I'm not much of a coffee drinker. I stopped drinking caffeinated coffee a few years ago when I found the rapid cycle of giddiness and irritability I was experiencing was hindering my performance at school and work instead of helping it. Last year when I discovered I was lactose intolerant I stopped drinking commercial coffees altogether due to the imperfect (and strangely gritty) nature of the soy-latte. Somewhere along the way I discovered the Tazo Shaken Iced Passion Tea Lemonade, a cold, caffeine free beverage available at starbucks.The passion tea lemonade - which is what I call it when I order it, I had no idea it was "shaken" at all until I consulted the Starbucks literature - is possibly the closest thing I have ever had to a perfect beverage. It's sweet but also tart due to the lemonade, it has ice cubes instead of crushed ice which is my preferred mode of drink delivery, it is refreshing despite its strong flavour and it has a bright pink colour that says "Hey, I am enjoying a very special drink!"
What keeps the passion tea lemonade out of perfect drink territory is its sugar content. Though a small (or Mezzo in Starbucks terminology) is only 100 calories, it contains a whopping 25 grams of sugar. That is the recommended dose of sugar for your entire day, ladies and gentlemen! Needless to say, this is neither a diet beverage nor one that is free of hyper-making side effects. The 3$ price tag is also a source of minor discomfort but I suppose that is a bargain by Starbucks standards, whereby anything containing milk seems to automatically jump over the 4$ mark. Nonetheless, I would still highly recommend the passion tea lemonade to thirsty people looking for something different.
Image from http://www.myc.com.my/supplies/starbucks/starbucks.html
hmmmm...i have stopped drinking coffee as well and now feel emptiness when driving beverage-less. i never know what to drink so maybe i'll give this one a try. i think i'll even wear a matching shirt and raise my glass to the peoples as they pass by...that way they'll think i'm part of a kind of promotion. keep these comin!
ReplyDeleteManny you are my very first commenter! I am really delighted!
ReplyDeleteI bet you will like the drink as I know you and I share similar tastes in fast food and so forth.
i like this drink without the lemonade but with a shot of a raspberry flavored syrup. I don't know about the sugar content of that but I am scared to look it up.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for prices in Starbucks- Andrew has a theory that more syllables in the name of drink more expensive it is...
Did I introduce you to this cold beverage earlier this summer? Or did you already know of it?
ReplyDeleteThis is a neato blog you've started! I love reading product reviews. :)
Marta, that's an interesting idea! I will ask about the raspberry syrup. I think Andrew may be right about the prices. I recently found a comparable drink at Second Cup that is cheaper and healthier, I'll post about it soon though I realize this blog is becoming rather tea-centric.
ReplyDeleteI hope you're well!
-m
I have been wondering about this, since (no surprise) coffee drinks hurt my tummy. I'm going to give it a try.
ReplyDeleteMarci
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI just did a search on this drink to double check it is indeed caffeine free. I am sensitive to sugar and its easy to reduce the content by asking for only one pump of syrup and not the usual four! This for me is just right and my nine year old is happy when we split it. So that is even better.
They ask if you want it sweetened. If you think it has too much sugar then simply answer "no".
ReplyDeleteI have to agree that the amount of sugar in a Starbucks passion tea is really over the top. I mostly make my own passion tea -- just posted a recipe for passion tea, in fact -- but the Starbucks version is good as well, if you remember to ask for it unsweetened.
ReplyDeleteI don't think they sell the Mezzo sizes anymore, by the way! I checked, and on the Starbucks site they now have 'Tall' as the smallest size, which I see in the shops as well. But even that small size still has 15 grams of sugar.