This New Starbucks Drink Provides World Relief―And Health Benefits? 

There aren’t many blue drinks on the market that taste like natural flavors and aren’t colored artificially. I mean as much as I’d love to try them, blue raspberries aren’t even real. But spirulina, on the other hand, is au naturel. And coming soon to a Starbucks near you, spirulina will be integrated into two new drinks for a charity collaboration to promote clean water access.  

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What Is Spirulina?

Spirulina, on its own, is generally understood to taste terrible. Spirulina is an alga that looks blueish green and tastes of the water it comes from―fishy. It has a myriad of supposed health properties though, such as allergy relief and being a potential cancer-fighting antioxidant. Hence, people’s adamance of consuming the icky blue powder.  

There are, however, ways to mitigate the flavor of spirulina and make it more palatable. In particular, spirulina pairs well with fat and acid. Reddit users have noted that the best way to take spirulina is through pairing it with the most pungent ingredients in your kitchen―basically, hide the taste as much as possible. 

What To Expect

Especially when considering that these new Starbucks drinks are intended to actually raise money for charity via the mass market, I’d say that the flavors they chose to complement―and mask―the spirulina were wise. The drinks will be available for purchase between June 16 and July 7 and 25 cents from each drink purchased will be donated to the Get Blue initiative, helping contribute to the effort to provide better clean-water access around the world. 

One of the two new drinks is the Blue Coconut Refresher. The fatty coconut milk pairs with the sweet and tart strawberry açai refresher and the spirulina is shaken in with the ice. It does sound suspiciously like their famous “Pink Drink” with some spirulina thrown in, but, hey, it’s for charity. Like all refreshers, the drink can be made with lemonade. Ordered with coconut milk, they are calling it the “Ocean Drink.” 

The second drink in the set is the Iced Blue Coconut Matcha. The base is a mango flavored matcha and toasted coconut cold foam with what Starbucks is calling a “dash” of spirulina.  

All in all, despite its funky new color, you’re probably not going to notice any strange flavor or even any of the potential health effects. You’re safe to order away with the same vigor that you would any other Starbucks limited-time release―this time, with peace of mind that you’re donating to charity in the process.