🦄 Unicorn Frappuccino ~ A Whimsical Drink Review! 🦄

Hello Folk of the Hollow!

Does anyone else remember the Unicorn Frappuccino drink from Starbucks way back in . . . I want to say 2017? Back then I remembered hearing about it—mostly mixed reviews, some people saying they loved it and others saying they absolutely hated it—and I’ll be the first to stand up and admit that I jumped on the hype train a little bit. I wanted to know what was so special about it that everyone was talking about it so much. Besides, what’s more fun than a drink named after a unicorn?

I wasn’t expecting it to be as sour as it was . . . but also sweet too? I remember at the time hearing it described as a “sour birthday cake” and thinking back on it, that’s a really good description of how it tasted. A lot of people didn’t like the sour aspect of it. They didn’t much like the mango flavoring, which is okay because I heard they offered a raspberry alternative if you didn’t want mango. Speaking personally, that’s how I found out I really like mango in the first place!

This drink was huge for a while, and I remember it dividing a lot of people. You either loved it or you hated it. There was no middle ground. But as quickly as the drink came, it was gone. Starbucks did away with it (I wonder if it was because it was made with a metric ton of sugar, or if it had simply run its course as a specialty item) and no one ever talked about it again until this weekend.

I had no idea the drink was going to come back until I happened upon a reel on Instagram talking about how they were just going to bring it back for August 15th and 16th of this year—and I found out the day before! It was fate, I had to get one!

The nostalgia this drink brought back the moment I ordered it was unreal. All at once I was transported back to 2017 when I was 26 and the times felt a lot simpler. When I got my drink the guy at the drive through asked if I also wanted a unicorn cake pop—and don’t hold it against him, friends, for not already knowing that of course I want a unicorn cake pop to go with my unicorn drink. It wasn’t his fault, he didn’t know me!

But in all seriousness, once he told me they had a unicorn cake pop I knew I had to get it along with my drink. The frappuccino was only going to be in the shop for this weekend, why wouldn’t I want to add a little bit more magic and specialness to the outing?

Setting my eyes on that pink and blue swirl again . . . oh friends, you can’t even imagine the joy. Seeing those two together brought back so many fond memories of 2017, and when I took that first sip it was exactly like I remembered!

There was still that sour taste mixed with something sweet just like before, and now that I knew there was mango in it I tasted it right away. I may or may not have done my happy food dance as I sat in the car sipping at the magical little drink in my hand.

And actually, it paired really well with the cake pop. I had actually never had a cake pop before (appropriate, then, that it should be a unicorn cake pop!) and actually helped to mute some of the more sour flavors by bringing in a touch more sweet. Once I finished the cake pop (and I did fairly quickly, since we also swung by Chick-Fil-A for lunch) the sour notes of the drink began to come out a lot more.

I like that they recreated the drink all the way down to the pink and blue sprinkles on top—though in truth, I’m not sure why I would have expected otherwise. Why bring the drink back at all of its not going to be an exact recreation?

All-in-all, I’m incredibly happy with the Unicorn Frappuccino, just as much as I was all those years ago when I first tried it. It should be a true testament to how much I enjoyed the drink the first time around that every once in a while, over the last almost decade, I would have a thought creep into the back of my mind: man, I really miss that unicorn drink. That was good!

And I’m not just saying that for the post—whenever I find something I really enjoy, I keep wanting to go back to it.

The funny part is, I had just been thinking about this drink right before I saw the reel that told me about its resurgence! It was definitely meant to be!

I hope you guys liked my review of the Unicorn Frappuccino! If you tried it way back in 2017 and then tried it again when it came back, was it like how you remembered? Were you one of the people back in the day who loved it or hated it? Let me know in the comments!

Until next time ~ 💜