March 26th – 30th, Starbucks stores in the U.S. will be featuring a special “Birthday Cake” Frappuccino, in honor of this classic beverage’s 20th birthday. The limited edition Birthday Cake Frappuccino will have raspberry whipped cream, and will be a creme based Frappuccino with hazelnut syrup. It’s available at all participating locations – all company-operated Starbucks stores and I believe some licensed stores will be participating too.
I feel like this promotion would be best with a history lesson. Anyone can go to Starbucks and get a single drink. It speaks volumes to go inside and get a story and a smile. I almost wish Starbucks had printed a cool little history book to go along with this promo. People would have loved it and it could have been a moment of connection! (If you’re a partner in a Starbucks, hope you’ll consider sharing this with partners at your store.)
The recipe for a grande Birthday Cake Frappuccino is three scoops of vanilla bean powder, two pumps of hazelnut syrup, with three pumps of creme base syrup. Whole milk is the default milk though you can always ask for soy milk, coconut milk, two percent or non-fat milk. The Birthday Cake Frappuccino is topped with raspberry whipped cream!!
Without further delay, here’s the Frappuccino story:
Most of the Frappuccino story is Pour Your Heart Into It, pages 205 – 207. (I’ve added a little from my own knowledge). The Frappuccino made its national debut in Starbucks stores everywhere in 1995. There were just two flavors: you could get a coffee Frappuccino or a Mocha Frappuccino. The original recipe called for Italian Roast coffee brewed double strength, ice, and milk in a blender.
The name Frappuccino comes from a Boston company that Starbucks bought out in 1994: The Coffee Connection. When Starbucks bought out that company they acquired the intellectual property, including trademark product names. To be abundantly clear, the Frappuccino that Starbucks launched never was the Coffee Connection version of it – Starbucks developed their own recipe – only the name is from The Coffee Connection.
The real story of the Frappuccino began in 1994 when a Southern California district manager decided that her customers needed a cold, icy drink for hot California days. The district manager did an early single store tests with a blender in one store in 1993. By May 1994, the district manager put a blender in a Santa Monica Starbucks (Third Street Promenade store) and let the store manager, Anne Ewing take over the project. Anne and her ASM took ownership of it and began experimenting with different blending times, the ratio of ice to liquid, and fresh brewed coffee. By October 1994, using a recipe developed by Anne Ewing and the ASM (Greg Rogers), Starbucks launched a test of the new drink in 12 southern California stores. Starbucks launched the all-new blended coffee Frappuccino nationwide in the U.S. by April 1, 1995.
The Frappuccino has gone through many variations and changes! Remember in the beginning you could get only Mocha or Coffee. There weren’t even dome lids in the very beginning. Customers complained and wanted room for whipped cream. Partners took the flat lids and pressed the inside rim outward with their fingers to make room for a little whipped cream. The dome lid and green straw were introduced at the same time as the Caramel Frappuccino. In May 1999, Starbucks launched the Rhumba Frappuccino, Caramel Frappuccino, and the Tiazzi line-up of blended tea beverages.
By 1998, you could order an Espresso Frappuccino (simply a coffee Frappuccino with an add shot), Coffee Frappuccino, Vanilla Frappuccino and Mocha Frappuccino. In May 1998, Starbucks experimented with the “Power Frappuccino” – for 50 cents, customers could add a protein powder with vitamins. Along the way, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, there were blended tea Frappuccinos also. (I remember these well and loved them!). There have been a few test versions of the Frappuccino that never made it out of testing: In 2012, The Pink Lime Frozt Frappuccino was Passion Tea, Lime base (used in Refreshers), creme base, and ice in a blender. The Tazo Citrus blended Frappuccino launched in 2002. In fact, in August 2002, the first creme based Frappuccino (not a tea blend but a creme base as we have now) was the Coconut Cream Frappuccino.
One thing for sure, the Frappuccino never stands still! It’s always changing! However many times the recipe has changed or new options have been introduced, Starbucks has stayed true to the flavor profile of Italian Roast coffee. (For many, many years, partners brewed Italian Roast in the stores for their Frappuccino customers!)
HAPPY 20TH BIRTHDAY FRAPPUCCINO!!
(Maybe for your 21st birthday, Starbucks will add a shot of Kahlua ;-))
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I just love the history of Frappuccino! It’s a landmark example of partners doing something they weren’t “supposed to” (bringing in outside equipment, going rouge with recipe standards) that ended up very well for Starbucks!
