My, my. Where have you been all our lives?

With the festive season and all its special limited-edition Frappuccinos now well and truly behind us, it’s time to look forward to some new and exclusive Starbucks beverages in Japan for 2021.

Kicking things off is the Melty Nama Chocolate Frappuccino (“Melty Chocolate Ganache Frappuccino“), which is the first offering to please our taste buds during this year’s Valentine’s Day sales season.

▼ The Melty Chocolate was released on 20 January, and will be followed by a “Chocolate on the Chocolate” Frappuccino in a week’s time.

Our resident Starbucks expert K. Masami hotfooted it down to her nearest Starbucks as soon as the Melty Chocolate Frappuccino was released to find out what made this one stand out from its chocolatey predecessors.

Masami has tried a lot of chocolate Frappuccinos in her time, but this one promised to deliver the flavour of a smooth, rich ganache chocolate, which has a depth and texture more akin to a handful of decadent chocolate truffles.

As soon as Masami laid eyes on her new liquid suitor, she saw it had brought with it a scattering of pink love hearts. Chocolate and love hearts is a winning combination in the game of love, and Masami had a hunch they would get along swimmingly.

▼ If this is what love at first sight feels like, Masami was definitely in love.

Sure, it was a handsome-looking drink, but would it be just as beautiful on the inside as well? Masami picked up her spoon and went straight to second base with it, prodding around until she was able to get a spoonful of chocolatey cream to bring to her lips.

As soon as she tasted it, she knew this one would have a place in her heart for some time to come. The combination of chocolate and fresh cream was accentuated with a white mocha sauce to make every mouthful rich, sweet and beautifully balanced. The chocolate flavour was different to any other she’d tasted as well, thanks to the addition of a rich ganache chocolate sauce, and when she discovered it contained tiny cubes of actual ganache chocolate, her eyes widened with delight.

The look and taste of this handsome beau spurred Masami’s appetite for more chocolate, and as luck would have it, the Velvety Chocolate Mousse Latte had returned, having swooned her during last year’s Valentine’s season.

▼ This was a beautiful, rich beverage with a deep character…and a thicc body.

After enjoying her time at Starbucks, Masami was all chocolated out, which meant she would have to make a return visit to try the Melty Raw Chocolate Mocha, a hot version of the Frappuccino also released today.

All three drinks will be available until 14 February, with the Frappuccino sold in a tall size only, for 590 yen (US$5.69), the Mocha retailing for 450-570 yen and the Mousse Latte sold for 390-510 yen for Short through to Ventii sizes.

Photos © SoraNews24
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