Starbucks Has a New Paradise Drink—Is It Worth the Hype or Just Another Sugar Bomb?
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Summer is officially here, and Starbucks is celebrating the season with new menu offerings. In the mix: The Starbucks Paradise Drink, which is already generating plenty of buzz.
The beverage has a decidedly mixed drink feel, and it’s meant to taste like summer. “The Paradise Drink Starbucks Refreshers beverage is like sunshine in a cup—the bright tropical flavors are radiant, happy, and joyful,” Raegan Powell, a senior product developer from Starbucks R&D who helped create the drink, said in a press release. “It’s the perfect summer sip for a little moment of escape wherever you are.”
People are already sharing photos and reviews of the new drink on social media, and the overall consensus seems to be that it’s delicious. But what’s in the Paradise Drink, and is it healthy? Nutritionists weigh in.
What’s in the Starbucks Paradise Drink?
The Starbucks Paradise Drink is a combination of pineapple and passionfruit flavors, mixed with diced pineapple and coconut milk. Starbucks specifically calls it a “creamy, dreamy, tropical sip.”
The drink is specifically made up of the following:
Ice, Pineapple Passionfruit Refreshers base (water, sugars (sugar, white grape juice concentrate), natural flavors, citric acid, green coffee extract, beta carotene, rebaudioside A [a purified form of stevia], coconut milk (water, coconut cream, cane sugar, tricalcium phosphate, coconut water concentrate, sea salt, natural flavors, xanthan gum, gellan gum, corn dextrin, guar gum, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D2), freeze-dried pineapple.
Is the Starbucks Paradise Drink vegan?
Yes! The Starbucks Paradise Drink is made with coconut milk, fruit, and juices, making it a vegan beverage.
Starbucks Paradise Drink nutrition
Here’s what you’re looking at in the nutrition department when you have a grande Starbucks Paradise Drink:
Calories: 140
Fat: 2.5 g (2.5 g sat fat)
Carbohydrates: 27 g
Protein: 1 g
Sugars: 23 g
Sodium: 65 mg
Fiber: 1 g
Caffeine: 45 mg
Is the Paradise Drink healthy?
Starbucks never claimed its Paradise Drink was healthy, and nutrition experts say it’s definitely not.
Keri Gans, M.S., R.D., a New York-based nutrition consultant and author of The Small Change Diet calls this “another high-sugar drink with minimal nutrition,” adding, “this drink might be refreshing, but nutritionally far from paradise.”
The high sugar content is concerning, says Vanessa Rissetto, MS, RD, co-founder of Culina Health in New York City. “If you have blood sugar issues, it’s not going to help your cause,” she says. And, even if you don’t, a drink with 23 grams of sugar and minimal protein is “going to get digested quickly and leave you feeling hungrier faster,” she says.
In addition to the high sugar load (which is equivalent to about six teaspoons of sugar), the drink is “not providing much nutritional value,” says Jessica Cording, M.S., R.D., author of The Little Book of Game-Changers: 50 Healthy Habits For Managing Stress & Anxiety. “Coconut milk is very low in protein,” she adds.
How to make the Paradise Drink better for you
Experts say it’s tricky to make this drink healthier without losing any of the flavor. “It’s best enjoyed as an occasional treat,” Cording says. Her advice: Have a smaller size and pair with something that has protein, like a boiled egg, to lessen your risk of a blood sugar crash afterward.
“A handful of nuts would contribute protein, healthy fat, and fiber, slow down digestion and help stabilize blood sugar,” Cording says.
Rissetto recommends that you “enjoy your drink and move on.” And, she adds, “if 23 grams of sugar in a drink doesn't align with your daily health goals, then maybe don’t have it every day.”
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