@Rachel – So true! Though I can’t imagine how must RDs would act if today a rogue DM handed a new piece of equipment to an SM and said, “Make a recipe that works for this drink…”
My favorite from ten years ago was tazo berry frappuccino.
it’s rogue 🙂 rouge dms would be very red!
i will have to try to find time to try this birthday cake thing, although i am not the biggest fan of hazelnut. can’t hurt to try it, right?
Elly – very good catch!!!
How neat! That pink frozt sounds amazing! I might have to make one next time I work. I love your history lessons! 🙂
Thanks for the history lesson Melody. I think it was Michelle Gass who ultimately brought on the domed lids (a sad day in my book, but I’m sure most disagree). Places like Gloria Jeans and other what I called “frou frou” coffee places (those that served flavored beans, etc.) had the domed lids first and the people spoke.
I did love the Power Frap and my kids really loved the Tazo tea fraps (one loved the citrus the other preferred the berry). Lots of changes. Thanks again for the history lesson (and walk down memory lane).
Happy 20thth to Frappuccino! Another fantastic read! You told it as if you were sharing your personal experiences as an SBUX barista back in the day, reminiscing & delightfully sharing everything that you can remember about all the fun beverages you exhibited & the experiences that went along in preparing them! Thank you!
I started in the Beverly Center mall & i recall that all we had for frappuccino was coffee, mocha, & caramel. 😀 We’d always pride ourselves in creating a perfect frappuccino, which was validated by pouring & emptying the entire content of the blending pitcher inside of the cold iced cup w/ no overflow-clean! It was a pride thing b/c it was all about eyeballing the amount of ice to scoop into the cup in the end, right before you dump it all in the blender to blend. It doesn’t seem too hard, but you’d be surprised at how many partners that would have trouble w/ it-they’d always end up over-filling to ensure that they made enough to fill the cup. Every time we emptied the entire contents of the pitcher into the cup, we just HAD to rub it into each others faces w/ a silly stare & stance @ a fellow partner, holding the empty pitcher in the air, “OH!? My gosh, did I-did I just empty out the entire pitcher into the cup? Yup, I sure did~ OHHHH!” & we’d sarcastically 1up each other for the duration of the shift LOL! I miss the peach creme tiazzi~ =9
Thanks for sharing Melody. You are right, it woulda been cool if we knew the story in our stores. I’m gonna share it at my store.
I would love to have had one of those original Frappuccinos. I always hate that they don’t taste like coffee enough. I would love to have one made with coffee instead of the flavored syrup,
I wonder why the birthday Frappuccino is crème based and not a coffee based drink? Maybe they just want to have lots of these sold to the high school and younger crowd. I know I am not interested in this but do send birthday wishes and say good luck to the baristas!
@Becky – I agree – From what I know, this looks like a missed opportunity in some ways. It’s presented as “here’s a cute drink that looks like a birthday cake” and not “here’s a piece of our history and an opportunity for an inspired moment to have just a brief connection over the story of the Frappuccino.” I mean, there could have been a quick flyer or trivia sheet that said things like: “Did you know that the Starbucks Frappuccino was invented in Santa Monica?” “Did you know we’ve had Tazo Tea Frappuccinos in the past?” “Did you know that the first creme based Frappuccino was coconut?”
Thanks for the history! I vaguely remember them around the 2000 era where they were only 3-4 flavours. Funny how things changed!
I heard Kenny G on NPR saying that he had helped invent the Frappuccino. It’s nice to know how it really started…
I loved the frappuccino when it was ice and coffee and chocolate. I am not so fond of the ones now. What was the change in the recipe? I wonder if there is more of a consistency than the old ones. Starbucks is certainly known for consistently, but in this case I liked being able to ask for less blended, thicker ones. It’s hard to let a good thing go.
@Joanne – Oh that Kenny G thing was funny! He was all over the news as taking some credit for the launch of the Frappuccino. I assume what he meant was that he at times talked to Howard about the idea, but that’s just a wild guess. He certainly didn’t invent the Frappuccino!
