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Starbucks Japan’s new Valentine’s Day Frappuccino is like a drinkable opera cake

Oona McGee Jan 17, 2024
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There’s no escaping the charms of this newest limited-edition beverage.

It seems like only yesterday we were celebrating New Year, and now we’re already less than a month out from Valentine’s Day. Here to remind us of that fact is Starbucks, with its new limited-edition Valentine’s Day Frappuccino, this time available as a “couple”, with one containing white chocolate and the other dark, encapsulating the bittersweetness of romance.

▼ Inspired by the famous French Opera Cake, the Frappuccinos went on sale from 17 January, priced at 790 yen (US$5.36) each for dine-in.

The Opera Frappuccino first appeared last Valentine’s Day, so our resident Starbucks expert, K. Masami, was keen to try the new White Opera Frappuccino this year.

Like the Opera Frappuccino, this drink contains almond milk and a small amount of coffee, but instead of dark chocolate, it incorporates plenty of white chocolate powder and white chocolate chips into the body of the beverage, with whipped cream, white chocolate glacage sauce, and gold powder to finish.

▼ Pure luxury.

These days, the majority of Starbucks’ limited-edition Frappuccinos don’t contain coffee, making these particularly special for coffee lovers like Masami. However, curious to find out if she’d actually be able to taste the coffee in the drink, she enquired about it with staff, and they suggested she add an extra shot of espresso to enhance the coffee aroma.

So that’s what she did, with the customisation costing an extra 55 yen, and when she received the drink, she could see it had a stronger coffee hue.

Dipping her spoon into the mix revealed crunchy white chocolate pieces, and when she scooped up a mouthful, she found they provided a fun, crunchy accent to the creamy drink. The blend of almond milk and bitter coffee was divine, playing against the sweet flavours in perfect harmony, making every sip an operatic delight.

As an extra treat for the romantic occasion, the chain has added a special Gianduja Chocolate Mocha (priced from 561 yen) to the menu for a limited time, so Masami couldn’t resist ordering one of those as well.

The combination of espresso, milk, and Gianduja chocolate-flavoured sauce was just as decadent and luxurious as the Opera Frappuccino, with the hazelnut adding a nutty creaminess to the warming beverage.

All of these drinks are sure to delight Starbucks fans in the lead-up to Valentine’s Day, but as always, they’re only available for a limited time so you’ll want to get in quick to try them before they disappear from the menu on 14 February.

And if you really want to spoil yourself, you can pair the drinks with one of the chain’s limited-edition Valentine’s Day mugs or tumblers, which are also available for a limited time!

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