The Fruit-Flavored Starbucks Frappuccinos You Forgot About

Starbucks, which is known for its incredibly diverse menu that offers everything from its signature coffee to refreshing Starbucks tea drinks and more, once featured a unique treat: Frappuccino juice blends. But if you look for them at Starbucks locations in the United States today, you won't find them. So, what happened? Frappuccino juice blends were rather simple drinks: fruit juices blended with Tazo tea and ice. Depending on your preferences, you could also choose to customize the blend by switching up the juice that went into the cup. 

For example, you could opt for black currant juice for a tangy kick or mango juice for a sweet, tropical twist. Starbucks introduced these frozen juice blends in the U.S. in the summer of 2006, starting with a Pomegranate and a Tangerine Frappuccino, marketing them as heat-beating beverages. However, despite an initial surge in popularity, as with any new Starbucks drink, these fruity frappés eventually disappeared from the menu. The reasons behind their removal were never explained, but it's likely that coffee-loving American customers just didn't quite warm up to the drink. 

Although a similar-sounding beverage, the Banana Coconut Frappuccino blended coffee, was on the menu at the time, it, too, was eventually phased out. The good news is that the fruity drinks continue to be served in many countries like Thailand and China. There, you can still order the Frappuccino juice blends right off the menu board. In Thailand, for example, you can even order both the Raspberry Black Currant Frappuccino and the Mango Passion Fruit Frappuccino!

One of the great things about visiting Starbucks is that you're not limited to just ordering drinks from the regular menu. Starbucks takes pride in providing its customers with over 170,000 different ways to customize its drinks. In fact, this is how the concept of the Starbucks "secret menu" came into being. So, can you apply this customization principle to the Frappuccino juice blends, even though they've officially been discontinued?

Well, we can't make any guarantees, but it's definitely worth a shot asking the barista. As long as the Starbucks store you visit has all the necessary ingredients (the most crucial ones being the fruit juices), you can attempt to recreate the recipe. Simply request fruit juice extracts, like mango and passion fruit, blended with black, green, or passion tea and ice. You should end up with a beverage that comes pretty close in terms of taste and texture to the beloved Frappuccino juice blends from back in '06.

If the barista is unable to fulfill your custom order but you still crave something fruity and refreshing to sip on, consider trying the Iced Passion Tango Tea or a Frozen Tea Lemonade. Many people also order secret menu variations, like the Mango Breeze Frappuccino, which uses a fruity green coffee Starbucks Refresher as a base rather than tea. While these drinks may not offer the same creamy texture as a frappé, they will certainly satisfy your taste buds with their tropical fruit flavor!