In January, Starbucks unveiled their pistachio menu in the United States. Due to the launch, the menu’s popularity grew on social media. At Hofstra University, signs popped up all over the Sondra and David S. Mack Student Center to promote the new pistachio drink menu, sparking my curiosity.
Wanting to get a taste of the new menu, I tried the pistachio cream cold brew and the iced pistachio latte.
Pistachio Cream Cold Brew:
The pistachio cream cold brew made its mark on the Starbucks menu in 2021, but it has since blown up over social media when the seasonal pistachio rolled out again this year. Following the pumpkin cream cold brew and peppermint mocha, the pistachio drink really had its time to shine with the booming popularity of TikTok.
Starbucks describes the drink as their “signature cold brew sweetened with vanilla syrup, topped with silky, pistachio cream cold foam and finished with salted brown-buttery sprinkles.”
The pistachio cream cold brew honestly doesn’t taste different from the regular vanilla sweet cream cold brew. As someone who finds the Starbucks cold brew a weak blend and rather sweet, the cold brew itself became unappealing after an hour, leading to my throwing out the drink with a quarter left (and I only got a tall). I’ve always heard that cold brews need to be drunk within a half-hour, but I enjoy casually sipping a beverage during my classes. Since the cold brew is only sweetened with one pump of vanilla, it does hold the same flavor as Starbucks’ signature crew cold brew.
The cold foam is made with pistachio syrup to give that desired flavor; however, there was no flavor. The cold foam tasted just like the vanilla sweet cream cold foam.
The best thing about the pistachio cream cold brew was the absence of pistachio.
Iced Pistachio Latte:
The Starbucks iced pistachio latte debuted in 2021, when the pistachio cream cold brew did. Starbucks describes the coffee as having a “sweet pistachio flavor paired with espresso and milk, served over ice and finished with a salted brown-buttery topping – a creamy, smooth iced latte made to bring you a renewed feeling in the new year.”
When I received my drink, I first noticed that I was not given the salted brown topping, which made me slightly disappointed, but that didn’t ruin the drink – it was already bad.
The pistachio latte tasted just like milk. I did not have any inkling of an espresso shot being in the drink.
The flavoring had a very intricate taste. It reminded me a lot of oat milk, which was concerning because there was no oat milk in my drink. I ordered the coffee with my typical 2% milk.
I will literally never get that taste out of my mouth. The fair flavor I had with the pistachio cream cold brew is not even close to the disastrous mess that this drink was.
The pistachio cream cold brew gave me a fairly enjoyable experience, whereas the iced pistachio latte was a horror movie in a cup. The problem was that the pistachio flavoring is just not my first pick syrup to add to a latte or cold brew. Starbucks’ coffee is also not my first choice for a caffeinated beverage due to its weak blends.
The pistachio cream cold brew was similar to the vanilla sweet cream cold brew with vanilla sweet cream cold foam. The iced pistachio latte tasted like an oat milk latte. The coffee drinkers who enjoy those latter beverages may also enjoy the pistachio option.
