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Starbucks Japan invites us to par-tea with its new Earl Gray Frappuccino [Taste test]

Casey Baseel a few minute ago
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Three new drinks, featuring seven kinds of tea, join the Starbucks Japan menu.

This year’s Halloween parties are over and done with, but that doesn’t mean the fun is over for sweets fans. On November 2, Starbucks Japan rolled out no fewer than three new sweetly soothing beverages, and we rushed out to try them all.

“Let’s par-tea” is the theme of this new lineup which aims to please lovers of puns and black tea, and while all three of them looked very tempting, we felt the strongest allure from Starbucks Japan’s newest Frappuccino, the Earl Grey Chocolate Frappuccino.

By pouring a bunch of chocolate chips into an Earl Grey tea base, Starbucks has created something that appeals to a sophisticated sweet tooth, especially with the partnering presences of chocolate sauce and a swirl of whipped cream on top. And since Japan starts getting into the Christmas mood right after Halloween, you can dress up your 690-yen (US$4.30) Earl Grey Chocolate Frappuccino with a Christmas cookie for an additional 70 yen.

The bright-colored Christmas present-shaped confectionary made for a cheery visual accent against the dark color of the Frappuccino itself, and while the combination looked so pretty we almost felt bad about drinking it, that hesitation only lasted until the moment it fired up our taste receptors. Our resident Frappuccino expert K. Masami handled taste-testing duties, and says that the elegantly aromatic sensation of Earl Grey tea arrives first, creating a serenely relaxing mood. The sweetness of the chocolate chips come next, but it blends smoothly with the tea notes while adding in some crunchy texture. As you continue to sip, or swirl your straw around, more of the chocolate sauce gets drawn into the mix, upping the sweetness but without becoming unpleasantly cloying, especially with the whipped cream helping to smooth together the various component flavors.

Up next: the Joyful Medley Strawberry Creamy Tea Latte.

This 650-yen latte features Starbucks Joyful Medley holiday tea mixture of black tea, oolong tea, and jasmine tea, plus a touch of apricot flavor. Beloved by fans for its complex taste that nonetheless comes to a clean finish, the Joyful Medley is joined for this drink by fresh cream, strawberry mouse, and a sprinkling of freeze-dried strawberry bits across the top.

Our Joyful Medley Strawberry Creamy Tea Latte was also joined by the optional cookie topping, and this time we got a Christmas tree (there’s also a possible Santa hat cookie, adding a bit of a gacha element).

Once again, this is a beautiful drink to look at, but tastes too good to spend very much time only visually admiring. The comforting blend of teas, rich creaminess, and sweetly tart strawberry flavors were so good together that Masami almost stopped sipping to give the drink a round of gleeful applause, and she especially recommends it to Starbucks fans who look forward to the Joyful Medley blend every year as a fresh new way to enjoy the blend.

And finally, Masami checked out Starbucks Japan’s new Royal Milk Tea (620 yen). An original blend of Darjeeling, Assam and Ceylon tea, this one might not be as inventive as the other drinks we taste-tested here, but it’s still very satisfying, especially in your order your hot on a chilly autumn evening.

All three drinks are listed as limited-time items, and since Starbucks Japan tends to get very busy with rapidly releasing new items as we get closer to the end of the year, it’s probably best to have your tea par-tea as soon as you can.

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