Summertime is well underway at Starbucks Japan as the coffee chain announces its third summer season beverage: the Lemon Yoghurt Fermented Frappuccino®.

Lemon Yoghurt Fermented Frappuccino: Tall ¥630 (Before Tax)

“Fermentation” has taken the limelight in Japanese food culture recently. Starbucks’s new beverage is the first drink they have released to include fermented ingredients―three of them, in fact. It contains rich tasting yoghurt, full-bodied and flavoursome cheese, and some sweet sake for a mix of Japanese and Western flavours to create a refreshing drink perfect even during Japan’s rainy season.

The characteristic of this Frappuccino® is its smooth and velvety original yoghurt which is used as the base of the entire drink. Added to this are cheese-mixed baked sablés and natural cheese packed with freeze-dried strawberries. The clincher is the refreshing lemon curd sauce which contains a sweet sake that wraps deliciously around the sour taste of the lemon.

The Lemon Yoghurt Fermented Frappuccino® will be released at most Starbucks branches across Japan for a limited time starting on June 19, 2019.

Starbucks has developed a new frozen drink to quench your dry throat on a hot and humid day. Stay quenched with the Teavana® Frozen Sencha Tea X Green Apple Frappuccino.

TEAVANA (TM) Frozen Tea Sencha X Green Apple　Short: ￥450　 Tall: ￥490　Grande: ￥530　Venti: ® ￥570 (before tax)

TEAVANA is an original Japanese tea brand. The new drink consists of a variety of iced green teas such as sencha, matcha and much more. Green shiso leaves, Japanese pepper and peppermint are blended and added to the drink to accent the flavour. This is combined with the frozen compote which is made using green Granny Smith apples sourced from Italy. Finally, a paste made from the citrus fruit Kabosu is used to finish off the drink. This Japanese-style drink is a fusion of different kinds of green tea and green fruits. The different shades of green also gives a very refreshing impression.  

As it is getting hotter and hotter, you can count on this drink to give you a quick refreshing pick-me-up!

Coffee lovers will absolutely want to have a sip of the new Shakerato Mint Freddo arriving at 14 branches of Starbucks Reserve® Bar in Japan on June 10.

Shakerato Mint Freddo

Following in the footsteps of Roastery Tokyo’s popular Cold Brew Freddo and Reserve® Bar’s Shakerato Freddo, the next beverage to pour its way into the Freddo line-up is the Shakerato Mint Freddo. The rich espresso and shaken fresh mint bring a refreshing quality to the smooth ice cream. A perfect drink for the coming summer season.

But wait, there’s more. The drink is also contains a drizzle of orange sugar syrup which is a mix of refreshingly sour and bitter orange peel and sweet sugar.

From Weds 15/05 ー Tues 18/06/2019, the Barista no Kimagure Pudding will be implemented at most Starbucks cafés across Japan and with it comes many options to customise your drink and maximise your experience!

To introduce some customisation ideas, here are three ways you can customise the Pudding Almond Frappuccino® !

Recommendation 1: With coffee (+ ¥50, price before tax) 

This creates a bittersweet flavour. It’s like eating coffee pudding!

Recommendation 2: With chocolate sauce (free!)

This really feels like a dessert! The flavour will make you feel like you’re eating chocolate pudding.

Recommendation 3: With citrus fruit pieces (＋ ¥100, price before tax)

Add a burst of fruit! This is a dash of vibrant colour and refreshing flavour to compliment the almond pudding.

Explore the different ways to customise your drink and find your favorite flavour!

The latest craze over on Japanese Instagram right now is Starbucks’s new Purin Almond Frappuccino®. I myself don’t use Instagram all that much, yet even I’ve noticed how vigorously people are posting about it.

When I saw how cute the drink looks and began making it into a news article for MMN, I wanted to try it myself.

Starbucks Japan are currently selling a range of retro-style beverages and desserts which have that old fashioned kind of appeal of them. As well as the new Purin Almond Frappuccino they are also selling a Coffee Jelly Cake and more. Check here for more details.