@Colleen – For years it was ice, milk, and double strength Italian roast in a blender. At some point in the early 2000s, it switched to a pre-made mix in a box. In about 2010, it became Italian Roast syrup pumps – I’m not explaining that right. Essentially, it’s still ice, milk, and a coffee base in a blender but the coffee base is not brewed in stores, like it was in the 1990s. Most people actually fondly remember the era of the Frappuccino where the base came completely pre-made in a box and baristas just added that with ice in the blender – A lot of customers liked that version. I remember loving the 1990s era Frappuccino but nostalgia plays tricks on memories – I like the current version too.
The birthday frappuccino sounds good to me so I might have to go try one even though it’s still only 40 degrees in MI! And I was hoping it was going to be around for awhile so that I could celebrate MY birthday with it, but my birthday’s a couple of weeks away yet… too bad.
Cafe Vanilla Frappuccino was my first love at Starbucks.
Frappuccinos are my favorite drink! I didnt know the story until now! I think its amazing! When im not in the mood for coffee i order passion tea blended.. Giving it a frappuccino look.. I will definitely give their birthday frappuccino a try! (:
Do they use the coffee base if you get a decaf Frappuccino or do they use decaf coffee? Does the creme base contain dairy?
Izzy, if you order decaf, you will get decaf espresso shots. Back in the day we used to brew decaf espresso double strength for decaf base. Not if the bases used currebt contain dairy!
I tried the birthday cake Frappuccino yesterday! Except I didn’t get any raspberry whipped cream, which I feel would’ve topped it off very nicely. I was disappointed that my Starbucks was apparently out of the whip already. It was tasty, but with plain whipped cream it was a little on the too-sweet side for me. Still hoping to snag one with the raspberry whip before this Frappuccino disappears! 🙂
@Sarah – That’s disappointing to hear. You shouldn’t leave Starbucks with a disappointing experience. I’m a little surprised that they didn’t make up more raspberry whipped cream for you – unless you went right at closing, they might use it later. When Starbucks is not at its best, that’s when a CSR card would be powerful too. I hope you have better luck on your next trip into Starbucks. Both your beverage and experience should be perfect.
@Sarah the raspberry whipped cream is actually sweeter. It is the regular whipped cream recipe with just one pump of raspberry, mostly just for color.
I feel like I should point out that there is a difference between “coffee base” and “coffee” in a Frappuccino. This might clear up some confusion. When building a Frappuccino, we follow these steps:
1. Add Frappuccino Roast (or Frap Roast) (Skip if creme-based)
2. Add milk
3. Combine in pitcher
4. Add ice
5. Pump coffee/creme base
6. Pump flavor syrup or add inclusions
7. Blend.
Frap Roast is the “coffee” in the Frappuccino. This is the Italian Roast blend that Melody talked about. It’s microground Italian Roast that we add water to in a precise recipe. This makes what we baristas call “the coffee” of the Frappuccino. If you get a creme, or coffee-free, Frappuccino, you skip that step.
If you were to put Frap Roast, milk, and ice together and blend it (Essentially what we call a Coffee Frappuccino with no flavoring), you’d get a very chunky, difficult-to-drink beverage. We add something called “Coffee Base” to the Frap Roast/milk/ice creation to create a smoother, milkshake-like beverage. Coffee base basically acts as an emulsifier (like an egg) to tie all of the beverage ingredients together to make it silky smooth. I believe that the main difference between coffee base and creme base has more to do with the “caramel flavoring” rather than actual coffee. (Read as: the thing that makes it that dark caramel color, not so much caramel-flavored; kind of like what makes Coke dark). I don’t think any coffee is actually in the base. Creme base (for your Strawberries and Cream/Green Tea/Doubly Chocolate Chip) just doesn’t contain the same “coloring/flavoring”. Light base (used in drinks with the -Frappuccino Lite ending) just contains less of what’s in the original.
So, if you want more coffee flavoring in your coffee-based Frappuccino (Caramel, Mocha, etc), ask for an extra pump of frap roast or add a shot of espresso. If you want it smoother in texture, ask for less ice, more base, or double-blended.
It’s also super important to keep certain words associated with certain ideas for clarity’s sake. “Shots” should only refer to things having to do with espresso shots. Pumps should refer to flavors or syrups. Saying the phrase “Add a shot of hazelnut” to brewed coffee can be misleading to a barista when “Add a few pumps of hazelnut” clearly indicates what you want.
Hopefully, this clears up some confusion. Fun fact: the Strawberries and Cream Frappuccino was inspired by the Wimbledon creation of just strawberries and cream. 🙂