Starbucks is introducing the dark cherry syrup into its lineup for spring. It’s wonderful. It will be in every store by March 9, 2010, and is currently being offered in limited locations now, as a soft launch. Starbucks announced this new beverage here on February 22, 2010. Turning back to last December, I had a strong hunch that this beverage would come to North America. With over 60 comments and for nearly three months, one of the most popular threads at StarbucksMelody.com has been this one:
Should Starbucks Bring the Dark Cherry Mocha to the US?
I’ve had the chance to try the syrup in a few things, and I can say it’s a wonderfully mild syrup that goes well in many beverages. I have tried dark cherry with hot chai, dark cherry with Yirgacheffe from the Clover, dark cherry vanilla bean Frappuccino, dark cherry in my oatmeal … all are wonderful. I haven’t tried a dark cherry hot chocolate but that is on my to-do list. I drink very few espresso beverages so it will be a while before I try the dark cherry mocha.
A tip for baristas: I have been able to verify for certain that dark cherry is a “premium” syrup so it does not become a free perk with a registered card under the new My Starbucks Rewards (of course, if you have customers using the old ten percent off it’s not a perk anyway). This might be good to know if you have confused customers adding the dark cherry syrup to everything under the sun, as I have done.
Now is your chance to rant and rave about this syrup. I bet I will hear more raving than ranting!
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We opened a bottle in our store yesterday. I must say, I wasn’t too impressed. The dark cherry mocha reminded me of a cherry tootsie pop. The syrup’s smell alone reminded me of cough syrup. I may have to try some of these other incarnations to find something I like with it, though.
The dark cherry in oatmeal was a brilliant idea – Sounds delicious. Dark cherry with Clover-brewed coffee though? Interesting…
I’m personally looking forward to trying a dark cherry soy latte… A little dark cherry, a hint of vanilla? You know you want one.
Wowwie, zowwie, zonkers and goody, goody, gum drops just bought a bluberry scone at Safeway this morning for my 15th star so when my post card comes I’ll get a venti dark cherry thingie. I can hardly wait!! Yummmmmmm!!!!
We started serving the Dark Cherry Mocha at our store last week and it’s been a HUGE success! I haven’t heard one negative comment. The Dark Cherry syrup has MANY applications from the oatmeal discussed earlier to replacing the defunct melon syrup, it’s great in white mocha as well– that too has been a big hit. I think we’ve got a winner here folks!
Hey Turner, Steve, & GAStarbucksGirl – Overwhelmingly I hear great things about dark cherry. It’s a much needed change of pace. I hope it stays for a long while. I’ll be interested to hear how other people are using it.
I’m enjoying it in lieu of classic in passion tea lemonades – and in just straight lemonade. (usually add a little water, but not much)
It is excellent in hot chocolate and hot mochas – not quite such a fan of the iced variety – but that’s probably because I’m not a fan of iced mochas… the chocolate comes out with a bitter aftertaste for me.
Next on my list to try is a half vanilla half cherry latte. 🙂
I love the suggestion of trying it in the Yirgacheffe off the clover. I suspect it will complement any sun-dried coffee. I might experiment with that this afternoon…. *rubs hands excitedly*
Came out here on 2-25. I’ve bought one for someone else but yet to taste it……altho I will sometime when I want more sweet. I, too, checked right away with the regional director, who happened to be present at the time….about whether the syrup was a registered card thing, and I was told that because it was ‘part of the basic drink, like cinnamon dolces’, it was not covered with a registered card.
I am looking forward to one sweet day. Re: adding it to Yirgacheffe…… you’re SOO lucky you have Yirgacheffe available enough that you can ‘play’ with it at all. I would put nothing in beloved Yirgacheffe… zero contamination. I wish they would put it back online to buy. (yirgacheffe)
I tried one using my new Pike Place card (THANK YOU!) and really liked it. As I wrote previously, the flavor combination reminds me of my grandmother and for that reason alone it would be a winner with me, but having tried it, I really like it (and I am not a flavored drink person).
I bet it’s really good in the iced teas/tea-lemonades that used to use Valencia or Melon in their recipes.
I’ll be in Seattle this weekend – I’m going to have to try the Yirgacheffe both with and without the cherry.
I used my free (sweet 15) postcard to get my starbucks to make a cherry latte (not on the menu yet, but they like me and after the how did you know? they brought it out)
It was a subtle flavor, and I enjoyed it
I can’t wait to try it in a mocha
Stopped by today, the cherry mocha was a featured item on the center chalkboard.
It’s yummy! Thought the cherry would be overpowering, but it wasn’t. The flavors worked well together. Very good!
I love chocolate-covered cherries – can’t wait to try dark cherry in hot chocolate!
I’ve asked baristas at two stores – and dark cherry is here – but they won’t let customers sample it until 3/9. By-the-bookers, these types ….
Any ideas on the best iced drink to sample with the dark cherry syrup? A iced dark cherry mocha? I prefer iced drinks over hot.
If I had to get a hot drink, I’d probably go for a regular dark cherry mocha?
Thanks for the constant updates Melody!
Interestingly, the baristas I spoke to all said they liked it in the teas as opposed to coffee.
