Starbucks Just Changed Its Iced Coffee For the First Time in Nearly 20 Years
If you've recently begun to suspect that there's something different about Starbucks' iconic iced coffee, it's not just a figment of your imagination. The chain just confirmed that it changed its iced coffee recipe earlier this year for the first time since 2006—nearly two decades ago.
As first reported TODAY.com, Starbucks officially debuted the new blend at stores on May 7. According to the menu description, the updated iced coffee (5 calories) is made from a blend of "sun-dried and washed" Latin American beans, which make for a brew that's "approachable and refreshing with notes of malted milk chocolate and a brown-sugar sweetness."
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"Designed with versatility in mind, the new Iced Coffee Blend is delicious either on its own or customized to any customer's preference," Starbucks coffee developer Leslie Wolford said in a statement.
In addition to changing its signature iced coffee recipe, Starbucks also now serves its iced coffee unsweetened by default. Previously, the iced coffee automatically came with Starbucks' classic syrup.
Astute customers have been taking notice of the change and discussing it on social media ever since the new blend debuted. Unsurprisingly, Starbucks devotees have a lot to say about the new menu addition.
Some shoppers, for example, appreciate the fact that the iced coffee is now served unsweetened by default. However, others haven't been all that impressed by the flavor of the new coffee bean blend.
"I immediately noticed a change, on back to back visits, the first week of May. A barista friend did confirm the change in roast and default sweetener. However, the new brew tastes 'soured,' to a degree, and I don't know why…It's awful!" one customer wrote on Reddit.
Another critic said the new iced recipe tastes "flat and bland" and "lacks the chocolatey depth" of the old version.
The iced coffee recipe update isn't the only major change underway at Starbucks in 2024. This past spring, the chain rolled out new cold drink cup designs that use 10 to 20% less plastic, which will save more than 13.5 million pounds of plastic from ending up in landfills annually.
The chain also just announced that CEO Laxman Narasimhan has stepped down from his post and will be succeeded on Sept. 9 by Brian Niccol, the current CEO of Chipotle, which has come under fire in recent months. Though Starbucks did not reveal the exact reason for the sudden CEO switch-up in the announcement, the change follows two consecutive quarters of rare sales declines for the coffee giant.
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