We discover what sets one coffee apart from another at Starbucks.

Earlier this year, Starbucks Japan gave its once limited-edition Sweet Milk Coffee a permanent place on the menu due to popular demand, but now there’s a newcomer set to give it a run for its money.

Called Bitter Cream Coffee, this new beverage is the perfect antidote to the syrupy sweetness of the Sweet Milk Coffee, which some customers find slightly too saccharine for their liking. The Bitter Cream version is said to have a richer flavour designed to appeal to coffee lovers, so we decided to head out when it was released on 30 June to check it out.

The first point of difference with the bitter version is the price — at 530 yen (US$3.68), it’s slightly more expensive than the sweet version, which is priced at 510 yen. This difference in price is due to the extra coffee it contains, as it uses espresso shots diluted with water, like an Americano, while the sweet version uses iced coffee.

According to staff, the Tall size contains two espresso shots, although you can add extra espresso shots for an additional 55 yen each, so you can amp up the caffeine to your liking. Another point of difference is the bitter version uses only fresh cream, whereas the sweet version uses a mix of fresh cream and milk. However, both use the same syrups — vanilla and white mocha — so there is a likeness in flavour there.

▼ Visually, the bitter coffee (above) has a deeper, sharper color than the sweet one (below).

Starting with the sweet coffee, it had a delicious, mellow flavour. It was quite sweet, with the creamy milk pairing well with the coffee, combining to create something that felt like an adult coffee milk drink.

Taking a sip of the Bitter Cream Coffee, we could tell it was clearly different from the sweet version. The aroma was fresh and strong, thanks to the espresso shots, with a robust bitterness and sweet aftertaste rounding out the flavour. The taste was crisper and more refreshing than the sweet version, which we personally preferred, and the espresso had enough strength to stand up to the syrup, so it felt less sweet than the sweet coffee.

▼ The well-balanced combination of fresh cream and espresso was simply superb.

If you’re like us and prefer your Starbucks drinks with less syrup then the Bitter Cream Coffee will be right up your alley. While it may not be as much of a crowd-pleaser as the sweet version, which has a more wide-ranging appeal, it’s nice to know that Starbucks is now catering to diehard coffee lovers with a new drink that packs a punch.

For now, though, the bitter version is only available for a limited but unspecified time period, so you’ll want to get in quick to try it before it disappears, like the exclusive summer beverages that came before it.

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