Starbucks Banana Chocolate Cream Frappucino (product information)

Bananas are one of the most accessible types of fruit in Japan. They're cheap and you can buy them nearly anywhere including conveninece stores. Of course, they tend to not be very tasty or sweet compared to some of the bananas you can get in other places (at least the Tokyo ones). I'm guessing this Starbucks concoction is going to be quite a bit sweeter and tastier than the standard imported banana (which I believe come from the Philippines). You really can't go wrong with chocolate and cream, though I'm guessing this won't live up to its potential if the banana is fake.

If you find yourself ordering one of these (I wouldn't try this as I love bananas, but not things flavored with banana), let me know what you think. 

Starbucks Vanilla Latte with Lemony Swirls (product announcement)

I once read a former high-profile model say that she was encouraged to "drink her calories" instead of eat them. This applied to alcohol and, I guess, was supposed to not make one gain as much weight. I'm not sure how that works, but I think Starbucks has been onboard with the entire "drink your calories"  notion for the entire time that it's been in business.

As you can see by the picture, Starbucks is offering a new limited editions drink to help you get your calories. While I don't know how caloric this is, that rich head of whipped cream is a hint that this probably isn't going to trim your thighes any time soon. This is a "creamy" vanilla latte with lemon peel and lemon-flavored whipped cream. It's supposed to evoke lemon cream pie in the silky texture and sweetness. A short will run you 430 yen ($4.19), a tall 470 yen ($4.57), a grande 510 ($4.96) and a venti 550 yen ($5.35). It'll be around from March 19 to April 15 and you can have it hot or cold.

While I personally think that the lemon/coffee combo (this is an espresso drink) is a bit strange, I'd probably buy a short and give it a try provided that my husband was also willing to be a taste tester so that we'd both have a chance to hate it before throwing away what was left. ;-) If you give this a try, I'd love to hear your opinions of how the two tastes come together in this drink.

Random Weekend Picture 25

For the summer, Starbucks Japan is offering some exotic options. Since they accommodate English speakers by writing more of their advertising in English than in Japanese, I don't have to translate for my readers.

Mango continues to be the fruit du jour in Japan. Many things are sold in mango flavor including chocolates, but dried fruit tends to be one of the more popular ways for people to partake of it. While I like mango, I'm not really inclined to try that particular frappucino.

The other variety, yuzu green tea, is something I'm more drawn to. For those who don't recall or know, yuzu is a Japanese citrus fruit which is a cross between a grapefruit and an orange. It's one of my favorite flavor enhancers in snacks and I've eaten it as a dried fruit and really enjoyed it. That being said, I probably won't buy this because I'm not a huge fan of green tea or drinking a ton of sugar. A short yuzu green tea frappucino weighs in at 130 calories and a venti at a whopping 270. It actually beats out the mango frappucino which comes in at 115 for a short and 240 for a venti.