Starbucks rolling out new boba-style drinks with a fruity 'pearl' that 'pops in your mouth'

For the summer, Starbucks is serving up its own take on bubble tea drinks.

The coffee chain is now offering three new Starbucks Refreshers beverages with raspberry-flavored "pearls" at the bottom of the cup, adding fruity flavor to the drink. The new beverages are available nationwide for a limited time, while supplies last, the company says.

The trio of beverages – Summer-Berry, Summer-Berry with Lemonade, and Summer Skies drinks – are each served with colorful raspberry-flavored pearls at the bottom of the cup. The chain's drink gurus were inspired by East Asian beverages made with boba, or bubble tea tapioca balls.

“We started with fruit pieces, but we wanted something even bolder,” said Starbucks beverage developer Simon Vuong said in a story on the Starbucks website. “So, we thought, ‘Let’s put fruit-flavored pearls in the beverage and try it out.’ It’s very fun the way it delivers the flavor when it pops in your mouth.”

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White Chocolate Macadamia Cream Cold Brew, other new snacks available

Also on tap for the summer at Starbucks: the White Chocolate Macadamia Cream Cold Brew. The returning limited-time drink is made with sweet macadamia syrup and topped with white chocolate macadamia cream cold foam and toasted cookie crumbles.

Two new limited-time snacks now available are an Orange Cream Cake Pop and Pineapple Cloud Cake.

Starbucks' new bubble tea flavors, nutrition info

Here are more details about Starbucks' new drinks with raspberry-flavored pearls:

• Summer-Berry: Starbucks describes the drink as "a sweet summer blend of raspberry, blueberry and blackberry flavors, shaken with ice and poured over raspberry-flavored pearls that deliver a delicate and deliciously sweet burst of summer fun." A grande drink has 110 calories, 25 grams of sugar and 0 grams of fat.
• Summer-Berry with Lemonade: Lemonade with raspberry, blueberry and blackberry flavors, shaken with ice and poured over raspberry-flavored pearls. Grande: 160 calories, 37g sugar, 0g fat.
• Summer Skies Drink: Those berry flavors mixed with coconut milk, shaken with ice served on raspberry-flavored pearls. Grande: 150 calories, 29g sugar, 2.5g fat.

Asia Pacific Starbucks stores have served drinks with pearls already, including a Dark Caramel Coffee Sphere Frappuccino and a Peach oolong tea with plum-flavored pearls.

If you are a bubble tea fan, these Starbucks "pearls" will be a bit different, Antonia DeBianchi, an associate editor for food and lifestyle, writes on People.com.

"My first taste of the raspberry pearls was very surprising. I expected it to be chewy like boba, but it wasn’t at all," she wrote. "Instead, Starbucks’ pearls really pop and burst in your mouth in an instant. Since they’re not made of tapioca, they aren’t chewy. The bright flavor makes for a fun complement to the three beverages."

The newest Starbucks x Stanley cup

Starbucks' also has a new summer drinkware collection in stores including an orange-yellow colored 40-ounce Starbucks x Stanley Quencher ($54.95).

Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider & mikegsnider.

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