Taste-Testing My Way Through Starbucks' Spring Mango Drink Menu

Starbucks is back with another fruity fave. Following the launch of its all-new coconut and lavender sips in March, the caffeine giant is adding mango to its seasonal lineup.

Beginning Tuesday, April 7, coffee lovers can customize their go-to order with a syrup that tastes just like the stone fruit. This tropical flavor is at the heart of Starbucks’ new Mango Strawberry Refreshers, which you can get three different ways: regular, with lemonade, or with coconut milk. The regular Refresher also comes in three caffeine levels: caffeine-free, standard (25mg), or as an Energy Refresher (100mg).

Starbucks is also introducing a mango matcha and chai, thanks to a new cold foam flavor. Since I’m a fan of the brand’s current chai recipe and fruit matcha sips — I gave the Iced Banana Bread Matcha a perfect score — *and* mango sticky rice is one of my favorite dishes of all time, there was no way I wasn’t going to try the latest innovations from Starbucks’ spring menu.

Below, you’ll find my honest reviews of the regular Mango Strawberry Refresher (~$5), the Iced Mango Cream Matcha (~$5), and the Iced Mango Cream Chai (~$5).

Mango Strawberry Refreshers

I was given the option to try the all-new Refresher on its own, with lemonade, or as a Mango Dream with coconut milk. Even though I usually prefer the creamy version, I opted for the OG to really get a taste of the mango flavor — which was very subtle. The overall theme of the mango menu is understated. It’s not in your face and takes on more of a supporting role.

When I tried the Mango Strawberry Refresher, I got a lot of strawberry flavor and just a hint of mango. The tropical tang was still there, but I don’t think it deserves first billing in the name. Despite not being so in your face, I still enjoyed my Refresher and found it to be so flavorful on its own. I wouldn’t even bother getting the lemonade version, since it’s so tart and tasty as is. I would, however, love to try the Mango Dream once it drops to see whether the milk can bring out more of the mango essence.

Rating: 4/5

Iced Mango Cream Matcha

Out of all three drinks, the matcha was my favorite and had the strongest mango flavor. It was still light, but strong enough to give the earthy matcha an extra bit of sweetness. I did find that there was more mango at the bottom, so it might have been a stirring issue. Since there’s a mango cold foam on top, I sipped rather than stirred with a straw — which I wouldn’t do next time.

Rating: 4.4/ 5

Iced Mango Cream Chai

The chai had a similar issue as the matcha, where I couldn’t really taste any mango until the very end. Even after stirring, I found the fruit flavor to take a backseat to the strong chai spices. I love the new chai recipe, so I didn’t mind. However, I’ve seen a lot of fans online talking about how they miss the old chai, so maybe this just isn’t the drink for you.

Rating: 4.2/5

TL;DR: Starbucks’ Mango Drinks Lack Main Character Energy

As a mango fan, I really wanted more flavor out of these sips like with the berry and banana options. They weren’t bad, though. I would just maybe add more syrup moving forward to get a stronger flavor.

My taste-test also inspired me to customize a mango drink with coconut milk to see if I can recreate some sort of mango sticky rice latte. Thankfully, the mango syrup will be available year-round for fans to experiment with.

For a limited time, Starbucks is also introducing an Iced Ube Coconut Cream Shaken Espresso on April 7 as well. Basically, there’s enough newness on the menu to justify a mid-day coffee run ASAP.