Without further ado, I headed to my closest Starbucks branch to try out the Purin Almond Frappuccino. There were four groups ahead of me in the line and there was someone in each group who ordered it! It’s safe to say then that it’s definitely popular.

The drink collection counter has its own retro Starbucks Coffee sign so I snapped a photo of it with my drink. My local branch serves drinks with lids, but I wanted to take a nice photo without one so I requested mine without one.

There are some branches without this sign so be sure to enquire in-branch if you’re looking for one.

I decided to take another photo because of the placement of the cherry. With that out the way, it’s time to taste!

So tasty! Contrary to my expectations, it isn’t sickly-sweet. Within the sweetness of the purin and the bitterness of the caramel are pieces of mango, apple and strawberry jelly. The whipped cream adds its own moderate sweetness too.

The retro-style Starbucks line is running until June 18. If you’re in Japan during that time head into your closest branch and try out the various items they have on the menu. They have a nostalgic yet modern feel to them.

On Wednesday 15th May 2019, Starbucks Coffee Japan launched the second round of their summer season menu! This is your opportunity to indulge in slightly retro-style drinks! There’s the Pudding Almond Frappuccino®, toasted sandwiches, coffee jelly cake, and many more somehow nostalgic yet new beverages, foods and much more. The summer season menu is being implemented in most Starbucks cafés countrywide.

On Wednesday 22nd May, Starbucks released mugs designed by tableware manufacturer Fire-King, who also designed the special promotion icon-like logo on the mug.

Without any special coating, the mugs adopt Fire-King’s signature milk glass appearance. These come in limited supply, so please check them out before they’re gone!

From Saturday 4th May, the very store that sold out of their #STRAWBERRYVERYMUCHFRAPPUCCINO® will be introducing a Royal Milk Tea Frappuccino®.

Enjoy the flavour of Starbucks’ milk tea and its strong aroma. This frappuccino is the perfect refreshing drink to kick off the summer! The tea flavour is made from a blend of a mix of tea leaves and then milk is added for a rich flavour. The milk tea is topped with shortbread and honey for a mild sweetness, making it taste just like a dessert!

You just have to try this drink ー it’s perfect to battle the hot season!

Starbucks coffee Japan is collaborating with BEAMS’ senior creative director Kazuyoshi Minamimagoe’s Institute of Creation. The collaboration will take place at Starbucks Reserve® Roastery Tokyo (Roastery Tokyo for short). This involves the release of a variety of new products that are based on a new perspective of creation. Starbucks Reserve® Roastery Tokyo will be introducing the lineup for a limited time only starting from Wednesday 25th April 2019.

Keyring (room key)　¥3,000

The first collaboration between Roastery Tokyo and Beams Institution of Creation took place on 28th February 2019.  To celebrate Roastery Tokyo’s grand opening, they collaborated with BEAMS Institution of Creation to release multiple products themed around the keyword “PLAY”. The collaboration attracted a lot of attention from overseas as well as within Japan. This time, the collaboration project theme is “TRAVEL”, so pop by Roastery Tokyo to see the collection of this new product range!

Holiday sunglasses　¥23,000

From Minamisanriku, Miyagi prefecture to Fukui prefecture, the lineup consists of a range of products from different areas of the country. All items are made carefully by skilled and passionate makers with earnest intentions. Each of the product brands has a special history that you could spend forever talking about. All products are both beautiful and functional and were made with careful attention to detail. Each item is worthy to represent the best of Japanese products. Once you get your hands on one, you will immediately feel travel vibes!

Travel pouch for cables　¥4,000

The only thing Roastery Tokyo can’t quench is its thirst for discovery. Come enjoy a moment to yourself away from the hustle and bustle of city life in the unique and creative atmosphere of the cafe. Before your holiday travels, make sure to browse the selection of travel items which are sure to get you in the mood for adventure!

Starbucks Japan is releasing its new Espresso Affogato Frappuccino® across all branches on April 25.

The coffee beverage takes on a beautiful marble appearance formed with freshly-drawn espresso and a cream that has a rich, refreshing aftertaste. The mix of these two ingredients creates a perfect harmony of bitter and sweet.

