Starbucks teaser time is one of our favorite times of year! Although it seems like yesterday that we announced the new Spring 2025 menu, which includes an Iced Cherry Chai, it’s already time to start thinking about summer. Long days, bright sunshine, and the promise of yearly vacations are all going to get much sweeter—even without the regrettably gone Starbucks brownie snack. Our friends at the siren have informed us via email that Starbucks is launching an Iced Horchata Oatmilk Shaken Espresso. A twist on the popular Latin American beverage, it will add a little spiciness to your summertime routine.
Although specifics are still being finalized, we do know that Starbucks will be reintroducing the well-liked Summer-Berry Lemonade Refresher, which boasts triple-berry sweetness and popping raspberry pearls, as well as the accompanying Summer Skies Drink, which includes the dreamy addition of coconut milk, in addition to the new shaken espresso. A brand-new Strawberries and Cream Cake Pop, shaped like a juicy strawberry, adds to the berry-liciousness of everything. Although it’s a bit early to start looking forward to this kind of thing, we anticipate seeing a lot of visually appealing social media photos of that adorable cake on a stick.
What is horchata, anyway?
As Starbucks has yet to reveal exactly what is inside the new Iced Horchata Oatmilk Shaken Espresso, we will dig into the ingredients of traditional horchata so that we can get a little bit of an idea as to what the new Starbucks handcrafted beverage might taste like. Traditional horchata contains homemade rice milk, cinnamon, vanilla, and sweetened condensed milk; it is made by soaking the rice in liquid with cinnamon sticks and then pureeing it into a watery paste that is combined with ground cinnamon, vanilla, sweetened condensed milk, and sometimes additional milk or water to get the proper consistency. The resulting horchata drink is cold and sweet, perfect for hot days. It originated in Egypt, where it was prepared using tiger nuts, but its journey continued through transcontinental trade into Spain, where they use chufa nuts for their horchata; however, in North America, rice became more accessible as the base of the drink.
Since Starbucks is shaking an espresso with horchata, we can assume it is going to have a strong coffee flavor (like in the Brown Sugar Shaken Espresso), and cinnamon and vanilla are likely flavors that will be included (since these flavors are already used in other Starbucks drinks). The only thing for certain? We cannot wait to spill the beans once more information about this new drink becomes available.