Elphaba's Cold Brew and Glinda's Pink Potion will delight anyone who loves strong coffee or Starbucks Refreshers.
I Tried the Starbucks ‘Wicked’ Drinks, and They’re Gonna be Pop-u-lar
Published on Oct. 21, 2024
As someone who watched The Wizard of Oz at least once a week during childhood and has seen Broadway’s Wicked three times, you could say I’m excited about the movie adaptation. With the movie hitting theaters in time for Thanksgiving, Starbucks is launching two drinks to honor the stars of the show, Elphaba and Glinda.
Starting on October 22, you’ll be able to order Elphaba’s Cold Brew and Glinda’s Pink Potion for a limited time. Here’s what’s in both drinks, plus what I thought of them.
What’s in Elphaba’s Cold Brew?
Matcha fans and peppermint fans, unite! This blend of flavors might sound like an odd mix, but they work surprisingly well. Of course, it comes as no shock that Elphaba’s drink is green. A little bit bitter and a little bit sweet, this flavored cold brew is a great addition to the menu for anyone who likes cozy fall and winter drinks. The base is cold brew coffee sweetened with peppermint syrup. It gets topped with nondairy matcha cold foam and a dusting of green candy sprinkles in true Oz fashion.
What’s in Glinda’s Pink Potion?
This sugary-sweet concoction feels like something you’d order off the Starbucks secret menu. I think any Wicked fans will agree that it makes perfect sense not to include espresso as part of a Glinda-fied drink. If bitter cold brew is Elphie, then fruity Refreshers are Glinda.
The Pink Potion has a hand-shaken mix of Mango Dragonfruit Refresher with creamy coconut milk. Freeze-fried dragonfruit pieces are layered in, and the whole drink is topped with nondairy strawberry cold foam. In keeping with the magic of Oz, a dusting of colorful candy sprinkles coats the top of the cold foam.
Are the new ‘Wicked’ drinks at Starbucks good?
Going into the taste test, I had better expectations for Glinda’s Pink Potion than I did for Elphaba’s Cold Brew. These expectations were strictly personal—I’m not a huge matcha fan. But after sipping both of them, Elphie’s matcha-peppermint mashup was my favorite!
The nondairy matcha cold foam did not defy gravity; rather, it sank into the peppermint-flavored cold brew pretty quickly after the barista handed it to me. I really loved that it blended seamlessly. If I got a mouthful of grassy, earthy cold foam before tasting the strong brew below, I might not have liked it so much.
Glinda’s Pink Potion was good, but I don’t think it was great. All the additions in this Refresher were as overwhelming as the bits, baubles and bows making up her wardrobe. Even after swizzling the drink, the first few sips were just thick nondairy strawberry cold foam and chunks of freeze-fried dragonfruit. Because the layers remained so separated despite mixing, the Mango Dragonfruit Refresher tasted watered down by the time I got to it. Like 100 layers of sparkly tulle, this drink was more cute than practical.
I would definitely order Elphaba’s drink again, especially since I prefer peppermint over pumpkin spice lattes. Glinda’s drink is pretty and fun and will be popular among fans of Starbucks Refreshers for sure, but maybe not for coffee lovers.
