Starbucks China Has Cocktail-Inspired Drinks Not Available In The US
If giving up cocktails is something you wouldn't do for all the tea in China, Starbucks China has got you covered. According to Taste of Home, the coffee giant added a new line of drinks to its Chinese menu in 2019, and although they don't contain alcohol, each creation was inspired by a popular cocktail. Starbucks has locations in over 200 cities in mainland China, according to its site, and it has had to get creative to meet the traditionally-tea-drinking nation where it's at. For our money, if mocktails modeled after whiskey sours and gin and tonics don't do it, nothing will.
The drink series was originally introduced as a summer promotion, according to China Daily, in an effort to reach a younger, female audience. The eight cocktail-inspired drinks must have tickled the tastebuds of more than just young women however, as they have since become a staple of the Starbucks menu, known on the company website as "Modern Mixology." The coffee and tea-based beverages are low-fat and additive and artificial coloring-free — plus, drinks like the Citrus Mint Mojito and Cold Brew Lemon Sour will make you feel like you're drinking a cocktail out of a Starbucks cup, which is delightfully scandalous (via Vimeo).
Cocktail-inspired drinks aren't the only thing Starbucks China does differently
Starbucks China is not above a fun gimmick or two to lure the good people of China through its doors. As NPR reported in 2019, Starbucks China was resting peacefully on its laurels when baby coffee chain Luckin Coffee skyrocketed to second place in the hearts and wallets of Chinese coffee-drinkers. The company, which was founded in 2017, only two years prior to going public, has given Starbucks a run for its beans in China; and when it became the second largest chain in the country, the Seattle-based company knew it had to get creative to keep up.
Starbucks China's Modern Mixology line of drinks isn't the only thing on the menu that you can't get in the U.S. As Taste of Home points out, Starbucks China has desserts like Blueberry Cookie-Style Cheesecake that we may never see on a U.S. menu, and that Starbucks China loves to experiment with coffee and ice cream creations — a collaboration we could definitely get on board with. Starbucks Stories Asia also boasts about last year's partnership between Starbucks China, Beyond Meat, and Oatly, to push its new plant-based menu. And after the success of its cocktail-inspired drinks, it was only natural that Bar Mixato, Starbucks China's first café-bar, popped up in Shanghai in 2020 (via Starbucks Stories Asia).