Much thought was put into this recipe before it was finalised. For customers to enjoy a stronger smelling but milder espresso the drink uses a ristretto, a shot of espresso that is made with the same amount of ground coffee but extracted with half to three-quarters the amount of water to create a concentrated shot of coffee.

Brown sugar is added to the drink to maintain the same style of espresso drinking in Italy which adds depth to the overall flavour. The drink base is cream which has a strong milky taste and unexpectedly refreshing aftertaste. It’s topped with fluffy whipped cream, resulting in the perfect drink to sip on during the coming hot weather.

Starbucks Reserve® Roastery Tokyo’s second floor Teavana™ tea bar and third floor Arriviamo™ have come together to create a new line of tea cocktail beverages.

Roastery Tokyo boasts the biggest Teavana™ in the world where they stock their own loose leaf Signature Blend Tea and Pure Tea. The tea leaves they use are a mix of three Japanese-style leaves: gyokuro, sencha and genmaicha. The tea bar pays respect to Japan’s tea tradition that has been around since ancient times by ensuring that every time you drink their tea it is a refined and graceful experience.

The tea bar also makes use of Rostery Tokyo’s unique mixology skills to create revolutionary tea beverages, tea desserts and loose leaf tea blends. Their Signature beverages are made with only the best ingredients and calculated with perfection to draw out the colour, flavour and fragrance of the tea leaves to their absolute max.

Citrus Mint Tonic: ¥850 (Before Tax)

The Citrus Mint Tonic is a refreshing summertime mix of Citrus Lavender Sage Tea, lime and mint.

Shun You: ¥1,200 (Before Tax)

Shun You is inspired by the sights you see walking through Saigōyama Park in Tokyo during springtime. It’s made with sweet Uji gyokuro tea, dill and lemon peel. The herb and citrus adds a refreshing quality to the tea.

Arriviamo™ is Starbucks Japan’s first authentic bar service where they serve revolutionary cocktails and craft cocktails at Roastery Tokyo. Inspired by Italian aperitif, the bar serves coffee with alcohol in it, caffeine free cocktails, aperitif, wine, beer, the non-alcoholic Spirits Free and more. The bar menu was conceived by esteemed mixologist Julia Momose .

Ichigo Shakerato: ¥2,000 (Before Tax)

The Ichigo Shakerato is made with sweet and sour strawberries and Aperol and is accented with a faint flavour of matcha and mint.

Hello, Old Pal: ¥1,800 (Before Tax)

Hello, Old Pal is a combination of spritz and genmaicha, creating a beautiful amber colour.

The Starbucks Reserve® Bar at Roastery Tokyo lets customers in on experiencing different parts of the world. Inspired by the popular Cold Brew beverage “Emerald City Mule,” Starbucks-goers can now look forward to enjoying the new Ginger Ale Cloud which will be release at the Bar on April 10.

The beverage is a mix of ginger ale and shaken Vermont cinnamon syrup and Cold Brew coffee. This is the perfect coffee refreshment for the spring season.

The first drink of last year’s summer season at Starbucks was the hugely popular #STRAWBERRYVERYMUCHFRAPPUCCINO®.

This year, the drink is set to return to Starbucks branches across Japan on April 11 in two versions: the #STRAWBERRYVERYMUCHFRAPPUCCINO®__RED and #STRAWBERRYVERYMUCHFRAPPUCCINO®__WHIT.

Left: #STRAWBERRYVERYMUCHFRAPPUCCINO®__RED / Right: #STRAWBERRYVERYMUCHFRAPPUCCINO®__WHITE

The RED beverage is packed full of strawberry flavour, so much so that it is like eating actual strawberries. This includes the main base of the drink, the sauce and powder on top. One sip is a refreshing burst of sweet and sour strawberries in your mouth.

On the other side is the WHITE drink. The base of this drink includes white mocha syrup as well as a dollop of fresh strawberries. Enjoy together with the crunchy strawberry macaron.

A pop-up shop selling just these drinks will open in the courtyard of Tokyo Midtown from April 10 to 13 so stop by if you’re in the capital!