A belief in fairies is accompanied by clapping; if you know Santa Claus is real, you leave him milk and cookies; and apparently, to demonstrate your loyalty to unicorns, you keep hope alive of a unicorn-themed drink until finally, one arrives courtesy of Starbucks. As with any coffeehouse drink, there's the question of whether there is caffeine in the Starbucks Unicorn Frappuccino — and if you are on the low-test train, I have good news for you on that front.
Rumors of the fabled Unicorn Frappuccino emerged last week across social media after several threads among baristas popped up on the r/Starbucks subreddit featuring images of a bag of pink powder and a shaker of blue stuff mysteriously labeled "Unicorn Dust." Possible incarnations of the technicolor drink showed up on Instagram as well, but when asked, Starbucks had nothing to share in terms of magical menu updates.
Until now.
Beginning April 19, the Unicorn Frappuccino will be available through April 23 (or while supplies last) at participating Starbucks stores throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. For those of you dreaming of a unicorn-themed, 3 p.m. pick-me-up, though, you should know that there is no caffeine in the Unicorn Frappuccino. This crème-based drink is blended with mango syrup, shot through with sour blue drizzle, and topped with whipped cream and the aforementioned pink and blue powder.
Despite its lack of espresso, however, there is an element that may get your heart racing: According to a press release, the Unicorn Frappuccino changes both color and flavor. Initially, the purple-ish drink is "sweet and fruity" — but give it a stir, and the color changes to pink, and the flavor to "tangy and tart."
I know, right? Unicorn magic is clearly alive and well. And it tastes like Sweet Tarts, apparently.
A Tall, 12-ounce, caffeine-less Unicorn Frappuccino will set you back between $4.25 to $4.95, depending on the market. Oh, and one more thing: Within those barista subreddit discussions were also several mentions of both customer and employee plans to dress in theme for the launch tomorrow. Wigs, unicorn horns — all I'm saying is, if you chose to dress in costume tomorrow, you would not be alone. Probably.
