The new Starbucks drinks inspired by “Wicked” are exactly what they look like. Elphaba‘s Cold Brew is a frigid jolt of caffeine with a brain-bamboozling combo of mint and matcha. Glinda‘s Pink Potion is a delicious Refresher-style drink that lacks the dark magic of coffee.
They‘re also pretty on-brand with the plot of the musical. (Spoiler warning for this musical that’s been out since 2003, I guess.)
The pink one looks sweet and vain — but there‘s more depth there once you get to know it. Then there‘s the green counterpart that some will shun for its appearance. It‘s the one with the real substance (translation: caffeine). But in the end, its frigid and off-putting nature leads to it being ostracized. But I bet there’s one weirdo that wants to run off with it.
The Starbucks ‘Wicked’ drinks
Just take a look at the ingredients for each drink. It’s pretty clear that one sounds more approachable while the other will inevitably scare some people away:
- Glinda’s Pink Potion: A Mango Dragonfruit Refresher with coconut milk, freeze-dried dragonfruit, strawberry cold foam and candy sprinkles.
- Elphaba’s Cold Brew: Cold brew coffee with peppermint-flavored syrup, matcha cold foam and candy sprinkles.
I paid $5.95 for the Pink Potion and $5.45 for the Cold Brew in grande sizes. That’s the equivalent of a medium, I think.
To be fair, being super pedantic about calling it a “grande” sounds like something they’d do in Oz.
What do they taste like?
Elphaba’s cold brew — This tastes like a Thin Mint cookie without the chocolate or the sugar. That just leaves an icy blast of raw peppermint.
I feel like I’m being assaulted by a squadron of flying monkeys wielding candy cane javelins.
That peppermint syrup is dark candy magic that should not be made available for public consumption. I’m actually surprised they call it syrup. It just tastes like uncut peppermint extract.
My mind keeps trying to connect it to an Andes Mint or York Peppermint Patty. It’s searching for chocolate — and can sort of connect the dots.
There are bitter notes from the coffee and the matcha cold foam that make it slightly earthy and roasty. The mint and matcha surprisingly pair up strongly together. But instead of “good” it comes off as an icy tundra made of crushed-up Starlight Mints.
This goes beyond cold brew. It’s a subzero mint freezer that should be measured in kelvin.
Glinda’s Pink Potion — It is a bizarre experience going from the icy cold brew to this. It’s somewhere between traveling via tornado and waking up in the middle of a field of sleep-inducing poppies.
It‘s basically a smoothie — and a delightful one at that. Looking at the bubblegum-pink exterior, I thought it was going to be super sweet. But it’s actually pretty well-balanced.
You get the juicy flavors of the tropical fruits that are balanced out by the rosy notes of the strawberry. There’s a really satisfying weight to it. It’s not quite a smoothie, but it’s thicker than a normal drink.
So are they any good?
The Elphaba‘s Cold Brew? Not as it comes normally. If you threw some chocolate syrup and sugar in there, it would be a fun coffee/dessert drink.
The Glinda’s Pink Potion? Absolutely. I loved drinking this. I should get Refreshers more often.
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