There’s a lot going on beneath this bright yellow lid. 

With a lot of Starbucks locations in Japan still temporarily closed to curb the spread of coronavirus, Starbucks lovers are feeling the pangs of longing, desperate for a taste of the coffeehouse chain’s sweet offerings again.

Here to answer the call is a new chilled cup that provides us with not just liquid refreshment, but great crepe refreshment too. Simply called the Starbucks Chocolate Hazelnut Banana Crepe, this new drink has been causing a stir with locals online, who’ve been raving over its unusual taste, so our Japanese-language reporter Yuko Sawano sat down to give it a try.

The bright yellow packaging instantly lifts your mood as you go to drink it, and when Yuko did take a slurp, her eyes opened wide and she did a double-take as an unexpected texture hit the back of her throat. Instead of being silky smooth, there was an added something else in there, so she poured the drink out into a glass for a closer look and saw… a whole heap of finely crushed almonds!

The nuts were big enough to be visible but not so big as to cause a distraction. Yuko loved the fact that every time she took a sip, she got to enjoy biting down on a good lot of crunchy nuts, which added to the fun of the drink.

As for the flavour, it was creamy, milky, and all wrapped up in a mellow, sweet banana nuttiness. When she closed her eyes, the aftertaste really did fool her into thinking she’d eaten a crepe, despite the fact that she’d just swallowed it instead.

With real nuts and bananas used as ingredients, this drink gets a big thumbs up from Yuko. In fact, she thinks it makes for a perfect breakfast drink, kind of like a Starbucks smoothie.

The Starbucks Chocolate Hazelnut Banana Crepe is being sold exclusively at convenience stores around Japan. Priced at 230 yen (US$2.15), it’s not a bad price for a Starbucks beverage, and because it contains 124 kilocalories, it’s a lot healthier than a lot of Starbucks’ in-store beverages.

Photos: ©SoraNews24
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[ Read in Japanese ]