You can only buy this drink at four special stores, but there’s a word of warning for those who try it. 

Japan is home to over 1,800 Starbucks stores, but did you know there are four unique “Special Starbucks” locations? These stores offer an exclusive Kids Frappuccino and a hands-on, child-friendly cafe experience for families, and one of them can be found at Nagareyama Otakanomori S･C in Chiba Prefecture.

▼ “S･C” stands for “Shopping Centre“

This Starbucks branch opened on 28 August, and as the first location in Chiba Prefecture to offer the Kids Frappuccino, it’s already proving to be extremely popular with families.

Our reporter Natsuno Futon took her own children there recently, and when she arrived on a weekday evening the place was bustling with other families. Like many others in the store, Natsuno and her children were there to try the Kids Frappuccino, which is available for children aged 12 and under and comes in three flavors, Vanilla Cream, Mango & Fruits, and Chocolate, priced at 440 yen (US$2.96) each.

▼ Natsuno ordered the Vanilla Cream and Mango & Fruits.

Looking around the store, Natsuno felt it had more of a parent-child cafe vibe compared to other Starbucks locations, with the chatter of families filling the air and plenty of room to move strollers and prams around.

The Kids Frappuccino is especially fun for children as they get to use a dedicated counter in the store where they can customise the Frappuccinos to their liking.

▼ Natsuno’s daughter was so excited for the customisation counter that she ran ahead of her mum to find it.

Arriving at the counter, Natsuno found there were four types of sauces and syrups — caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, vanilla syrup, and caramel syrup.

The choices amped up her childrens’ excitement even further, and Natsuno found the joy rubbing off on her as they all discussed which ones might pair best with their Frappuccinos.

In the end, the caramel syrup and chocolate sauce won them over, and they also picked up some special colouring sheets, which are designed to be coloured in and used as takeout drink covers.

Since they were dining in they weren’t able to cut out the covers and slip them onto their cups, but Natsuno’s children had fun colouring in the Frappuccinos… while sipping on the real thing.

Upon first sip, Natsuno’s children were delighted with their customised Kids Frappuccinos, saying: “They’re so sweet!” and “Sooo yummy!” However, after slurping up about half of their drinks, her children did the unthinkable, pushing their cups over to Natsuno, saying: “We don’t think we can finish them“.

Natsuno deduced that the strong air-conditioning in the store, combined with the cold Frappuccinos, made her children feel a bit too chilly. Her suspicions were confirmed when her children actually left the table looking for a warmer spot to hang out in, but that meant Natsuno was now sitting alone at the table…with two Kids Frappuccinos in front of her.

Sitting alone in a Starbucks with a couple of kids’ drinks in front of her wasn’t something she’d anticipated for her day, and she could feel the eyes of everyone in the store becoming laser-focused on her table.

In truth, though, everyone was preoccupied with their own business, and Natsuno’s self-consciousness was all on her. Not wanting the drinks to go to waste, she quickly finished them, and as she felt their cold sweetness energising her body, she gathered her children and stepped outside into the warmth of the day.

That’s when she realised there was a big grassy area in front of the store, which would’ve been the perfect spot for her and her children to enjoy the drinks, in a picnic-like style.

So if you’re planning on visiting this Starbucks with your children, you might want to consider ordering takeout, to avoid the issues that might arise with young ones drinking cold drinks in a cold environment. That way, your children can run around and release all their pent-up energy in the great outdoors…and finish all their drinks so you don’t have to.

Store information
Starbucks Coffee Nagareyama Otakanomori S･C FLAPS Store / スターバックスコーヒー　流山おおたかの森S・C FLAPS店
Address: Chiba-ken, Nagareyama-shi, Otakanomori Minami 1-2-1, Nagareyama Otakanomori S･C FLAPS 1F
千葉県 流山市 おおたかの森南1-2-1 流山おおたかの森S・C FLAPS 1階
Open 10:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m.
Irregular holidays
Website

Photos©SoraNews24
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
[ Read in Japanese ]