People Are Saying Starbucks’ Newest Drink ‘Tastes Like Soap’

Most of the time, Starbucks knocks it out of the park with its coffee and drink options. Be honest: who can resist a peppermint mocha or sweet cream cold brew? And, sure, we all love to hate the pumpkin spice latte, but come on, a PSL is actually pretty good. 

Even with all the wins, not everything can be a success. So, with the high highs, come the low lows for Starbucks. Yes, we are referring to the Oleato drinks giving people some tummy troubles.

Of course, we all have different taste preferences, so not every drink will be a hit with 100% of the population. However, when customers start comparing their drinks to soap or their grandmother’s perfume, there's likely a bigger problem. 

And that’s exactly what’s happening with Starbucks’ new lavender-flavored drinks.

Starbucks Customers Say Its Spring Drinks Taste Like Soap

This spring, Starbucks launched its Iced Lavender Cream Oatmilk Matcha and Iced Lavender Oatmilk Latte, which are made with an all-new “sweet and subtle floral”-flavored lavender powder. The matcha is topped with a lavender cold foam—which is essentially milk and the lavender powder frothed until thick—so there’s no lavender in the actual matcha. However, the latte has a heaping scoop of lavender powder mixed right into the drink. 

After the items launched on March 7, customers and baristas immediately took to Reddit to discuss the new drinks. 

“The lavender powder kinda tastes like soap imo,” wrote one Reddit user.

“It tastes straight up like soap. I don’t like it in the coffee latte. It’s slightly better in the matcha as the cold foam but the soapiness I still can’t get over,” another user posted.

The overwhelming consensus—whether customers think the powder tastes like soap or not—is that the latte is quite unpopular, while the matcha (specifically the cold foam) is better. 

But, we had to know if these drinks were as soap-flavored as Reddit said because maybe those who think it tastes like soap are the same people who think cilantro tastes like soap. So, we tried them ourselves.

We Tried Starbucks' Lavender Drinks

We tried the Iced Lavender Oatmilk Latte first and immediately noticed the pile of undissolved powder at the bottom of the cup. Even after getting a straw and mixing the coffee, the powder didn’t dissolve completely. So, we drank it, lavender powder chunks and all.

We don’t want to yuck anyone’s yum, but we do think Reddit is correct. The lavender powder doesn’t work in the coffee. The floral notes are not as subtle as Starbucks claims, and they just don’t mesh well with an already strong coffee flavor.

However, the Iced Lavender Cream Oatmilk Matcha is much better with the lavender powder. That’s likely because the powder isn’t directly in the drink, but rather in the cold foam, so there’s another layer of flavor between the matcha and lavender. 

We tried the cold foam on its own and (importantly) noted that the powder dissolves completely in the foam, so you won't have that final sip of purple powder like you would with the coffee. Obviously, the cold foam is aesthetically pleasing as well, giving the drink its pretty purple hue.

As far as taste goes, our editor, Courtney Kassel, compared the flavor of the lavender cold foam to the cereal milk left over after eating Fruity Pebbles. This foam is just as Starbucks described it, “sweet” with “subtle floral” notes.

After trying both drinks, we’d recommend you stick with ordering the Iced Lavender Cream Oatmilk Matcha. However, if you’re not a matcha fan, you can add the lavender cream cold foam to basically any drink.

The cold foam on a regular coffee or cold brew might taste better than the lavender powder in the latte. Baristas on Reddit have also recommended trying the cold foam on shaken espressos, blonde lattes, and London fogs.

Of course, you can’t know your preference until you give it a try—so if you’re as intrigued by the lavender beverages as we were, maybe start with a tall, just in case.