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Starbucks Japan adds cult drink to its permanent coffee menu due to popular demand

Oona McGee Mar 11, 2025
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Sweet Milk Coffee becomes a hit, with a special customisation that’s got everyone talking.

Starbucks is well known for its amazing limited-edition releases in Japan, and sometimes they prove to be so popular that they make it onto the menu as permanent mainstays. That’s what recently happened to the chain’s Sweet Milk Coffee, which was permanently added after numerous limited-time releases, and it’s already become a cult product, with people on social media raving about how much it tastes like Papico, an incredibly popular coffee-flavoured ice cream produced by Glico.

With people dubbing the Sweet Milk Coffee a “drinkable Papico“, there’s a recommended way to drink it as well, with a customisation hack currently doing the rounds with all the cool influencers on social media.

▼ The customisation involves switching from regular milk to Breve (a mix of milk and cream) for an additional 50 yen (US$0.34), and requesting a pump of mocha sauce for free.

Without the customisation, the multi-layered drink combines fresh cream with white chocolate-flavoured syrup and vanilla-flavoured syrup in the base, and tops it all with a blend of freshly extracted coffee, milk and cream. Upon first sip, the coffee hits you behind the eyes, awakening you to the rich blend as the sweet milky flavours kiss your taste buds with a hint of tantalising vanilla. The combination is pure luxury in terms of both taste and texture, and customising it is definitely the way to go, as the extra thick Breve milk amps up the rich creaminess while the mocha adds another layer of depth and sweeetness.

The creamy sweet coffee flavours are certainly reminiscent of Papico ice cream, but we’d go one step further to say it’s even better. The different layers allow you to enjoy a variety of coffee flavours throughout, from light and refreshing through to rich and milky, but if you want the drinkable Papico experience, we recommend mixing it thoroughly from the start so you can enjoy a well-balanced taste that’s reminiscent of coffee ice cream.

▼ The more you mix, the more addictive the flavour, so the drink will be gone in no time.

Available in a Tall size only, priced at 540 yen for takeout or 550 yen for dine-in, the Sweet Milk Coffee will be on the menu at Starbucks stores nationwide from 12 March. Rewards members are able to purchase the drink from 6-11 March, ahead of its official on-sale date, but this is one drink you don’t have to worry about missing out on, because unlike the new limited-edition colour-changing Frappuccino, this is a permanent resident on the menu.

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[ Read in Japanese ]