape, sweet orange, and liqueur chocolate flavors.

FrontStreet Queen Estate — medium-roasted Brazilian with an aroma like fried peanuts and dark chocolate, followed by a gentle, lingering sweetness — that prized "returning sweetness" (hui gan). Excellent as pour-over, and especially rich and sweet as an Americano or latte through a moka pot or espresso machine.

FrontStreet Strawberry Candy Geisha Blend — Costa Rica honey-processed sweetness meets Ethiopian citrus acidity and florals: rose, strawberry gummy, and dried blueberry aromas, balanced grape and orange sweetness, and an almond finish. Works as pour-over, cold brew, or espresso — silky, gummy-candy sweetness in an Americano or latte, with zero harshness.