Starbucks’ new Cherry Mocha just tastes like hot chocolate
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Starbucks recently announced the launch of a special Valentine’s Day-themed coffee beverage called the Cherry Mocha that will only be offered February 7 through 14. The brand’s limited-edition products have a history of overwhelming flavor, which makes it much harder to stray from a go-to order. A bad coffee truly can ruin a good day, so we went ahead and tried it for you.
For optimal results, Daily Meal staffers tested the Cherry Mocha in all available forms: iced, hot, and as a Frappuccino. The general consensus was that the new flavor tasted more like hot chocolate than coffee. But unlike past products, the flavor wasn’t all that strong.
“It’s the least offensive seasonal offering I’ve had yet, which makes sense because it’s the least #instaworthy. The hot and iced varietals didn’t have much cherry flavor, though I did appreciate their chocolate milk-ness. If I thought about it kind of hard, I could taste a hint of cherry but it was pretty much absent from the iced,” one editor opined.
She continued: “The Frappuccino had the most chocolate-cherry flavor. It tasted exactly like a cherry cordial, of which I am a fan despite no one else in the office liking chocolate and fruit. Overall, I give this drink a 6/10 for creativity (nothing mind-blowing here) and an 8/10 for taste.”
Another staffer enjoyed the drinks’ sprinkle component most.
“The hot one was cozy, reminded me of hot chocolate. The iced one was like a syrupy chocolate milk. No coffee taste, but if you’re ordering these you’re not really looking for coffee, right?” she asked.
Lastly, and maybe even most importantly, we noted that the new flavor isn’t “as nightmare inducing” as previous limited-time-only drinks. So while we’d rather stick to our regular orders, customers who purchase this coffee won’t be kept up.
For more innovative products from Starbucks’ past, here are 10 of the brand’s drinks and flavors you can’t get anymore.
Taylor Rock is the east coast news editor at The Daily Meal. You can follow her on Twitter @taylorlrock.
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