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Home / Lifestyle

Trial and Error: We try the magical Unicorn Frappuccino

By Liana Thaggard
NZ Herald·
28 Apr, 2017 03:30 AM2 mins to read

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The Unicorn Frappuccino is blowing up on social media, we can't get it here in NZ so we decided to make our own, as close as possible to the US version. Our Trial and Error team gave it the taste test, so keep watching to see our verdict.
Follow NZH Lifestyle's Trial and Error series where we try out the latest viral trends and beauty hacks so you don't have to.

Social media has gone crazy over Starbucks' latest offering - the magical Unicorn Frappuccino.

View this post on Instagram

As majestic as it is magenta... #UnicornFrappuccino. Color-changing, flavor-changing, potentially life-changing. #🦄 Available for a limited time at participating stores in the US, Canada & Mexico.

A post shared by Starbucks Coffee ☕ (@starbucks) on Apr 19, 2017 at 6:05am PDT

The ultra Instagrammable drink - with more than 150,000 images already carrying the hashtag #UnicornFrappuccino - isn't available in NZ, so we decided to whip up our own concoction.

What's inside it?

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It's been described as tasting like "sour birthday cake and shame" though Starbucks says it tastes "magical".

Starbucks' official description is: "Magical flavours start off sweet and fruity transforming to pleasantly sour. Swirl it to reveal a colour-changing spectacle of purple and pink. It's finished with whipped cream-sprinkled pink and blue fairy powders."

The drink contains ingredients such as mango syrup and the vague-sounding blue drizzle (white chocolate mocha sauce, classic syrup, sour blue powder), pink powder (apple, cherry, radish, sweet potato) and sour blue powder (spirulina). And of course it is blended with the usual ice, milk and a dollop of whipped cream to top it off.

What it should actually taste like is unclear. For our recipe we mixed ice, strawberry milk and vanilla ice cream with a couple of drops of food colouring. We made a pink, candy floss-flavoured goo and a blue, bubblegum goo to line our cups and topped off the concoction with whipped cream covered in crushed sour lollies, sherbet and pop rocks.

So what does it taste like?

A little bit of rainbows, a little bit of regret.

View this post on Instagram

🦄 #Starbucks #unicornfrappuccino #basicbitch

A post shared by CAM MANSEL (@cammansel) on Apr 25, 2017 at 6:29pm PDT

Do we need this drink in New Zealand?

We're going to say no this time. Baristas are having meltdowns in the process and if you hadn't guessed, this thing is packed to the rim with sugar - a whopping 59g per 16 oz.

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Besides, we've heard something even more magical is coming out next - we are preparing ourselves for the Dragon Frappuccino.

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