Discontinued Starbucks Drinks That Need To Make A Comeback

Love it or hate it, Starbucks is a near-ubiquitous feature on the coffee shop landscape. In many cities, you can't go more than a few blocks without stumbling across a green sign bearing the now-iconic Starbucks mermaid logo.

Like any major company specializing in food and drink, Starbucks' menu is constantly metamorphosing. Sure, there are some stalwarts that are always there, like the lattes and the mochas. Depending on when and where you next find yourself there, however, you may also encounter more unusual, fleeting Starbucks menu options. The coffee shop staple has long tested new drinks at different locations over many years. 

Some, like the much-discussed Pumpkin Spice Latte, have become wild successes that reappear every season. Yet, for every PSL, there seems to be a series of odd ducks that never make it past their initial test. Don't take this as condemnation of an experimental drink's flavor, however. Starbucks has to look out for its bottom line, of course, and in so doing, they may have quashed some truly interesting and tasty drinks. Until Starbucks decides to bring back some of these discontinued drinks, we can't know for sure.

Throughout its history, Starbucks has tried out some pretty strange stuff. Perhaps the oddest of all was a fizzy coffee concoction that debuted in the 1990s known as the "Mazagran."

According to Business Insider, the Mazagran was a co-production with PepsiCo that produced a gently carbonated, coffee-flavored drink marketed as a "sparkling coffee." Customers gave it a try in 1994 but offered up a pretty lukewarm reception to the fizzy newcomer. As Howard Schultz remembered in his book (via Google Books), the bottled Frappuccino was then introduced in 1995, and its popularity quickly eclipsed the odd duck of the Mazagran, exiling it to obscure legend.

Given that the Mazagran was only tested for a short time in Southern California on tap (via Los Angeles Times), and then briefly nationwide in the bottled version, it's possible that it didn't get a fair shake. At any rate, the idea of a coffee-flavored soda, or even a carbonated iced coffee, is intriguing. Tasters over at Starbucks Melody got their hands on 15-year-old bottles and tried the now rather vintage Mazagran. They reported that it was actually pretty good, at least if the drink was served cold.

Marketed by Starbucks as a way to take a quick, quiet break during a busy workday, Tazo Tea Infusions were first released in late 2008. Essentially, the barista would steam up some black chai tea with fruit juice, creating a caffeinated, dairy free beverage. There were two varieties available: a Berry Chai Infusion with cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves, and an Apple Chai Infusion with "sweet spices."

The Tazo Tea Infusions have since faded away, perhaps because people confused them with the Starbucks milky tea lattes that debuted at the same time. Some of those offerings, like the London Fog Tea Latte, made with lavender and vanilla, are still available today. Why not the tea infusions? They sound perfectly nice, especially if you're hoping for a break from the more intensely sweet or dairy-heavy drinks on the menu. Maybe that was the issue, as quite a few Starbucks patrons are more than happy to down sugary stuff like Frappuccinos and lattes.

Back in 2016, a Starbucks press release promised patrons the opportunity to truly mix up their fall drink experience with the Chile Mocha. Too bad it was going up against the ultimate heavyweight of caffeinated fall drinks: the Pumpkin Spice Latte. Honestly, nothing that faces off with the PSL is going to come out on top, no matter how good it is. There will always be a ravenous horde of coffee drinkers clamoring for their gently spiced drinks that recall pumpkin pies and go well with aesthetic Instagram shots of plaid shirts and big scarves.

They're missing out. According to Bustle, the Chile Mocha boasted good chocolate flavor, but what really made the drink stand out was its spicy topping, which included a dusting of cinnamon, ancho chili, paprika, cayenne, sea salt, and sugar. If only this drink would return, just so we could boast about being ever-so-slightly more daring than the PSL crowd.

At first blush, the idea of combining fruit and coffee seems pretty solid. After all, coffee beans themselves are part of a fruit called a "cherry," and different varieties of coffee beans have fruity finishes. So, it makes sense to pair up actual fruit flavors like cherry with coffee classics like Starbucks' mocha, right?

Consumers didn't seem to agree back in 2013, as detailed by Today. That's when the Cherries Jubilee latte and mocha popped up in a few test cities, according to Starbucks Melody. Essentially, it was a mocha blended with cherry syrup, topped with a bit of cocoa powder and a cherry drizzle.

What was the problem? It could be that the cherry syrup needed a pretty delicate touch. A heavy-handed barista could have easily made the whole thing taste like cough syrup. Still, those flavors of chocolate, coffee, and cherry sound intriguing enough for at least one more try.

Turns out, the United States had a shot at enjoying the Maple Macchiato in 2012. But, like so many delectable drinks that have come and gone through Starbucks' doors, this one is no longer with us. At least, it isn't if you're south of the U.S.-Canadian border.

According to Grub Street, Canadian customers get to drink the Maple Macchiato pretty much whenever they want, as it's now a permanent menu item in that country's locations. It makes sense, given the fact that Canada is all over the maple syrup business, to the extent that a maple leaf is featured prominently on its national flag.

Shouldn't Canada's neighbor to the south get another chance with the Maple Macchiato, too? It sounds pretty good, especially if it comes with "Quebec maple syrup drizzle from the Beauce-Appalache region," as the Starbucks Canada Facebook page describes it. Wouldn't it be nice to try something with that sort of complexity and sweetness, instead of yet another hazelnut something or other? Hopefully, Starbucks will rethink their decision and at least save some of us from a long, border-crossing road trip in search of a new macchiato.

In the never-ending quest for novelty and new lattes, Starbucks is bound to make mistakes. However, while out-there offerings like the Dark Barrel Latte were definitely judged a misstep by many customers, the concept is engaging enough that some Starbucks aficionados may want to get another crack at the discontinued latte. Like many of the coffee chain's newest flavors, the Dark Barrel Latte was tested in just a few locations in 2014 (via Los Angeles Times). 

It quickly proved controversial, with some Twitter users calling it "horrid." That's because the latte incorporated the flavor of Guinness, a dark stout popular amongst beer drinkers. While it didn't contain any alcohol, Delish reports, it's easy to understand why many customers weren't going for the new drink on the block. Beer often presents a pretty distinct flavor profile with a bitter edge, especially a dark stout like Guinness. That can quickly clear a divide between drinkers who like the bitterness and those who might prefer another ultra-sweet Frappuccino with extra caramel sauce.

However, it's not so wild to pair coffee and beer flavors. Both bitter brews have their own dedicated fan base, while stout also pairs well with chocolate flavors that can pop up in certain coffee roasts. Devotees of both might better enjoy the Dark Barrel Latte in a chocolatey mocha form, to better balance out the Guinness flavors in the blend.

Yes, there are plenty of ways to get your apple-infused fix at Starbucks. Currently, most U.S. locations offer a hot caramel apple spice or simply some steamed apple juice, the former presumably for those of us still making our way through elementary school. For a brief period in 2011 through 2012, however, there was another way. Like so many things that were here for just a short, underappreciated moment in time and then gone like dust in the wind, we'd really like to have it back.

We are, of course, referring to the Apple Crumble Frappuccino. Starbucks Melody reports that this drink was briefly tested in North Carolina and Japan in 2011, along with the similar Apple Crumble Latte. A year later, the very same Frappuccino was spotted in Warsaw, Poland, according to Starbucks Melody. It quietly faded from the world stage soon thereafter, never to be seen or tasted in the years since. Still, this is one discontinued Starbucks drink that we'd like to try again.