Ooh! I love dark fruit. Except, of course, not a mocha for me. Dark cherry Italian-style soda with cream? Does Starbucks do that?
I should expand past hot chocolate.
“Dark cherry Italian-style soda with cream? Does Starbucks do that?”
Not quite. We can kinda do it, but it requires some improvisation.
We don’t have soda water behind the counter. The closest thing we have is our Pellegrino carbonated water in our Ready to Drink and Eat case. So, you buy one of those, request that we pour it into a venti cup to the first line, half-and-half to the second line, add the Dark Cherry syrup, and add ice.
Can’t wait to try it!!!
So far I love it in everything BUT the mocha-go figure 🙂 But I’m not a huge mocha fan. I found the combination too thick, or too many competing flavors or something. BUT , mocha lovers are loving them it seems!
It is really yummy. I hope the drink is here to stay. I think I will try dark cherry hot chocolate-iced next.
My favorite drink is venti iced raspberry mocha. Which is also really awesome and a cool color too.
I decided to give the cherry mocha a try today, and I wasn’t super impressed. It was alright, but I ordered 2 extra shots in it and I still couldn’t taste the espresso. The flavors are a little overpowering. It sort of tasted a little like cough medicine. It was alright, but I won’t get one again.
I did have a sample iced-dark cherry mocha yesterday. I don’t know that I would order it very often, (need the coffee) but it was delicious. Lots of people around here are not aware of it…even tho it’s on the chalkboard in alot of stores….
also have heard that it’s better with an extra shot of the cherry syrup, if in a mocha, in order to really taste it at all…….the mocha over-powers. ??? anyway, the iced one was really good!
Sitting here with another cherry mocha, very yummy! at both places the baristas were quite enthusiastic about the drink. Next will be cherry with oatmeal!
(@Nathan – technical error perhaps? – maybe the barista gave you two hits of cherry?)
I’m still playing with the dark cherry. I’ve found it works best as a background flavor; on its own, or when it’s the primary flavor, it tastes too much like cough syrup. As a backup, though, it’s quite nice.
I found today that a grande vanilla latte with two pumps of dark cherry and whipped cream is very tasty. I’ll have to see what else it mixes with. I have a sneaking suspicion that it will actually pair well with toffee nut…
I can not wait to try this one! YUMM!
WOWWIE, ZOWWIE, ZONKERS it about time! I think I won’t wait for my free drink certificate to come in the mail (I have another drink in mind for that one) and think I’ll use the one I got with my new gold card…that is if I can find it, it’s around here somewhere then I’m off to get a Venti one. OH BOY, OH BOY, OH BOY!!
Or maybe a Tendra one if they are available then put the rest in my fridge and enjoy it all day.
I bought a bottle of the Black Cherry syrup at my local Starbucks today and noticed that it has a 2003 copyright (yes, reading the fine print is a bad habit I picked up in law school).
Has Starbucks really had this flavor since 2003?
This dark cherry thingie was well worth the wait and was so good it made my mouth light up and my tummy say howdy I just can’t get enough of that wonderful stuff. Next one I get I think I’ll experiment with and extra shot or pump and so on until I’m done.
Well, I had my first Dark cherry mocha today. I received the coupon in the mail and tried a tall one today, after my first coffee tasting. Talk about a liquid candy bar! It was too sweet…it did have a good flavor it definitely wasn’t bad, just not me. I could only drink about half of a tall. If I have another one I will definitely cut the syrups in half or add an extra shot.
I’m going probably today for this…..maybe as iced and definitely know I will add exra shots. (I need 4shots in a tall anything, 6 in a grande so….. know I will want to cut the sweet with more shots)
I think the dark cherry mocha is better iced. I think it would be way too treacly sweet without ice. Unfortunately, if they add too much ice it also becomes less drink. I’ve never figured out why iced drinks cost the same as a regular drinks since there is half as much liquid.
@fuyuko – Thank you for your comment. I’m going to have to give it a try as an iced drink. For the sweet drinks (like the Pumpkin Spice, Caramel Brulee) I never can finish even a tall one because it’s just too rich and sweet.
Melody: I found the dark cherry mocha MUCH better as iced…..with extra shots, and an extra pump of cherry. For me, w/out the extra pump (which a barista who knows my taste very well suggested) of cherry, it barely barely comes thru. And then I need the shots to balance it all out. ???
Ugh. I just tried the iced dark cherry mocha yesterday. That was far too sweet for me. That’s hardly an espresso drink, that is a candy bar. I still love the dark cherry syrup and I’ve added it to Perfect Oatmeal regularly, but I’m just not a fan of dark cherry mocha. And Denise & Hayley, I never did receive that coupon for buy one dark cherry mocha get one free.
I didn’t get that 2 fer for that dark cherry thingie either Melody.
Melody: I would not consider it an espresso drink either… I consider it a “treat drink”. for me that would be once in a blue moon, and made as I described above. btw, I’m betting you will get the coupon….it comes as a black postcard, with the gold on it. (appears to be a gold card reward?)
I think the dark cherry syrup is also very good in chocolate milk. I often ask for an iced drk cherry chocolate milk and it is heavenly.
This is the absolute BEST ever. I have 4 stars to go then I’ll get a Venti one with two extra pumps of dark cherry syrup.