The Starbucks summer drops are finally out.  Starbucks has come up with a small variety of summer based drinks and snacks. Their new Drinks include different variations of the Summer-Berry Refreshers. The Summer-Berry refresher is a blend of raspberry, blueberry, and blackberry, over raspberry flavored popping pearls. Starbucks also offers the same drink with lemonade, which you can order as the Summer-Berry Lemonade refresher. Finally, to finish off the new drinks, you can also order the Summer Skies Drink. If you prefer a more creamy drink like the Pink Drink, Summer Skies adds coconut milk to the regular Summer-Berry Refresher, giving it the same vibe as the Pink Drink. 

People can have many different opinions when it comes to new things… even Starbucks. So, after talking with a student who works at Starbucks this is her opinion on the Summer Skies Drink. 

Mia Labenz, Starbucks employee said, “I think it’s more of a blue raspberry drink. The pearls are good, but the drink is better with coconut milk because it’s a little bit overpowering.”

If you prefer a less concentrated, less flavorful version of most drinks, I would recommend the Summer Skies drink, which controls its flavors with coconut milk. The Summer-Berry refresher brings bold colors and flavors to spice up the summer menu, but does it actually fulfill the description of summer?

“Yeah, it doesn’t necessarily fulfill, it’s just another cold drink, most of the refreshers are like that,” said Labenz. 

According to Labenz, this drink doesn’t bring many new aspects to the menu, and is mostly just another flavor of a cold refresher. She informs that it’s nothing special. Agreeing with Labenz, Brody Hunt, another student said, “I feel like there’s better things on the menu, it won’t be my normal thing.”

Hunt thinks of the drink as nothing out of the ordinary, except for the bold colors it has, as to what he explains looks like a bomb pop– which can be very relative to summer. On the flip side, Mr. Perman is a teacher here at ADM and he also tried the new Summer-Berry drink. Overall he had a good impression on the drink. 

Perman described the drink thoughtfully. “It was very refreshing and reminded me of a nice summer evening on the patio,” Perman said. “The color is very unique and makes it pop.”

From Perman’s description, it sets the scene of feeling like summer when you get this drink, and it’s something different Starbucks has added to the menu. 

After hearing both perspectives, this drink can be controversial as to whether or not it’s a good addition to the menu. Overall, I think the drink adds something fun to the selection, as it  includes new features like blue raspberry base, and popping pearls. If you are ever near a Starbucks, try it out sometime to see if it fits your “summer” description.