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Starbucks Launched New Products... Drinking Not Coffee, but the Barista's Confidence!

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, On June 14, Starbucks China announced the launch of a brand new iced coffee category—the "Shaken Espresso" series. Currently including two products: Sea Salt Caramel Shaken Espresso and Tahitian Vanilla Inspiration Shaken Espresso. As one of the earliest pioneers of the secret menu, Starbucks once gave official status to secret menus. "International

On June 14th, Starbucks China announced the launch of a new iced coffee category - the "Iced Shaken Espresso" series. Currently, it includes two products: Sea Salt Caramel Iced Shaken Espresso and Tahitian Vanilla Style Iced Shaken Espresso.

As one of the earliest pioneers of hidden menus, Starbucks once gave official status to hidden menu items. The International Financial News once reported that Starbucks spokesperson Maggie Jantzen said in an interview with CNBC that due to the emergence of these "hidden menus," Starbucks baristas can learn to make over 170,000 customized beverages...

However, due to the allure of these personalized beverages, some drinks have become Starbucks menu items, and this time's "Iced Shaken Espresso" series was also added to the menu because many people ordered it.

The Origin and Story of Caffe Shakerato

This product series has its own original name - Caffe Shakerato. As a national beverage in Italy, drinking espresso has become an essential daily ritual for every Italian. But when the summer heat arrives, everyone wants to drink a refreshing iced espresso beverage, yet doesn't want to over-dilute the coffee's original flavor through ice water.

So some Italian bartenders began using cocktail-making techniques, adding extracted espresso to a shaker filled with ice cubes and appropriate syrup, then shaking! Before the espresso could react, it undergoes the baptism of ice cubes. While preserving the rich aroma and intense flavor of the espresso, it brings a touch of sweetness and creates rich, dense foam. Making the coffee feel and look like drinking dark beer.

Of course, each bartender making Caffe Shakerato has their own secret recipe. Some even add different sweet spirits to create coffee cocktails. Later, this practice gradually spread to other parts of Europe and slowly gained popularity.

Global Adaptations and Evolution

Every time it spreads to a new country, locals adjust this coffee beverage according to popular tastes, adding various types of milk/plant-based milk, then switching to different flavored syrups. This Caffe Shakerato has become a signature beverage at many coffee shops in Europe and America, and it's also the original way of making iced cappuccino.

The Technical Challenge

However! It's actually not easy to shake this coffee to create fine, dense foam. It greatly tests the shaking technique of the barista/bartender, and the shaking process must use lots of ice! Lots of ice! Lots of ice! Only with enough ice can the espresso be cooled while avoiding excessive dilution from rapid ice melting.

The shaking technique also requires infinity-shaped movements to produce fine, dense foam. Therefore, although this coffee product has been popular abroad for many years, not too many coffee shops are willing to put it on their menu.

Starbucks' decision to add this Iced Shaken Espresso is quite bold! After all, making one well isn't easy! Even if customers don't care about the foam texture, it's quite taxing on the barista... especially during "chaotic shifts" (peak hours).

Social Media Reception and Consumer Experience

The launch of "Iced Shaken Espresso" has also become one of the hot topics on social platforms. One reason is that it breaks away from traditional espresso-making methods, refreshing consumers' understanding of how espresso is made, and will become a model for a new round of coffee shop product innovation; another reason is that what you're drinking in this beverage isn't coffee, but the barista's confidence.

Many netizens have discussed the making process of the "Iced Shaken Espresso" they purchased and their feelings about the final product. Some netizens said they felt like they were ripped off, as it was essentially a flavored latte with an additional layer of rough-textured foam... Others said that during the making process of their cup, the barista was very perfunctory, with no foam...

There were even netizens who posted that the barista, without informing them, substituted whole milk for the oat milk that was supposed to be in the original recipe, and didn't inform them when serving that whole milk was used. If a customer is lactose intolerant, this situation would really be problematic...

Future Prospects and Conclusion

The idea of launching "Iced Shaken Espresso" is certainly very helpful for the brand's new round of "breaking out," but the product's making process cannot guarantee consistent quality for every cup. Whether it can ultimately become a permanent menu item still needs time to verify.

Does this coffee taste good? That's subjective. The only certainty is that the baristas who finish making this product will gain confidence, transform from socially anxious to socially confident, their arm muscles will become much more defined, and their future employment options will include another choice - bartender.

DIY Instructions

And in daily life, everyone can easily make a cup of Caffe Shakerato! Find a sealable cup (preferably a dedicated shaker), fill it more than halfway with ice cubes (try to choose smaller ice cubes), add syrup/sweet spirits according to your preference, finally pour in espresso made from freeze-dried coffee powder/pre-made espresso liquid, and you can start shake shake shake (let's sway together) - it's both stress-relieving and money-saving!