For the first time in 40 years, Starbucks is adding a new kind of espresso to its permanent menu; one that could help you stick to your New Year's Resolutions of losing weight and cutting back on sugar.
While their bold, Signature Espresso will continue to be served, the new Blonde Espresso joins the menu Tuesday, January 9, giving you an option for the first time between light and dark roast when you order your next latte or macchiato.
Made with lightly roasted Latin American and East African beans, the Blonde Espresso is much brighter than the dark roast and has notes of citrus and caramel. Even though the Blonde Espresso is a lighter roast and has a much smoother flavor—which means you can add less cream and sugar to it—there is still just as much caffeine in it as the original dark roast espresso.
Delish.com had a chance to taste-test the new Blonde Espresso and compare it to Starbucks' original Signature Espresso in advance of its launch.
Here's what we thought:
The Blonde Espresso is much smoother compared to the original roast, which gives iced drinks—like the iced Americano we tasted—less of a bitter aftertaste. If you like cold-brew coffee or don't want to dilute your iced drinks with milk, you'll probably like this.
Because the Blonde Espresso isn't as pungent as the dark roast, Starbucks makes flavored drinks with less syrup. For example, a tall vanilla latte made with the Blonde Espresso will only have one pump of syrup added to it while a drink with the Signature Espresso has two pumps. Despite having half the syrup, the Blonde Espresso drink tasted sweeter. So, if you're trying to keep your New Year's Resolution and consume less sugar but can't quite quit your Starbucks addition, this one's for you.
It's also ideal if you're new to coffee and haven't quite been able to enjoy the roastier flavor of the original stuff. However, if you like that bold coffee flavor, you might want to avoid ordering the Blonde Espresso in the flavored drinks, since the coffee flavor is so mild it's almost hard to notice.
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