In case you haven't quite reached your quota of secret rainbow drinks taking the interwebz by storm, here's some more exciting news: The Starbucks "Blue Drink" is now apparently a thing. So what's in this Starbucks Blue Drink, you ask? Let's run through the ingredients before you rush off to see what all the hype is about. Interestingly, it's not all too different from another member of the secret rainbow drink family.
As you well know by now if you spend any amount of time on Instagram or Twitter, people have been losing their metaphorical minds over all the colorful drinks that keep popping up on social media from the unofficial Starbucks secret menu — "unofficial" in that they aren't actually a part of the real Starbucks menu, and "secret" in that you can still easily get your hands on them if you customize your order in just the right ways. It all started with the Pink Drink. Then there was the Purple Drink, followed in short succession by the Orange Drink. And now... well, now we're here talking about what goes into making the elusive Blue Drink.
Before we even break this ingredient list down, though, it's worth noting it may look familiar. Like, really familiar if you were a fan of the Starbucks Purple Drink. Why? Well, because they're basically one and the same. Aside from what seems to be one very minor difference, you order the Blue Drink essentially the same way as you would order the Purple Drink. I would say this is curious, except for it kind of makes sense; blue and purple are very close on the color spectrum, so if you're working with what's available at Starbucks, you'd probably use the same or similar ingredients to achieve these colors.
So, without further ado, here we go. According to the great people of the internet, the ingredients of a Blue Drink are: Passion Iced Tea — if we're getting technical, probably Teavana Shaken Iced Passion Tango Tea — soy milk, vanilla syrup, and ice. That's all she wrote, folks! You're probably thinking at this point ... wait, isn't that exactly what goes into the Purple Drink? I told you they were pretty much the same, save one key difference. There are no added berries in the Blue Drink, and this apparently makes all the difference:To make the Purple Drink, your friendly local Bux barista would top it with a bunch of blackberries. For the Blue Drink, your barista would make the same drink sans the blackberries. I suppose the berries could be what gives the purple drink it's... uh... purplier shade.
While I couldn't find much evidence of alternative recipes floating around, I did notice several baristas chime in on various Insta pics of the Starbucks Blue Drink, many of whom are opposed to the idea of mixing soy milk with passion tea; however, they offer an alternative: Try it with coconut milk instead. Of course, it's possible that making this substitution might affect the beverage's actual color — but then again, so might lots of things, including the ratio of tea to milk. It's kind of anybody's guess; that's the whole thing with "secret menu" items: Since they're not officially regulated, it's likely to be slightly different each time you order it.
In the end, ordering — and actually getting — the perfect secret Starbucks Blue Drink may be a matter of trial and error, but it sure will be some tasty experimentation. It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it!
Images: Giphy
